Aslian languages
Encyclopedia
The Aslian languages are the original languages of the Orang Asli
, the aboriginal inhabitants of Malaya
and peninsular Thailand
, and a branch of the Mon–Khmer languages, in the Austro-Asiatic
language family
. Aslian languages recognized by the Malaysian administrative practice include Kensiu, Kintaq, Jehai, Mendriq, Bateg, Che' Wong, Lanoh, Temiar, Semai, Jah Hut, Mah Meri, Semaq Beri, Semelai and Temoq.
, Terengganu
and Pahang
. The nearest relatives to the Aslian languages are Monic
and Nicobarese. There is a possibility the early Monic and Nicobarese people may have had contact with the migrants who moved into the Malay Peninsula from further north.
Aslian languages can be said represent a complex palimpsest of loanwords from populations that no longer exist on the Malay Peninsula. Their former residence can be traced from the etymologies and the archaeological evidence for the succession of cultures in the region.
Other aboriginal peoples of Malaya speak Aboriginal Malay languages
: Jakun
, Orang Kanaq
, Orang Seletar
, Temuan
.
Kenaboi is a little attested extinct language of Malaya that may have been Aslian.
consonants are analyzed as sequences of two phonemes, one of which happens to be h.
Aslian syllable-initial consonant clusters are rich and varied. Stops
for example may cluster without restrictions to their place of articulation
or voicing
:
Articulation of laryngeal consonants /h, ʔ/ may be superimposed upon the vowel midway in its articulation, giving the impression of two identical vowels interrupted by the laryngeals.
The functional load of the nasal/oral contrast is not very high in Aslian languages (not many minimal pairs can be cited). Diffloth states that this phenomenon is unpredictable and irregular in Semai dialects, especially on vowels preceded by h- or ʔ-.
Phonemic vowel length has been retained in Senoic languages such as Semai, Temiar and Sabum. Contrastive length has been lost by the whole Northern Aslian group, as well as by Semoq Beri. The loss of vowel length must have led to complex reorganizations in the vocalic systems of the affected languages, by developing new contrasts elsewhere.
Diphthongization is not as obvious in Aslian languages as compared to the other branches of Mon–Khmer. Proto-Semai is reconstructed with 10-11 long monophthongal vowels, but with only one diphthong, /iə/.
Senoic infixes are sensitive to the number of initial consonants in a root. Rising diphthongs like [i̯ə] or [u̯ə] are ambiguous, since the glide may be interpreted as either a feature of the initial or of the vowel.
It has been reported that Temiar -h has bilabial friction after -u-, e.g. /tuh/ 'speak' pronounced as [tuɸ].
It was also noted that the use of the suffix in Aslian languages was a product of recent use of Malay loaned words. For example the use of the infix 'n' is prominent in various Aslian language and it encompasses a myriad of definition.
Example: Jah Hut causatives
Aslian languages insert infixes between two consonants. Simple infixation is when the infix is inserted into the root. The most important liquid infix is the causative -r-, which is productive in Semai and Temiar.
Nasal infixes are also found in Aslian, especially used as nominalizers of verbal roots.
Locative deixis pays careful attention to the relative position (both horizontal and vertical) of speaker and hearer, even when it may be quite irrelevant to the message:
Austroasiatic languages have a penchant for encoding semantically complex ideas into unanalyzable, monomorphemic lexemes e.g. Semai thãʔ 'to make fun of elders sexually'. Such lexical specificity makes for a proliferation of lexicon.
Lexicon elaboration is particularly great in areas which reflect the interaction of the Aslians with their natural environment (plant and animal nomenclature, swidden agriculture terminology etc.). The greatest single sweller of the Aslian vocabulary is the class of words called expressive.
Expressives are words which describe sounds, visual phenomena, bodily sensations, emotions, smells, tastes etc., with minute precision and specificity. They are characterized by special morphophonemic patterns, and make extensive use of sound symbolism. Unlike nouns and verbs, expressives are lexically non-discrete, in that they are subject to a virtually unlimited number of semantic nuancings that are conveyed by small changes in their pronunciation.
