Perbandingan Dialek Bajau Kota Belud dan Bajau Semporna, Sabah

This paper documented aspects of Bajau dialects spoken at two difference regions in Sabah, Kota Belud and Semporna. From a comparative study it is found that both dialects were originated from a same ancient speaking group, the Austronesia under Bajau Dialect Family, moreover, there are slight differences between them especially in lexical and syntactic aspects. The major factor was the geographical locations which had driven both dialects to borrow words from their neighboring ethnic groups in the respective geographical regions. While the Bajau dialect of the west coast of Sabah was closer to Malay dialect, particularly in its syntactic aspect, the dialect of the eastern coast was closer to Sama-Bajau, a speaker group in the southern Philippines. Nevertheless, although at a small percentage, there are still cross-understanding between the two dialect speakers.