Tobilung | Ethnologue

A language of Malaysia

ISO 639: tgb
Alternate Names: Momogun, Tabilong, Tebilung, Tobilang
Autonym: Tobilung
Population: 4,000 (2015 G. Buck), decreasing. 1,500 monolinguals (2015 G. Buck). Ethnic population: 10,000 (2015 G. Buck).
Location:: Sabah state: Kota Belud, Kota Marudu, and Kudat districts; Kota Kinabalu, Inanam and other towns.
Language Status: 6b (Threatened).
Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, North Borneo, Sabahan, Dusunic, Dusun
Dialects: Moderate intelligibility with the Central Dusun dialect of Kadazan Dusun [dtp], Kimaragang [kqr] and Rungus [drg].
Typology: VSO; prepositions; 17 consonants and 5 vowels; non-tonal language; vowel harmony (O is the neutral vowel) and neutralization.
Language Use: Stronger in villages in the interior. Half of the children are learning the language or using it at home. Mixed use: Home, Friends, Religion, Work. Some young people, all adults. Mixed attitudes. Most also use Sabah Malay [msi].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 60%–70% in Standard Malay [zsm]. The current spelling system is not widely known, but anyone who is literate in L2 (Standard Malay [zsm]) can read and write in Tobilung. Literature. Videos. Dictionary. Texts.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Tobilung
Writing: Latin script [Latn], developed in about 2004.
Other Comments: Christian, Muslim, traditional religion.

Location: Sabah state: Kota Belud, Kota Marudu, and Kudat districts; Kota Kinabalu, Inanam and other towns.