Rejang (baso Jang,baso Hejang^{[citation needed]}) is anAustronesian language predominantly spoken by theRejang people in southwestern parts of Sumatra (Bengkulu),Indonesia. There are five dialects, spread from mountainous region to the coastal region ofBengkulu, including the Musi (Musai) dialect, the Lebong dialect, the Kebanagung dialect, the Rawas (Awes) dialect, and the Pesisir dialect.

Rejang
Baso Hejang Baso Jang ꤽꥍꤺꥏ
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Bengkulu Province Central Bengkulu Regency Kepahiang Regency Lebong Regency North Bengkulu Regency Rejang Lebong Regency South Sumatra Province North Musi Rawas Regency
Ethnicity	Rejang people
Native speakers	(350,000 cited 2000 census)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Greater North Borneo (?) Rejang
Dialects	Lebong Curup Kepahiang Utara
Writing system	Latin (present) Rejang script (historically)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	rej
Glottolog	reja1240

Rejang is not obviously close to otherMalayo-Polynesian languages in Sumatra. McGinn (2009) classified it among theBidayuh languages of Borneo, closest toBukar–Sadong. According to the source, these languages shared raising of*a to*ə word-finally, or in final syllables except those ending in velar consonants*k,*ŋ.^[2] It may be that it is related to the newly described languageNasal, but that is speculative at this point.^[3]Robert Blust and Alexander Smith classified Rejang as part ofGreater North Borneo languages (2017a, 2017b).^[4][5][6]

Rejang has five different dialects. Speakers of each dialects are able to communicate with one another, in spite of lexical and phonological differences. The four dialects of Rejangs are Curup, Lebong, Kepahiang, and Utara. Among all dialects, Awes dialect is the hardest for the speakers of other dialects.^{[citation needed]}

Rejang was written with theRejang script for a long time.^[7] The script is thought to predate the introduction of Islam to the area in the 12th century CE, although the earliest attested document has been dated to the mid-18th century. It is traditionally written on bamboo, buffalo horn, bark or copper plates. It was only recently^[when?] that theLatin alphabet was introduced as a way of writing the language.

A trill/r/ is also present, but only in loanwords.^[8]

The following is a sample text in Rejang, of Article 1 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations):

Kutê tun laher mêrdeka, tmuan hok-hok gik srai. Kutê nagiak-ba akêa peker ngen atêi, kêrno o kêlok-nê bêkuat-ba do ngen luyên lêm asai sêpasuak.

Gloss (word-to-word):

Article 1 – All human was born independent, has an equal rights. They are endowed a way to think and heart; then they need tobe friend^{[clarification needed]} each other in the taste of brotherhood.

Translation (grammatical):

Article 1 – All human beings are born free and equal in rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

• Blust, Robert (2010). "The Greater North Borneo Hypothesis".Oceanic Linguistics.49 (1). University of Hawai'i Press:44–118.doi:10.1353/ol.0.0060.JSTOR 40783586.S2CID 145459318.
• MacGinn, Richard (1982).Outline of Rejang Syntax(PDF). NUSA 14. Jakarta: Universitas Atma Jaya.
• Smith, Alexander D. (2017).The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification(PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
• Smith, Alexander D. (2017)."The Western Malayo-Polynesian Problem".Oceanic Linguistics.56 (2). University of Hawai'i Press:435–490.doi:10.1353/ol.2017.0021.S2CID 149377092.

• Richard McGinn,Archive of Materials for the Study of the Rejang of Sumatra.Archived 24 September 2015 at theWayback Machine