For example in Semai, various noises and movements of flapping wings, thrashing fish etc. are depicted by an open set of morphophonemically related expressives like parparpar, krkpur, knapurpur, purpurpur etc.
Aslian Languages do not succumb to ay great deal ofphonological change, yet borrowings from Malay are substantial. This is a result of constant interactions between the Orang Asli and Malays around the region. There is a more significant Malay influence among the nomadic Orang Asli population than within the Orang Asli farming population, as the farmers tend to be situated in the more remote areas and lead a subsistence lifestyle, and thus are less affected by interaction with the Malay language.
Only a small group of Orang Asli receive formal education in the Aslian Languages. Most of the younger Orang Asli use Malay as the medium of instruction in school. There is currently only a total of 5 schools in the state of Pahang and 2 schools in the state of Perak which teach the Aslian language, due to the lack of qualified teachers and teaching aids which are still in the process of development.
Some Aslian languages are already extinct, such as Wila' (also called Bila' or Lowland Semang), which was recorded having been spoken on the Province Wellesley coast opposite Penang
in the early 19th century. Another extinct language is the Ple-Temer tongue, which was previously spoken near Gerik
in northern Perak
.
Orang Asli
Orang Asli , is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia...
, the aboriginal inhabitants of Malaya
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
and peninsular Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and a branch of the Mon–Khmer languages, in the Austro-Asiatic
Austro-Asiatic languages
The Austro-Asiatic languages, in recent classifications synonymous with Mon–Khmer, are a large language family of Southeast Asia, also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name Austro-Asiatic comes from the Latin words for "south" and "Asia", hence "South Asia"...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
. Aslian languages recognized by the Malaysian administrative practice include Kensiu, Kintaq, Jehai, Mendriq, Bateg, Che' Wong, Lanoh, Temiar, Semai, Jah Hut, Mah Meri, Semaq Beri, Semelai and Temoq.
History & Origin
Aslian languages originally appeared on the western side of the main mountains and eventually spread eastwards into KelantanKelantan
Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The Arabic honorific of the state is Darul Naim, ....
, Terengganu
Terengganu
Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...
and Pahang
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
. The nearest relatives to the Aslian languages are Monic
Monic languages
The Monic languages are a branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family descended from the Old Monic language of the kingdom of Dvaravati in what is now central Thailand...
and Nicobarese. There is a possibility the early Monic and Nicobarese people may have had contact with the migrants who moved into the Malay Peninsula from further north.
Aslian languages can be said represent a complex palimpsest of loanwords from populations that no longer exist on the Malay Peninsula. Their former residence can be traced from the etymologies and the archaeological evidence for the succession of cultures in the region.
Classification
- JahaicJahaic languagesThe Jahaic languages are a group of Aslian languages spoken by about 5,000 people in inland areas of Peninsular Malaysia, with a few pockets in southern Thailand. The most distinctive language in the group is Chewong, which is spoken south of Semai...
: Chewong, Batek, Tonga, Mos, KensiuKensiu languageKensiu is a Northern Aslian language, a sub-branch of the Mon–Khmer language family. It is spoken by a small community of 300 in Yala Province in southern Thailand and also reportedly by a community of approximately 300 speakers in Western Malaysia in Perak and Kedah States...
, Kentaqbong, Jahai, Menriq, Mintil - SemelaicSemelaic languagesThe Semelaic languages are a sub-branch of the Aslian branch of Mon–Khmer group of languages. They are based in the southern part of the central Malaysian plain, and are thus sometimes referred to as the Southern Aslian languages. The four languages that make up the sub-branch are Temoq, Semelai,...
: Mah MeriMah Meri languageMah Meri, also known as Besisi and Betise’, is an aboriginal Mon–Khmer language spoken in Malaya. It is the only such language spoken on the coast, in Malacca outside of the capital Kuala Lumpur. The small number of speakers is increasing....
