Dusun vs Bisaya
Martin & Poedjosoedarmo (1996) classify Dusun and Bisaya as the ‘Dusunic languages’ of Brunei, but the two groups are officially considered as separate ethnic groups. According to Nothofer (1991), Dusun and Bisaya are “mutually intelligible dialects” with a shared lexical cognate level of 82% (p. 155). Yabit (1994) further asserts that the phonology of both varieties is similar. Nothofer (1991) briefly states that there are dialectal differences in the Dusun speaking areas, giving the example of the realisation of ‘r’ as an alveolar trill /r/ in coastal areas and a velar fricative /ɣ/ in inland areas. A velar fricative is used by the informant in the current study.