Embaloh language

Mbalo
Embaloh
Spoken in Indonesia
Region Kalimantan
Native speakers 10,000  (1991)
Language family
Dialects
Kalis
Language codes
ISO 639-3 emb

Mbalo (Embaloh) is an Austronesian (Dayak) language of Borneo. Apart from Taman, it is not close to other languages, and its classification has long been controversial. Adelaar and Himmelmann (2005) propose that it was especially close to Buginese. However, it is frequently left as an isolate within (Nuclear) Malayo-Polynesian, a position supported by a 2008 lexicostatistical study.

Kalis (Kalis Maloh) may be a distinct language.

References