Mintil language
{{For|the ethnic group|Batek people}}{{short description|Austroasiatic language spoken in Malaysia}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Mintil
|nativename=Mayah, Tanɨm
|states=Malaysia
|region=Lipis District, Pahang
|ethnicity=
|speakers=400
|date=2020
|familycolor=Austro-Asiatic
|fam2=Aslian
|fam3=Jahaic
|fam4=Eastern
|iso3=mzt
|glotto=mint1239
|glottorefname=Mintil
}}
Mintil (alternatively Batek Tanum, Tanɨm, or Mayah) is an Aslian language of Malaysia. It is considered to be a variety of the Batek language.
Background
{{expand section|date=February 2021}}
In the late 1960s, Geoffrey Benjamin had come across speakers of Mintil among patients of an Orang Asli hospital at Ulu Gombak, just outside Kuala Lumpur.{{Cite book |last=Benjamin |first=Geoffrey |url=http://www.elpublishing.org/PID/131 |title=Language Documentation and Description, Volume 11 |date=2012 |publisher=Endangered Languages Project, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) |editor-last=Austin |editor-first=Peter K. |location=London |pages=136–230 |chapter=The Aslian languages of Malaysia and Thailand: An Assessment |editor-last2=McGill |editor-first2=Stuart}}
Names and villages
The people are commonly referred to as Batek. There are 400 speakers of Mintil in Lipis District, Pahang who call themselves {{lang|mzt|Batɛik}} ‘in-group people’, {{lang|mzt|Batɛik Tɔm Tanɨm}} ‘people of the Tanum River’, and {{lang|mzt|Batɛik Mayah}} {{IPA|[ba'tɛik may'ãh]|lang=mzt}}. Their villages are:{{Cite journal |last=Lim |first=Teckwyn |date=2020 |title=Ethnolinguistic Notes on the Language Endangerment Status of Mintil, an Aslian Language |journal=Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=i–xiv |hdl-access=free |hdl=10524/52461}}
- Kampung Sungai Garam (Tɔm Mayɛm) (4° 27’ 12” N, 102° 3’ 20” E; 2.5 km south of Kampung Dada Kering)
- Kampung Bencah Kelubi (Batuˀ Jalaŋ) (4° 38’ 23” N, 101° 58’ 45” E; 4 km east of Kampung Telok Gunong)
- Kampung Paya Keladi (Tɔm Hɨyaŋ) (4° 24’ 18” N, 101° 55’ 27” E; 10 km north of Kampung Chegar Perah)
- Kampung Tɔm Kəlkɔəˀ (4° 34’ 39” N, 101° 59’ 43” E; 2 km north of Kampung Kubang Rusa)