Semelai is an Austroasiatic language spoken in the Malay Peninsula. It belongs to the Southern branch of the Aslian language subgrouping. The Semelai reside predominantly around the Bera, Serting and associated river systems in the states of Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Johor.
Semelai | |
---|---|
Native to | Malaysia |
Region | Malay Peninsula |
Ethnicity | 6,300 (2008)[1] |
Native speakers | 4,100 (2009)[1] |
Latin script | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | sza |
Glottolog | seme1247 |
ELP | Semelai |
Semelai has 32 consonants and 20 vowels.[2]
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | c | k | ʔ |
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | ||
voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ||
Fricative | s ~ ɕ | h | ||||
Nasal | voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ŋ̊ | ||
voiced | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
preglottal | ʔm | ʔn | ʔɲ | |||
Approximant | plain | l | j | w | ||
preglottal | ʔl | ʔj | ||||
Trill | plain | r | ||||
preglottal | ʔr |
Vowels are also distinguished with nasal counterparts:
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i ĩ | ʉ ʉ̃ | u ũ |
Close-mid | e ẽ | ə ə̃ | o õ |
Open-mid | ɛ ɛ̃ | ɔ ɔ̃ | |
Open | a ã | ɒ ɒ̃ |