Languages of Sabah: About 50 Languages & Endangered Tongues

Sabah is a linguistic wonder. A state of about 3.8 million people (DOSM, Current Population Estimates 2026, checked 7 October 2026) is home to about 50 languages and 83 forms of speech once dialects are counted (King and King, 1984), more linguistic diversity than many entire countries. These languages span multiple families, represent thousands of years of migration and cultural exchange, and range from widely spoken regional languages to small languages spoken in a handful of villages. Understanding Sabah's languages is understanding Sabah itself.

How Many Languages Are Spoken in Sabah?

A field survey of all 23 districts then in the state, in 1978 and 1979, counted 51 languages in Sabah, 33 of them centred in the state, and 83 forms of speech once dialects are counted (Kenneth D. Smith, in King and King, eds, Languages of Sabah: A Survey Report, 1984, p. 40). The survey noted that names can mislead: "Murut" alone covered 15 languages, and "Dusun" and "Kadazan" each perhaps four languages and many dialects.

To put this in perspective: the entire European Union has 24 official languages across 27 countries. Sabah, a state roughly the size of Ireland, has about twice that number. This extraordinary diversity is the result of thousands of years of Austronesian migration, trade-route contact, and geographic isolation across Borneo's mountain ranges and river systems.

What Language Families Are Found in Sabah?

Nearly all of Sabah's indigenous languages belong to the Austronesian family, which stretches from Madagascar to Easter Island. Within it, the 1984 survey placed Sabah's languages in several groups (Smith, in King and King, 1984). The last column gives the 2020 census count of the related ethnic group among Malaysian citizens (DOSM, Census 2020 Sabah, Table 5, checked 7 October 2026). It is a count of people, not of speakers:

What Are the Major Languages of Sabah?

Several languages dominate by speaker count and cultural visibility:

KadazanDusun is the largest indigenous language group in Sabah. The Kadazan/Dusun ethnic group numbered 660,777 citizens at the 2020 census (DOSM, Census 2020 Sabah, Table 5, checked 7 October 2026), though not all speak the language. The written form uses the Latin alphabet, and the school subject is based on the Bunduliwan Dusun dialect (Malay Mail, checked 7 October 2026). The 1984 survey treated Lotud (Tuaran) and Rungus (Kudat) as separate Dusunic languages rather than dialects (Smith, in King and King, 1984).

Bajau (Sama-Bajau group) languages are spoken by Sabah's second-largest indigenous group (565,499 citizens at the 2020 census). The 1984 survey found that "Bajau" covers two languages, West Coast Bajau and East Coast Bajau, each a chain of dialects (Smith, in King and King, 1984).

Murut languages: the 1984 survey found that the name "Murut" covers 15 languages (Smith, in King and King, 1984). The Murut numbered 106,468 citizens at the 2020 census. In 2025 Sabah proposed Murut Timugon, spoken in Tenom, as one of four more ethnic languages to be taught in selected schools (Malay Mail, checked 7 October 2026).

Suluk (Tausug) is spoken on Sabah's east coast. The 1984 survey found Sabah Suluk to be the same language as Tausug of Jolo in the Philippines (Smith, in King and King, 1984). The 2020 census counted 72,734 Suluk among Malaysian citizens; non-citizens are not counted by ethnicity.

Why Is Sabah Malay Everyone's Second Language?

Sabah Malay (also called Bahasa Sabah or simply "BM Sabah") is the creole-influenced lingua franca that emerged from centuries of inter-ethnic contact in Sabah's coastal trading centres. Unlike Standard Bahasa Malaysia, it was never designed by committee — it evolved organically as communities needed a common tongue.

Key features that distinguish Sabah Malay from standard Malay include the iconic "bah" discourse particle (used for agreement, emphasis, and casual sentence endings), the use of "sudah" as a past tense marker (e.g., "Saya makan sudah" — "I have eaten"), vocabulary borrowed from KadazanDusun and Bajau, and a generally faster, more clipped cadence.

