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Semai language

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{short description|Austroasiatic language spoken in Malaysia}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Semai

|nativename=engrok Semai

|states=Peninsular Malaysia

|ethnicity=60,438 Semai people (2020){{cite web|url=https://www.jakoa.gov.my/orang-asli/taburan-etnik-orang-asli-mengikut-etnik-sub-etnik-mengikut-negeri/ |title= Basic Data / Statistics |publisher= JAKOA|access-date=2022-10-30}}

|speakers=60,438|date=2020|ref=e19

|familycolor=Austro-Asiatic

|fam2=Aslian

|fam3=Senoic

|iso3=sea

|glotto=sema1266

|glottorefname=Semai

|script=Latin

}}

Semai ({{lang|sea|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.

Phonology

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 =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Oral vowels

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

Close

|{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}

|{{IPA link|ɨ}} {{IPA link|ɨː}}

|{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}

Close-mid

|{{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|eː}}

|

|{{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|oː}}

Open-mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|ɛː}}

|{{IPA link|ə}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}} {{IPA link|ɔː}}

Open

|

|{{IPA link|ɑ}} {{IPA link|ɑː}}

|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Nasal vowels

!

! Front

!Central

!Back

Close

|{{IPA link|ĩ}} {{IPA link|ĩː}}

|{{IPA link|ɨ̃}} {{IPA link|ɨ̃ː}}

|{{IPA link|ũ}} {{IPA link|ũː}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ̃}} {{IPA link|ɛ̃ː}}

|{{IPA link|ə̃}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ̃}} {{IPA link|ɔ̃ː}}

Open

|

|{{IPA link|ɑ̃}} {{IPA link|ɑ̃ː}}

|

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" |

!Bilabial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|c}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|ʔ}}

voiced

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|ɟ}}

|{{IPA link|ɡ}}

|

rowspan="2" |Nasal

!voiced

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|{{IPA link|ɲ}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

|

preploded

|{{IPA link|ᵇm}}

|{{IPA link|ᵈn}}

|{{IPA|ɟɲ}}

|{{IPA link|ᶢŋ}}

|

colspan="2" |Fricative

|

|{{IPA link|s}}

|

|

|{{IPA link|h}}

colspan="2" |Rhotic

|

|{{IPA link|ɾ}}~{{IPA link|r}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Lateral

|

|{{IPA link|l}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPA link|w}}

|

|{{IPA link|j}}

|

|

Examples

Examples of words in Semai include the following:

class="wikitable"
English

! Semai

! Malay

I

| {{lang|sea|Eng}}

| {{lang|ms|Saya}}

Eat

| {{lang|sea|Cak}}

| {{lang|ms|Makan}}

Drink

| {{lang|sea|Ngaut}}

| {{lang|ms|Minum}}

Bathe

| {{lang|sea|Mehmu}}

| {{lang|ms|Mandi}}

Clean

| {{lang|sea|Parlain}}

| {{lang|ms|Bersih}}

Good

| {{lang|sea|Bor}}

| {{lang|ms|Bagus}}

Chicken

| {{lang|sea|Bafung}}/{{lang|sea|Fung}}

| {{lang|ms|Ayam}}

Rice

| {{lang|sea|Cengroy}}

| {{lang|ms|Beras}}

Mushroom

| {{lang|sea|Cenai}}

| {{lang|ms|Cendawan}}

Why

| {{lang|sea|Jalek}}

| {{lang|ms|Kenapa}}

How

| {{lang|sea|Rahalook}}

| {{lang|ms|Bagaimana}}

In popular culture

  • Asli (2017),{{Cite web |title=Asli |url=http://www.cinema.com.my/movies/details.aspx?search=2017.12698.asli.25455 |access-date=3 February 2021 |website=Cinema Online |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Loh |first=Ivan |date=19 October 2017 |title=Semai Dialogue a First in Local Film |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/19/semai-dialogue-a-first-in-local-film-language-features-in-50-of-asli/ |access-date=3 February 2021 |website=The Star}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

{{refbegin}}

  • 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.

{{refend}}

External links

{{incubator|sea}}

  • http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
  • http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66BF-5@view Semai in RWAAI Digital Archive
  • [https://www.webonary.org/semai/en/ Semai dictionary of SIL International] – online version accessible from Webonary.org

{{Languages of Malaysia}}

{{Austro-Asiatic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Languages of Malaysia

Category:Aslian languages

{{AustroAsiatic-lang-stub}}

{{Malaysia-stub}}