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Belait
Regions with significant populations
People of Belait in 2023
Brunei
Languages
Belait, Malay
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Tutong, Dusun (Brunei)

The Belait people are a Bruneian ethnic group native to Belait District. They traditionally speak the Belait language. They are predominantly Muslim.^[1] They are officially one of the seven ethnic groups which make up the Bruneian Malay race.^{[citation needed]}

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Origin

The Belait people originated from the merger between two ethnic groups, namely the Belait jati (i.e. the 'native' Belait) and the Lemeting or Meting.^[2]^[3] The latter was originally native to Tinjar River, a tributary of the Baram River in Sarawak, Malaysia; they later migrated to the area of, and eventually integrated with, the 'native' Belait.^[2]^[3]

Language

The Belait language, the traditional language of the Belait people, is an Austronesian language within the sub-group Malayo-Polynesian. The language is considered "seriously" endangered; it is claimed that there are "almost no younger speakers".^[4]

Citations

^ Martin 1996, p. 200.
^ ^a ^b Martin 1996, p. 201.
^ ^a ^b Hughes-Hallett 1938, p. 102.
^ McLellan 2014, p. 17.

References

Hughes-Hallett, H. (July 1938). "An Account of a Berhantu Ceremony called "Perakong" by the Orang Belait of Brunei". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 16 (1 #130): 102–108. JSTOR 41559907.
Martin, Peter W. (1996). "Sociohistorical Determinants of Language Shift among the Belait Community in the Sultanate of Brunei". Anthropos. 91 (1/3): 199–207. JSTOR 40465282.
McLellan, James (2014). "Strategies for revitalizing endangered Borneo languages: A comparison between Negara Brunei Darussalam and Sarawak, Malaysia" (PDF). Southeast Asia. 14: 14–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.