Introduction

The Begak language is spoken by about 3,000 Begak people, residing primarily of the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. But there are other ethnic groups which use the same language as the Begak ethnic group. Their home region is Sabah: Kinabatangan, Lahad Datu and Sandakan districts. Therefore, the total number of speakers of this language is approximately 15,000.

The language is classified as Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, North Borneo, Sabahan, Ida’an. The ISO code is [dbj]. There are several dialects: Begak (Bagahak, Begahak), Subpan (Sungai, Supan), Ida’an. Alternate names include: Bulud Upi, Eraans, Idaan, Idahan, Idan, and Idayan.

The Begak highly value their language and use it in several domains including home, friends, work and education, with a literacy rate of 70%. They also speak Sabah Malay [msi], Standard Malay [zsm] (literacy rate 95%), English [eng], Tausug [tsg], and Kadazan Dusun [dtp].