The unique /ɯ/ vowel sound in the Bidayuh dialects.

I have been listening to readings of the Bible since I was young and I still listen to it now and than whenever I went back to my kampung. Everytime while listening, I will be attracted to the words being pronounced by the readers (plus the content of course). The pronunciation tells me how complicated vowel sounds of the Bidayuh Language could be. Certain words are not pronounced as how they are spelt. In Bahasa Malaysia, there are only six vowel sounds; /a/, /ə/, /e/, /I/, /o/ and /u/. In the Bidayuh Language, there is a unique sound which is only found in the Bukar-Sadung (Serian), Singgai (Bau), Biatah (Penrissen), Bianah and Pinyewa (Padawan). This particular vowel sound is missing in the Jagoi dialect (Bau). This unique vowel sound is /ɯ/.

The diagram below shows the position of the vowel sound /ɯ/. This sound is next to the vowel sound /u/. The vowel sound /u/ is pronounced with a rounded lips, whereas in /ɯ/ the lips are relaxed (spread) without moving the articulatory organs especially the tongue and the air passage around the velum.

The Vowel Phonetic Alphabet of the International Phonetic Association (IPA)

This unique sound has created difficulty in getting the correct pronunciation especially the non-speaker of the mentioned dialects. Since Bidayuh Language has no writing system of its own, it has to rely on the Roman alphabets and the Bahasa Malaysia pronunciation system, that is syllabic in nature.

The earliest written document in Bidayuh was the Bible. They were written by the 'western priests'. They had substantial knowledge of the different dialects, ranging from Lundu to Serian and to the most remote areas of Lundu, Bau, Serian and Padawan Districts. This early written document was written based on the priests' perception on the pronunciation system. They were not linguists. They were having problem on how to spell certain words because of the unique vowel sound that is not found in both English and Bahasa Malaysia. A few of the words are listed below with the meanings:

1. aduh (available/present)
2. mbuh (already/done)
3. ntubuk/tubuk (see/seen)
4. ijun (just now/ a moment ago)
5. batuh (depending on the pronunciation: stone or eyes)
6. sante (saint)

To overcome mispronunciation, these early writers introduced a letter to differentiate the /u/ from the /ɯ/ sound. Mispronunciation can give a totally different meaning and as a result the idea of the text will be distorted. For example the word 'aduh' if mispronounced will become the expression of pain and usually be written with an exclamation mark: 'aduh!'. The letter 'ŭ' was used to show that the 'u' is pronounced as /ɯ/. Here I use the term 'alternative spelling to refer to this alphabet. With this alphabet, readers who are familiar with the dialects will pronounce the word as /adɯh/. Some writers try to overcome the problem by changing the spelling. The /ɯ/ sound will be replaced by 'e'. As a result of this the word 'aduh' will become 'adeh' and pronounced as /adəh/. The reader who proficient in the dialects will still pronounce the word as /adɯh/ because they know the dialect well. So, by changing the spelling will only make the non-proficient speakers to pronounce the word wrongly. This is because the vowel sound /ɯ/ and /ə/ are two distinct vowel sounds.

The word 'ntubuk' is problematic because the two letter 'u' if mispronounced will make the word meaningless. The first 'u' is pronounced as /u/ whereas the second one is /ɯ/. So, it should be pronounced as /ntubɯk/. The alternative spelling of this word is 'ntubŭk. Another example is the word 'ijun'. It is pronounced as /Ijɯn/ and this word is attached with the word 'neh' (/nəh/). The alternative spelling will be 'ijŭn neh'.

The word 'batuh' has two problems when readers who are unfamiliar with the dialects read a Bidayuh text. The word if pronounced as /batuh/ means 'stone' whereas if pronounced as /batɯh/ means 'eyes'. Since both words exist in Bidayuh, the readers have to get the context to get the right pronunciation. The alternative spelling is 'batŭh'.

The letter 'u' is not the only confusing letter in a Bidayuh text. Another letter is 'e'. 'Sante' is a borrowed word from Spanish (Latin?), 'Santo' (Saint). In the Bukar-Sadung dialect, this word is pronounced as /santɯʔ/. Since this is a borrowed word, some pronounce it as /sante/ (even without the glottal stop).

The Bible written in the Jagoi-Singgai dialect is written in the Jagoi dialect. In this case, the problem arises among the Singgai speakers; in determining the correct pronunciation of the letter 'o'. In Singgai not all words with 'o' is pronounced as /o/. The readers have to determine whether to pronounce the vowel as /o/ or /ɯ/. Some of the words spelt according to the Jagoi pronunciation are as follows:

1. boton (eyes)
2. mboh (already/done)
3. idoh (no)
4. ko-ot (tight)
5. songot (black)

Unlike the Bukar-Sadung, there is no alternative spelling in Singgai to differentiate the two vowel sounds. The word 'boton' is a good example whereby not all 'o' is pronounced as /ɯ/. The first 'o' is still pronounced as /o/ but the second one is /ɯ/. The table below shows the different pronunciation between the Jagoi and Singgai dialects in relation to the letter 'o'.

The written form	Jagoi	Singgai
mboh	/mboh/	/mbɯh/
idoh	/idoh/	/idɯh/
Ko-ot	/koʔot/	/kɯʔɯt/

The reader must be very familiar with the dialect itself in order to be able to differentiate between the /u/ and /ɯ/ and /o/ and /ɯ/ sounds. How do we rectify this problem? Should we reintroduce to the alternative spelling using 'ŭ' as in Bukar-Sadung or just go on using 'u' and 'o'? If we choose the latter, we have to be very familiar with the dialects to get the correct pronunciation. In English and a few other languages, the pronunciation does not follow the spelling and not even syllabic. For example the 'ough' in 'cough', 'dough', 'tough' and 'plough' are pronounced differently. If the reader is incompetent in English, he will mispronounce the words.

My opinion...we should not create any 'letter' or symbol to represent the /ɯ/ vowel sound. The Bidayuh language will be very interesting to explore as what English, French, Spanish and other languages have offered us. Create a bit of headache to learn Bidayuh. The diverse lexical items is another interesting area to explore and I try to share a little bit on this. The differences in lexical items do not occur inter districts but intra districts, diversity happens even among the neigbouring villages. In Tema stomach is /naʔIh/ but it is /putuŋ/ in Tebedu, which is only a few kilometers away. Even the word 'Bidayuh' is never pronounce as /bIdajuh/ among the Bidayuh community, it is pronounced as /bidəjɯh/ in Bukar, Sadung, Biatah, Bianah and Pinyewa. It is /bIdojoh/ in Jagoi and /bIdojɯh/ in Singgai. Very interesting eh? Bidapud lagi...