Crucially, Sabah Malay is spoken across ethnic lines. A KadazanDusun farmer from Tambunan, a Bajau fisherman from Kota Belud, and a Chinese shopkeeper in Sandakan will all switch to Sabah Malay when communicating with each other. This makes it functionally more important for daily life than either Bahasa Malaysia (formal) or any individual ethnic language.

Which Sabah Languages Are Endangered?

Sabah's smaller languages face one main threat: language shift, as younger speakers use Sabah Malay or Bahasa Malaysia in daily life rather than their ancestral tongue, because these offer greater economic and social mobility.

When a small language falls out of use, the knowledge encoded in it goes too: plant names, ecological knowledge, ceremonial traditions and oral history.

What Chinese Languages Are Spoken in Sabah?

Sabah's Chinese community (248,920 people, 9.5% of citizens, at the 2020 census; DOSM, Census 2020 Sabah, Table 5, checked 7 October 2026) maintains several distinct Chinese languages brought by different waves of immigration since the 1880s:

Hakka is the main Chinese language in Sabah: the state government notes that most of Sabah's Chinese are of Hakka descent (Sabah state government, checked 7 October 2026). The first group of about 100 Hakka Christian settlers landed at Kudat in December 1882, and many more groups followed (Basel Christian Church of Malaysia, checked 7 October 2026).

Cantonese is widely heard in Sandakan. Hokkien, Teochew and Hainanese speakers are smaller communities found in the main towns.

Mandarin is increasingly the common language among younger Chinese Sabahans who attended Chinese-medium primary schools (SJKC), where Mandarin is the medium of instruction. This represents a language shift from ancestral dialects toward a more standardised Chinese language.

What Is Being Done to Preserve Sabah Languages?

Language preservation in Sabah is happening on multiple fronts — government, academic, community, and digital.

Community bodies such as the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA) promote KadazanDusun language and culture. In February 2024 Yayasan Bank Rakyat and Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) signed a RM7.5 million, five-year agreement to finance students of ethnic-language education in KadazanDusun, Iban and Semai, with a target of 30 students a year (RTM, checked 7 October 2026).

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) researchers also study and document Sabah's languages and cultures.

Church translation and literacy work has also produced written materials, dictionaries and Bible translations in several Sabah languages.

At the community level, social media is playing an increasingly important role. Facebook groups, YouTube channels, and TikTok accounts in KadazanDusun, Bajau, and Murut are organically building digital archives of songs, vocabulary, and folk stories — often without formal institutional support.

How Are Indigenous Languages Treated in Sabah Schools?

Malaysia's Pupil's Own Language (POL) programme allows indigenous languages to be taught as a subject in national schools. In Sabah, KadazanDusun is taught, based on the Bunduliwan Dusun dialect. In June 2025 the federal minister Ewon Benedick said a proposal had been sent to the Education Ministry to teach four more Sabah languages on a pilot basis: Tatana (Kuala Penyu), Kadazan Tangaa (Penampang), Murut Timugon (Tenom) and Dusun Lotud (Tuaran) (Malay Mail, checked 7 October 2026).

However, coverage remains limited. Of Sabah's 50 or so languages, only a handful have any formal educational support. Most indigenous language speakers learn their mother tongue at home and through community events, with schools providing instruction entirely in Bahasa Malaysia and English. This structural gap accelerates language shift among children who spend more time in Bahasa Malaysia than in their ancestral tongue.

Chinese-medium primary schools (SJKC) teach in Mandarin and have helped keep Mandarin literacy strong across generations. They also enrol many non-Chinese pupils.

Useful Words and Phrases Across Sabah Languages

Even knowing a few words in a local language creates immediate goodwill. Start with Sabah Malay, which almost everyone understands:

Words in the indigenous languages differ from district to district, and even between villages speaking the same language. The best way to learn a greeting or a thank-you in KadazanDusun, Bajau, Murut or Rungus is to ask your host.

Frequently Asked Questions