Modang is a diverse language spoken mostly in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, especially within East Kutai and Kutai Kartanegara Regencies. There are multiple different Modang dialects, some with considerable differences in pronunciation. There are likely between 15,000 and 20,000 Modang people in Kalimantan today.
The current wordlist is from the Woq Helaq, or Kelinjau river area dialect of Modang. Other dialects include Long Gelat, Long Nah, Mei Lan, and Wahau.
Modang pronunciations create difficulties with spelling, since the sounds of Modang, especially the vowels, have more variety than can be transcribed with the typical 5-vowel set. Please take the time to study this pronunciation guide, and when looking at entries, always try to check the pronunciation for that entry. The letters to the left are the spelling and those that are inside of brackets, like [aw], are the IPA pronunciations. IPA stands for the International Phonetic Alphabet.
| Vowel | IPA | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| au | [au] | two separate vowels, a and u, each pronounced fully. |
| au | [aw] | the same sounds as [au], but pronounced together, not separately, similar to how au is pronounced at the end of a word in Malay. |
| ai | [ai] | two separate vowels, a and i, each pronounced fully. |
| ai | [ay] | the same sounds as [ai], but pronounced together, not separately, similar to how ai is pronounced at the end of a word in Malay. |
| é | [e] | aregular e sound like the one pronounced in the Malay word teh ‘tea’ or the e in Malay kue. Note that [e] is never pronounced like the e in dekat or empat. |
| éi | [ey] | pronounced just like an e, but with a short ‘i’ sound at the end. |
| e | [ə] | a ‘schwa’. This is the e sound in Malay words like dekat or empat. Note that [ə] is never pronounced like the e in teh or kue. It is quite important to check the pronunciations. |
| eu | [əw] | a ‘schwa’ sound followed by a u sound, both pronounced together, not as separate vowels. |
| ie | [iə̯] | a regular ‘i’ sound followed by a quick schwa off-glide. The small mark under the schwa indicates that this is not a separate vowel, but pronounced quickly after the i. |
| ue | [uə̯] | a regular ‘u’ sound followed by a quick schwa off-glide. The small mark under the schwa indicates that this is not a separate vowel, but pronounced quickly after the u. |
| oa | [oə̯] | a regular ‘o’ sound followed by a quick schwa off-glide. The small mark under the schwa indicates that this is not a separate vowel, but pronounced quickly after the o. |
| ée | [eə̯] | a regular ‘e’ sound (like the e in kue), followed by a short schwa off-glide. Again, the small mark under the schwa indicates that it is not pronounced separately as its own vowel. |
| oé | [oe̯] | similar to the way one would pronounce oi [oy], but the ending vowel sound is not as high as a regular i. |
| oe | [ɒ] | this sound is pronounced like a regular ‘a’ sound, like in Malay faham, but while pronouncing the ‘a’, you should try to round your lips, almost like you are trying to pucker your lips while keeping the mouth open to pronounce the a. It is very important to remember the distinction between oa, oe, and oé. |
Here are some other common IPA usages and their more familiar orthographic counterparts:
| Modang Letter | IPA |
|---|---|
| ny | [ɲ] |
| ng | [ŋ] |
While learning to pronounce Modang words, always keep in mind that the stress (the loudest and strongest part of the word) is always on the final syllable. So the word for ‘eye’ is always pronounced meTÉEN, never as MEtéen. This is true for all Modang words.
Segera hadir.