Belait language
Belait, or Lemeting, is a Malayo-Polynesian language of Brunei and neighbouring Malaysia.[2] Belait is related to the Miri, Kiput and Narum languages of Sarawak.It is considered part of the Lower Baram subgroup of North Sarawak languages.For example, verbs are negated with the form (e)ndeh and nouns with the form kay': pra'=yehrain=DISTnga'alreadysalit,be.hard,ndehNEGana'ableumaw'AV.makepadipaddypra'=yeh nga' salit, ndeh ana' umaw' padirain=DIST already be.hard, NEG able AV.make paddy'The rain has become hard, [we] are not able to grow rice'kadtarsiermacimlikeblabiw,ratkay'NEGblabiwratkad macim blabiw, kay' blabiwtarsier like rat NEG rat'The tarsier is like a rat, but it is not a rat'There are also several closed functional classes:[4] Belait is head-initial.The two constructions are illustrated below:[4] AV:actor voice UV:undergoer voice idihpeopleunnahbeforekumanAV.eatsalangcharcoalidih unnah kuman salangpeople before AV.eat charcoal'The people before [first ancestors of the Belait] ate charcoal'brejinduriankinan=lewUV.eat=3Pabey'completebrejin kinan=lew abey'durian UV.eat=3P complete'The durian was all eaten up by them'In the AV construction in (5) the subject is the Actor, i.e. idih unnah 'the people before'.