(Besisi), SemelaiSemelai languageThe Semelai language is a dialect spoken by the Semalai people, one of nineteen orang asli tribal peoples of Malaysia. The Semelai reside in the region between Segamat and the Pahang River. The Semelai language is an Austro-Asiatic language, while the Proto-Malay peoples speak Austronesian...
, Temoq, Semoq Beri - SenoicSenoic languagesThe Senoic languages are a group of Aslian languages spoken by about 33,000 people in the main range of the Malay peninsula. Languages in the group are Semai and Temiar , along with Lanoh, Sabüm and Semnam. The collective Language code for the Senoic languages is mkh....
: SemaiSemai languageSemai is a Mon–Khmer language of Western Malaysia spoken by about 44,000 Semai people. It is perhaps the only Aslian language which is not endangered, and even has 2,000 monolingual speakers....
, TemiarTemiar languageTemiar is an Aslian language spoken in Western Malaysia by the Temiar people. The Temiar are one of the larger Aslian peoples, but it is not known how many of them still speak their language....
, Lanoh, Sabum, Semnam - Jah HutJah Hut languageJah Hut is an Aslian Austro-Asiatic language spoken in Peninsular Malaysia by approximately 5,100 people....
Other aboriginal peoples of Malaya speak Aboriginal Malay languages
Aboriginal Malay languages
The Aboriginal Malay languages is a group of languages spoken by the Orang Asli community in Peninsular Malaysia. There are four languages in the group:...
: Jakun
Jakun language
Jakun is an Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia. Specifically it is spoken on the east coast and inland of Peninsular Malaysia, around the Pairang River, from Pekan in Pahang to Sri Gading, east to Benut, northwest to middle Muar river area around the districts of Segamat, Muar and Ledang in...
, Orang Kanaq
Orang Kanaq language
Orang Kanaq language is one of the Aboriginal Malay languages and it is grouped under the Austonesian Language family. It is spoken by the Orang Kanaq, which is one of the 19 Orang Asli groups living in Peninsular Malaysia...
, Orang Seletar
Orang Seletar language
Orang Seletar is a language spoken by 1,737 people on the Malay Peninsula.There are 853 speakers in Malaysia and 884 in Singapore as of 2000....
, Temuan
Temuan language
The Temuan language is an Austronesian language spoken by the Temuan people, one of the Orang Asli or indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia in the states of Selangor, Pahang, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan. It has a degree of mutual intelligibility with the Malay language.-External links:* Orang...
.
Kenaboi is a little attested extinct language of Malaya that may have been Aslian.
Syllable Structure
Aslian words may either be monosyllabic, sesquisyllabic or disyllabic:- Monosyllabic: either simple C V (C) or complex C C V (C).
- Sesquisyllabic: consist of a major syllable with fully stressed vowel, preceded by a minor syllable
- Temiar ləpud 'caudal fin'
- Semai kʔɛːp [kɛʔɛːp] 'centipede'
- Disyllabic: more morphologically complex, resulting from various reduplicationReduplicationReduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
s and infixations. Compounds with unreduced though unstressed vowels also occur:- Temiar diŋ-rəb 'shelter'
- Loanwords from Malay are a further source of disyllables:
- Jah Hut suraʔ 'sing', from Malay; suara 'voice'
- Semai tiba:ʔ 'arrive', from Malay; tiba 'arrive'
- Temiar even has phonetic trisyllables in morphological categories such as the middle causativeCausativeIn linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
(tərakɔ̄w) and the continuative causative (tərɛwkɔ̄w), or in words with proclitics (barhalab ~ behalab 'go downriver').
Initial Consonants
Aslian words generally start with a consonant. Words which start with a vowel will be followed by a glottal stop. In most Aslian languages, aspiratedAspiration (phonetics)
In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...
consonants are analyzed as sequences of two phonemes, one of which happens to be h.
Aslian syllable-initial consonant clusters are rich and varied. Stops
Stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...
for example may cluster without restrictions to their place of articulation
Place of articulation
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an articulatory gesture, an active articulator , and a passive location...
or voicing
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
:
- Jah Hut tkak 'palate', dkaŋ 'bamboo rat', bkul 'gray', bgɔk 'goiter'
Articulation of laryngeal consonants /h, ʔ/ may be superimposed upon the vowel midway in its articulation, giving the impression of two identical vowels interrupted by the laryngeals.
