A Comparative Study of Remun and Iban in Sarawak

Ibanic is a Malayic language subgroup that exhibited the innovations of *-an, *-ang and *-ar to /-ay/. This language subgroup disperse in western Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Sarawak (Malaysia). In Sarawak, Iban is a well-known Ibanic language variety. Remun, which is also an Ibanic variety, on the other hand has been ignored by scholars. Based on literature reviews, so far there has been no in-depth description and investigation on the relationship between the Remun and Iban language. This study utilizes the descriptive approach to present the similarities and differences between these two languages. The descriptions are focused on lexical and phonology aspecst. The comparison between the lexical of Remun and Iban languages show that there are 82% of similarity within the 150 words compared. Based on the analysis on the phonemes of r and s, it is noticed that r appeared as /y/ in Remun but as /r/ in Iban language. For phomenes s, this study found that s appeared as /h/ in Remun and as /s/ in Iban. This phonological analysis indeed has presented additional evidence to prove that Remun is an Ibanic variety rather than a dialect of Iban although they share an 85% cognate. This study has able to present additional resources for the Iban Language Planning Unit in Sarawak and raise their awareness about the existence of Ibanic variations in this state. Since Iban language is taught as one of the core subjects in school, the awareness on the differences between Remun and Iban are very important to facilitate the learning of Iban language.