The Iban People and Their Language:- Dialectical Comparison between the "Standard" and "Local dialects" of the Iban Language

English word	Saribas Iban	Rejang Iban/Lemanak
You	Nuan	Dek
Not yet	Apin	Bedau/Empai
Cooking	Nyumai	Manduk lauk
Tapioca	Ubi/Jabang	Empasa
Red fern “Midin” (Malay)	Rambai (What??? I thought it is some kind of fruit!! LOL!)	Kemiding
Cradle (the spring type)	Uyut (In our dialect, an “uyut” is a woven basket made from rattan/water reed) carried at the back to bring vegetables/fruits; not babies..haha)	Nyut
Cultivated Rambutan (also in Malay)	Kemantan	Kemanti/Remutan
To dry sth (under a sunshine)	Jembui (very simple; just add “u” to any verbs that end with (i), I guess…but it doesn’t means rari change into rarui..or kusi becomes kusui..	Jembi
To tell sth.	Tusui	Tusi
Prepare a mixture (usually a drink like coffee or chocolate drink)	Tunyau (This is also another funny word; for us this word means to pound on something aimlessly like mud or dough!!)	Ngaga ai kupi/Milo (no specific word for that)

The list could be longer but that is enough to show some of the vocabulary differences which to some, doesn’t bother them so much when it comes to casual conversation. I had one funny moment with my Uncle from Betong who described about an agricultural tool called (tungku’; glottal at the end) and at the end of the conversation, I asked ‘Did you cook something on it??” referring to the tungku’ as a cooking tripod in my Rejang dialect. He suddenly stopped and realized that I had perceived what he had told me earlier in a totally different way. To my embarrassment (since I was in their territory that time, I wouldn’t dare to put it into question) I still don’t get a clear picture about the said tool. I just kept my mouth shut till this day..hahaha! In our dialect, the word simply means a tripod shaped hearth used for cooking or a technique used to separate the paddy seeds from their stalk using feet. That’s how the same word could have two different meanings!

Contrary to popular belief, the Saribas Iban dialect was chosen as the standard literary Iban not because it is a more “polite, soft-spoken” version compared to the other dialects but it was the most well-studied dialect; just like the Bundu-Liwan of the KadazanDusun people. It is true that the Saribas accent sounds “polite and soft” to the ear of the Westerners, especially when it comes into the manners shown in expressing emotions. The heavy usage of archaic expressions in the Saribas oral literature such as poems and stories proves that this dialect was held prestigious by the people themselves. The Saribas Ibans are the first Iban tribe who made contact with the Westerners and they are also the ones who were exposed to formal education. 

It can be compared with Kadazan language which was only spoken by a minority of the Kadazan people in Penampang and Papar which first encountered the British colonials. Long considered as a standard literary languange among the KadazanDusun tribes of Sabah; it is now has been replaced by the Bundu-Liwan dialect. The same thing goes to the modern Iban Language nowadays. Despite endless debate on which dialect that should be used as a standard Iban language; more and more words from different dialect groups are added into the modern Iban Dictionary (e.g The Iban "Bup Sereba Reti" compiled by the Tun Jugah Foundation)

The Anglican missionaries brought the Good News to the Ibans and thus began a new era of peace and reconciliation between once a hostile tribe with the civilized world. While the remaining Iban tribes in the interiors were so intoxicated with their aggression campaigns against the ruling Brooke Dynasty, the Saribas Iban began to learn a lot from them instead. I have seen pictures of my paternal ancestors wearing the modern English suit instead of the traditional loincloth, and that was almost 100 years ago!

Besides civilization, the missionaries also played a very important part in spreading the message of salvation to those who never heard God’s words. The Church of England missionaries concentrated in the Batang Lupar and Saribas areas while the Roman Catholic Mill Hill missionaries ventured out to the Lower Rejang Basin and beyond. Meanwhile, the American preachers, together with the influx of Fuzhou Chinese brought together the Methodist faith to Sibu, Sarikei and also to the Ibans in Kapit and Balleh. During the Second World War, Australian Evangelical missionaries who came along with the Commonwealth army boldly faced the enraging waters of the upriver to spread the message of God to Belaga, Upper Baram and the Kelabit Highlands bordering Indonesia. This is what we known today as the Borneo Evangelical Missionary or famously known as Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB).

The Rejang Ibans; as they are popularly known are actually descendants of the Lemanak, Skrang and Ulu Ai Ibans to whom they shared a lot of linguistic and cultural similarities. The dialect is also spoken by the Ibans who went for further migration to Oya, Mukah, Balingian, Tatau, Kemena, Miri, Brunei and Limbang. In short, it is the most widely spoken dialect in terms of the number of speakers and geographical distribution. Moreover, the Iban music industry is dominated mostly by the Rejang Ibans who are definitely proud with their unique accents despite being different from the ‘standard’ version of the spoken language. Unlike the Bidayuhs and Melanaus that have distinct and unintelligible dialects, any Ibans from Sarawak from Lundu to Limbang can converse with each other without any difficulties. The westerners who made extensive researches on the Iban language also acknowledged that differences between the Iban ‘dialects’ can be compared like “the Yorkshire English accent with the one spoken in Liverpool”. No wonder why they called the Ibans as a homogenous society due to this fact.