- Jah Hut /jʔaŋ/ [jaʔaŋ] 'bone', /ɲhɔːʡ/ [ɲɔˑhɔˑʡ] 'tree'
Vowels
A typical Aslian system is displayed by Northern Temiar, which has 30 vocalic nuclei.| Oral | Nasal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | |
| Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the... |
i ʉ u | iː ʉː uː | ĩ ʉ̃ ũ | ĩː ʉ̃ː ũː |
| Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel... |
e ə o | eː əː oː | N/A | N/A |
| Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue... |
ɛ a ɔ | ɛː aː ɔː | ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃ | ɛ̃ː ãː ɔ̃ː |
The functional load of the nasal/oral contrast is not very high in Aslian languages (not many minimal pairs can be cited). Diffloth states that this phenomenon is unpredictable and irregular in Semai dialects, especially on vowels preceded by h- or ʔ-.
Phonemic vowel length has been retained in Senoic languages such as Semai, Temiar and Sabum. Contrastive length has been lost by the whole Northern Aslian group, as well as by Semoq Beri. The loss of vowel length must have led to complex reorganizations in the vocalic systems of the affected languages, by developing new contrasts elsewhere.
Diphthongization is not as obvious in Aslian languages as compared to the other branches of Mon–Khmer. Proto-Semai is reconstructed with 10-11 long monophthongal vowels, but with only one diphthong, /iə/.
Senoic infixes are sensitive to the number of initial consonants in a root. Rising diphthongs like [i̯ə] or [u̯ə] are ambiguous, since the glide may be interpreted as either a feature of the initial or of the vowel.
Final Consonants
Aslian languages are well endowed with final consonants, with most of the languages placing a lot of stress on them.- -r, -l, -s, -h and -ʔ are represented and well-preserved in Aslian. There is also a tendency to shorten long vowels before these finals.
It has been reported that Temiar -h has bilabial friction after -u-, e.g. /tuh/ 'speak' pronounced as [tuɸ].
Morphology
All Aslian languages that have been thoroughly studied have constructive usage of various morphophonemic devices – prefixation, infixation and reduplication. Also, most Aslian languages preserve fossilized traces of other morphological patterns that are no longer productive.It was also noted that the use of the suffix in Aslian languages was a product of recent use of Malay loaned words. For example the use of the infix 'n' is prominent in various Aslian language and it encompasses a myriad of definition.
Simple Prefixation
- C(C)VC → (P)(P)–C(C)VC
Example: Jah Hut causatives
| Affixes | Simplex | Causative |
|---|---|---|
| p- | cyɛk 'sleep' | pcyɛk 'put to sleep' |
| pr- | bhec 'be afraid' | prbhec 'frighten' |
| pn- | tlas 'escape' | pntlas 'release' |
| tr- | hus 'get loose (clothes) | trhus 'undress' |
| kr- | lʉy 'be inside' | krlʉy 'put inside' |
Simple infixation
- C (C) V C → C-I-(C) V C
Aslian languages insert infixes between two consonants. Simple infixation is when the infix is inserted into the root. The most important liquid infix is the causative -r-, which is productive in Semai and Temiar.
- Semai (root has 2 initial consonants, infix comes between them): kʔā:c 'be wet', krʔā:c 'moisten something'.
Nasal infixes are also found in Aslian, especially used as nominalizers of verbal roots.
- Jah Hut (the agentive nominalizing prefix is mʔ-): lyɛp 'plait palm leaves' → mlayɛp 'one who plaits'; cyɛk 'sleep' → mʔcyɛk 'one who sleeps a lot'
Reduplicative Infixation: Incopyfixation
A reduplication of the final consonant of the root is being infixed to the root. This process occurs in all 3 branches of Aslian.- Incopyfix of final alone (roots complex by nature):
- Kensiw: plɔɲ 'sing' → pɲlɔɲ 'singing'
- Che' Wong: hwæc 'whistle' → hcwæc 'whistling'
- Root-external infix plus incopyfix. In Semai, count nouns are derived from mass nouns by using a root-external nasal infix and an incopyfix of the final. When the root-initial is simple, the incopyfix precedes the infix:
- teːw 'river' (mass) →twneːw [tuniːw] 'id.' (count).
