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Semai language

Semai (engrok Semai) is a Austroasiatic language of western Malaysia spoken by about 60,438 Semai people. It is one of the few Aslian languages which are not endangered, and even has 2,000 monolingual speakers. It is currently spoken by 3 main groups; the Northern Semai, Central Semai and the Southern Semai.

Semai
engrok Semai
Native toPeninsular Malaysia
Ethnicity60,438 Semai people (2020)[1]
Native speakers
60,438 (2020)[2]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3sea
Glottologsema1266
ELPSemai

Phonology edit

One notable aspect of Semai phonology is its highly irregular pattern of expressive reduplication, showing discontiguous copying from just the edges of the reduplicant's base, thus forming a minor syllable.

Vowels edit

Oral vowels
FrontCentralBack
Closei iːɨ ɨːu uː
Close-mide eːo oː
Open-midɛ ɛːəɔ ɔː
Openɑ ɑː
Nasal vowels
FrontCentralBack
Closeĩ ĩːɨ̃ ɨ̃ːũ ũː
Midɛ̃ ɛ̃ːə̃ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː
Openɑ̃ ɑ̃ː

Consonants edit

BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Plosivevoicelessptckʔ
voicedbdɟɡ
Nasalvoicedmnɲŋ
preplodedᵇmᵈnɟɲᶢŋ
Fricativesh
Rhoticɾ~r
Laterall
Approximantwj

Examples edit

Examples of words in Semai include the following:

EnglishSemaiMalay
IEngSaya
EatCakMakan
DrinkNgautMinum
BatheMehmuMandi
CleanParlainBersih
GoodBorBagus
ChickenBafung/FungAyam
RiceCengroyBeras
MushroomCenaiCendawan
WhyJalekKenapa
HowRahalookBagaimana

In popular culture edit

  • Asli (2017),[3] a film directed by David Liew, is about a bi-racial girl on a road to discover her cultural heritage, is the first film to use the Semai language in 50% of its dialogue.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ "Basic Data / Statistics". JAKOA. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. ^ Semai at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
  3. ^ "Asli". Cinema Online. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  4. ^ Loh, Ivan (19 October 2017). "Semai Dialogue a First in Local Film". The Star. Retrieved 3 February 2021.

Further reading edit

  • Diffloth, Gerard. 1976a. Minor-Syllable Vocalism in Senoic Languages. In Philip N. Lenner, Laurence C. Thompson, and Stanley Starosta (eds.), Austroasiatic Studies, Part I, 229–247. Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press.
  • Diffloth, Gerard. 1976b. Expressives in Semai. In Philip N. Lenner, Laurence C. Thompson, and Stanley Starosta (eds.), Austroasiatic Studies, Part I, 249–264. Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press.
  • Hendricks, Sean. 2001. Bare-Consonant Reduplication Without Prosodic Templates: Expressive Reduplication in Semai. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 10: 287–306.
  • Phillips, Timothy C. 2013. Linguistic Comparison of Semai Dialects. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2013-010: 1–111.

External links edit

Semai language test of Wiki How at Wikimedia Incubator


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