KADAZANDUSUN VILLAGES

KADAZANDUSUN VILLAGES:

THE MEANING BEHIND "KI"

By

Allan Dumbong

If you going to the countryside of Sabah, especillay in the predominantly Kadazandusun villages, you'wll see that many of the villages are names starting with the letters "Ki". For example, "kionggu", "kituau" etc. Surely, there are meaning of all these names.

Based on my knolwedge about the Kadazandusun language, I can safely say that the names of the villages have originated from certain resources available in the said villages.

• KIRONGGU - A village which has plenty of "ronggu" trees.
• KIONGGU - A village which has plenty of "ronggu" trees. "Onggu" is in Kadazan tangara dialect.
• KITUAU - A village whic has plenty of "tuhau" plants.
• KITOWU - A village which has plenty of "towu"
• KIULU - A village which has plenty of "wulu", one type of bamboo.
• KIPANGI - A Kg which has plenty of "pangi", a type of tree which bear fruits that can be used to preserve meat, fish etc.
• KILUGUS - A village which has plenty of "lugus" or pinang in Malay.
• KIPUNGIT - A village which used to have plenty of "pungits", or bats.
• KIROKOT - A village which used to have plenty of "rokots", a type of fish found in the streams in the rural areas.
• KIMANIS - Ogumu "kayu manis" toi ko "kenangan manis".
• KITOBU - A village which used to have plenty of sugar cane.
• KIPUNTI - A village which used to have plenty of banana trees.
• KIAMBALANG -A village which used to have many "tamalangs" or bamboo.

I believed many people, particularly the young generations do not understand the origin of the words, and the background history of their villages. I hope this would help, not only in enlightening the people about the past history of their respective villages but also to help in conserving the enviornment. Love your plant or the resources available in your respective kampungs. Based on the names, you could see the opportunity that your particular kampung could be a place to re-plant the plants or trees or to rear certain types of fish or animals.

I still remember, the State Government of sabah used to encourage people to have "one village one industry". I believe the word "Ki" would help us to identify the core industry or the main resource in the kampung.