When the root-initial is complex, the infix precedes the incopyfix: - slaːy 'swidden' (mass) → snylaːy [snilaːj] 'id.' (count)
- teːw 'river' (mass) →twneːw [tuniːw] 'id.' (count).
- Root-external prefix plus incopyfix. Simple-initialled verbs are formed by inserting the prefix n- and incopyfixing the final between prefix and the root-initial:
- Bateg: jɰk 'breathe' → nkjɰk 'the act of breathing'
- Mah Meri: duʔ 'run' → nʔduʔ 'running'
- Reduplication of the initial and a root-external infix. This is present in Semai and Temiar, which have a verbal infix -a-. In Semai, it forms resultative verbs, while in Temiar, it marks the 'simulfactive aspect'. In both languages, if the root has two consonants, the suffix-a- is inserted between them:
- Semai: slɔːr 'lay flat objects into round container' → salɔːr 'be in layers (in round container)'
- Temiar: slɔg 'lie down, sleep, marry' → salɔg 'go straight off to sleep'
If the consonant initial of the root is simple, it is reduplicated so that the -a- can be inserted between the original and its copy. - Semai: cɛ̄ːs 'tear off' → cacɛ̄ːs 'be torn off'
- Temiar: gəl 'sit' → gagəl 'sit down suddenly'
- Reduplication of the initial and incopyfixation of the final. A simple initial is reduplicated for the incopyfixation of the final. In Aslian, this is used to derive the progressive verbs.
- Batek (N.Aslian): kɰc 'grate' → kckɰc 'is grating'
- Semelai (S.Aslian): tʰəm 'pound' → tmtʰəm 'is pounding'
- Semai (Senoic): laal 'stick out one's tongue' → lllaal 'is sticking out one's tongue'
Grammar
Aslian syntax is presumably conservative with respect to Austroasiatic as a whole, though Malay influence is apparent in some details of the grammar (e.g. use of numeral classifiers).a) Basic and permuted word order
- Senoic sentences are prepositional and seem to fall into two basic types – process (active) and stative. In stative sentences, the predicate comes first:
(1) Mənūʔ ʔəh (big, it) VP NP (Subject) It's big.
- In process sentences, the subject normally comes first, with the object and all other complements following the verb:
(2) Cwəʔ yəh- mʔmus NP (Subj) P (Pfx) V The dog growls.
- In Jah Hut, all are complements, but the direct object require a preposition:
(3) ʔihãh naʔ cɔp rap tuy han bulus NP (Subj) Aux V N (Obj) Det Prep Obj I INTENT stab boar that with spear I'll stab that boar with a spear
- Relative clauses, similar verbal modifiers, possessives, demonstratives and attributive nouns follow their head-noun:
(4) ʔidɔh pləʔ kɔm bɔʔ-caʔ NP (Subj) N (H) Aux P (Pfx) V this fruit can 1p-pl, eat This is a fruit which we can eat.
- The negative morpheme precedes the verb, though the personal prefix may intervene before the verb root:
(5) ʔe-loʔ tɔʔ ha-rɛɲrec sej mɛjmɛj naʔ why Neg P (Pfx V N (h) NP (Obj) Det why NEG 2p-eat meat excellent that Why didn't you eat that excellent meat?
