Semai language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Revision as of 01:59, 22 May 2025 by imported>PharyngealBOT (IPA conversion in phonetic tables (3 templates))
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other

Semai (Script error: No such module "Lang".) 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

Oral vowels
Front Central Back
Close Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Close-mid Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open-mid Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Nasal vowels
Front Central Back
Close Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Mid Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open Template:IPA link Template:IPA link

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
voiced Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Nasal voiced Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
preploded Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Script error: No such module "IPA". Template:IPA link
Fricative Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Rhotic Template:IPA link~Template:IPA link
Lateral Template:IPA link
Approximant Template:IPA link Template:IPA link

Examples

Examples of words in Semai include the following:

English Semai Malay
I Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Eat Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Drink Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Bathe Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Clean Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Good Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Chicken Script error: No such module "Lang"./Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Rice Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Mushroom Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
Why Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".
How Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".

In popular culture

  • Asli (2017),[1] 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.[2]

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

Template: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.

Template:Refend

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Languages of Malaysia Template:Austro-Asiatic languages Template:Authority control


Template:AustroAsiatic-lang-stub Template:Asbox

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Semai_language&oldid=2421845"