Semelai is an
Austroasiatic language spoken in the Malay Peninsula by
Semelai people
Semelai people are an Orang Asli people of the Proto-Malay people group found in Negeri Sembilan and Pahang states of Malaysia.
Settlement area
They are divided into two major groups, namely:
* The Semelai people in Kampung Sungai Sampo and Kamp ...
. It belongs to the
Southern branch of the
Aslian language
The Aslian languages () are the southernmost branch of Austroasiatic languages spoken on the Malay Peninsula. They are the languages of many of the ''Orang Asli'', the aboriginal inhabitants of the peninsula. The total number of native speakers o ...
subgrouping. The Semelai people reside predominantly around the Bera, Serting and associated river systems in the states of
Pahang
{{Infobox political division
, name = Pahang
, official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur
, native_name =
, settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State
, image_skyline =
, imagesize ...
,
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...
and
Johor
Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...
.
Phonology
Semelai has 32 consonants and 20 vowels.
* Stops /p t c k/ are heard as
̚ t̚ c̚ k̚word-final position.
* Palatal sounds /c ɟ/ are slightly affricated as
ᶝ ɟᶽwhen in word-initial position.
* /s/ may occur as
or
�within free variation.
* Nasals /m n ɲ ŋ/ can occur as prestopped
��m ᵈn ᶡɲ ᶢŋwhen in word-final position.
* /r/ can be heard as
�when in word-final position. When preceded by a nasal /n/ it is heard as
��r
* /w j/ are heard as off-glides
ʷ, ʲwhen in word-final position. After nasal vowels, they are then heard as nasalized
ʷ̃, ʲ̃
Vowels are also distinguished with nasal counterparts:
* /ɒ/ is phonetically noted as
�̙
* /i/ can be heard as in closed syllables
* /ə/ can be heard as in stressed word-final syllables
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
* http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
*
http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66E3-8@view Semelai in RWAAI Digital Archive
{{Austroasiatic languages
Languages of Malaysia
Aslian languages