b) Deixis, directionality and voice
Senoic languages set much store by deictic precision. This manifests itself in their elaborate pronominal systems, which make inclusive/exclusive and dual/plural distinctions, and take the trouble to reflect the person and number of the subject by a prefixal concordpronoun on the verb.Locative deixis pays careful attention to the relative position (both horizontal and vertical) of speaker and hearer, even when it may be quite irrelevant to the message:
| (6) | yēʔ | doh | ʔi-mʔog | ma hãʔ | naʔ |
| Pron | LOC | P (Pfx)-Prt-V | Prep-pron | LOC | |
| I here will give it to you there. (I 'll give it to you) | |||||
Lexicon And Semantics
No comprehensive dictionary of an Aslian language has yet to be published, though it is already clear that their lexicons are extraordinarily rich. While the Aslian languages have borrowed from each otherAustroasiatic languages have a penchant for encoding semantically complex ideas into unanalyzable, monomorphemic lexemes e.g. Semai thãʔ 'to make fun of elders sexually'. Such lexical specificity makes for a proliferation of lexicon.
Lexicon elaboration is particularly great in areas which reflect the interaction of the Aslians with their natural environment (plant and animal nomenclature, swidden agriculture terminology etc.). The greatest single sweller of the Aslian vocabulary is the class of words called expressive.
Expressives are words which describe sounds, visual phenomena, bodily sensations, emotions, smells, tastes etc., with minute precision and specificity. They are characterized by special morphophonemic patterns, and make extensive use of sound symbolism. Unlike nouns and verbs, expressives are lexically non-discrete, in that they are subject to a virtually unlimited number of semantic nuancings that are conveyed by small changes in their pronunciation.
For example in Semai, various noises and movements of flapping wings, thrashing fish etc. are depicted by an open set of morphophonemically related expressives like parparpar, krkpur, knapurpur, purpurpur etc.
Influences from other languages
The Aslian languages have links with numerous languages. This is evident in the numerous borrowings from early Austronesian languages, specifically those from Borneo. There was a possibility that migrants from Borneo settled in the Malay Peninsula 3000–4000 years ago and established cultural dominanace over the Aslian speakers. Aslian words also contain words of Chamic, Acehnese and Malayic origin. For example, several Aslian Languages made use of Austronesian classifiers, even though classifiers exist in the Aslian language.Aslian Languages do not succumb to ay great deal ofphonological change, yet borrowings from Malay are substantial. This is a result of constant interactions between the Orang Asli and Malays around the region. There is a more significant Malay influence among the nomadic Orang Asli population than within the Orang Asli farming population, as the farmers tend to be situated in the more remote areas and lead a subsistence lifestyle, and thus are less affected by interaction with the Malay language.
Endangerment, Extinction
All Aslian languages are endangered as they are spoken by a small group of people, with contributing factors including speaker deaths and linguistic assimilation with the Malay community. Some efforts are being made to preserve the Aslian Language in Malaysia. Some radio stations in Malaysia broadcast in Aslian languages, these stations broadcast in Aslian Languages for nine hours every day. Other media such as Newspapers, magazine type programmes and dramas are broadcast in Aslian Languages.Only a small group of Orang Asli receive formal education in the Aslian Languages. Most of the younger Orang Asli use Malay as the medium of instruction in school. There is currently only a total of 5 schools in the state of Pahang and 2 schools in the state of Perak which teach the Aslian language, due to the lack of qualified teachers and teaching aids which are still in the process of development.
Some Aslian languages are already extinct, such as Wila' (also called Bila' or Lowland Semang), which was recorded having been spoken on the Province Wellesley coast opposite Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
in the early 19th century. Another extinct language is the Ple-Temer tongue, which was previously spoken near Gerik
Gerik
Gerik is a district capital town of Hulu Perak district in Perak, Malaysia. The town is also known as Rest Town owing to its strategic location next to major highways of the country, East-West Highway....
in northern Perak
Perak
Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...
.
Further reading
- Adams, Karen Lee. Systems of Numeral Classification in the Mon–Khmer, Nicobarese and Aslian Subfamilies of Austroasiatic. [S.l: s.n.], 1982.
- Philip N. Jenner, Laurence C. Thompson, Stanley StarostaJ eds. (1976) Austroasiatic Studies Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications No. 13, 2 volumes, Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press, ISBN 0824802802
External links
- Ethnologue report for Aslian languages
- Ceq Wong (Chewong) Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)