Its ancestor, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, is believed to have originated from Proto-Austronesian, which split around 2000 BCE due to the large-scale expansion of the Austronesian people into Maritime Southeast Asia from the island of Taiwan.

There are numerous cognates found in basic words for kinship, health, body parts, and common animals.

[11] In Malaysia, the Kerinci language is mainly spoken in the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, such as Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor, due to their proximity to Sumatra.

However, its predominant use is informal, while Indonesian serves as the lingua franca in governmental institutions, education, and interethnic communication.

In Sungai Penuh, it is compulsory for students to enroll in Kerinci language courses as part of the school curriculum.

[7] Additionally, the Jambi provincial government has initiated training programs for teachers aimed at enhancing their understanding and teaching skills while promoting the use of the Kerinci language.

[18] The Kerinci language dialects can be very different between villages even though they are very close, such as Tanah Kampung, Kemantan, and Dusun Baru, which are only separated by a river.

Dusun Baru Lempur and Kemantan are located in the Kerinci Regency but are in different districts, while Tanah Kampung is part of Sungai Penuh.

Next to the latter Dusun Baru speech area, the Sungai Penuh dialect is spoken, separated by a market from Pondok Tinggi.

[27] Pondok Tinggi Kerinci has a rich inventory of diphthongs—that is, sequences of vowels within the same syllable that can be considered a single V segment.

This distinction is apparent in words that historically share the same final rimes, such as shown in the table below, with examples from Pondok Tinggi.

[38] As can also be seen from the examples given in the table above, the final vowel rimes in Pondok Tinggi G-words are generally higher than those in K-words.

The word gunduah/gundoh, on the other hand, has another voiced obstruent that is not part of a homorganic nasal-obstruent sequence, so it still undergoes the change associated with a G-word.

For example, if the passive prefix di- (which contains a voiced obsturent) is attached to a K-word, the word would turn into a G-word and changes its final rime.

'}paŋkau/paŋkou {'to hold'} → dipaŋkau/dipaŋkou {'be held'}If a G-word loses its voiced obstruent due to prefixation, it would become a K-word and its final rime changes accordingly.

This happens, for example, when the active prefix N- alters the initial obstruent of a root to a homorganic nasal.

For example, K-words that have been changed to G-words due to the addition of voiced obstruents from prefixation will not revert back to their original forms when truncated:[48] di-bar-LOC[d]STAT++umahanaʔ'house.A''child.A'→→diumuahbaranuaʔ'at home''to give birth'→→dumuahbanuaʔ→→umuahanuaʔdi- LOC[d] + umah {'house.A'} → diumuah {'at home'} → dumuah → umuahbar- STAT + anaʔ {'child.A'} → baranuaʔ {'to give birth'} → banuaʔ → anuaʔIn the dialect of Tanjung Pauh Mudik, the truncated monosyllabic forms are very common in naturalistic speech, to the point that the full forms found in the oral literary register (such as that of the kunaung) are considered archaic by its speakers.

The prefixes commonly used in Kerinci include ba-, di-, N-, ta-, pa-, ma-, ka-, and sa-.

Additionally, the Minangkabau language is commonly used by spoken in Sungai Penuh, the central trade hub in Kerinci.

[62] This script is composed of straight lines, broken and tilted segments, and curves, written at a slight angle.

This script was used to document the history of the ancestors, literature in the form of romantic and sorrowful prose, customary agreements, and spells.

[63] There is a belief among the Kerinci people that the creation of the script and the birth of literature stem from a background of cultural manifestation encompassing nature, humanity, and divinity as a whole.

Consequently, the literature of the Kerinci people written on buffalo horns, bamboo, bark, cloth, and paper is considered sacred and revered.

With the onset of the 20th century and the spread of Islam into the Kerinci community, the use of the Incung script has gradually dwindled as a means of written communication.

This decline can be attributed to the growing influence of Islamic culture on the Kerinci community, leading to a shift away from the Incung script.

Additionally, the manuscripts are kept and revered by their owners, leading to a lack of desire to read, study, internalize, and disseminate the contents and values contained within them.

Incung is primarily reserved for cultural practices and rituals, whereas Jawi finds its niche in religious contexts or within Islamic educational institutions such as Pesantren.

Pantun, a type of oral poetic form commonly found in the Malay world is also widespread in the Kerinci community.

Tunggu lah kayo ranah kurinci Beginilah rupanya hari Patut sekali berladang bawang.

The accompanying musical instruments for kunaung performances vary, with the most common being the rebana and drum, but there are also instances of flute and gong usage.