Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Semai language
open-in-new
<h2 id="phonology">Phonology</h2> <p>One notable aspect of Semai <a href="/facts/Phonology/qWAsvnok">phonology</a> is its highly irregular pattern of expressive <a href="/facts/Reduplication/m6CxqyE4">reduplication</a>, showing discontiguous copying from just the edges of the reduplicant's base, thus forming a minor <a href="/facts/Syllable/Ylt7pyJe">syllable</a>. </p> <h3>Vowels</h3> Oral vowels<table><tbody><tr><th></th><th><a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">Front</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Central_vowel/IFSaKUe9">Central</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">Back</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close_vowel/Ne6tHQHR">Close</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">i</a> <a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">iː</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Close_central_unrounded_vowel/YdtMNGWw">ɨ</a> <a href="/facts/Close_central_unrounded_vowel/YdtMNGWw">ɨː</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">u</a> <a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">uː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close-mid_vowel/rK07wQEd">Close-mid</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/e9YNLF97">e</a> <a href="/facts/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/e9YNLF97">eː</a></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel/VwS9cKWJ">o</a> <a href="/facts/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel/VwS9cKWJ">oː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open-mid_vowel/qkco8QqT">Open-mid</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/aDRvwE46">ɛ</a> <a href="/facts/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/aDRvwE46">ɛː</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Mid_central_vowel/CCx0wYy3">ə</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel/yMNUClGt">ɔ</a> <a href="/facts/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel/yMNUClGt">ɔː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open_vowel/roS0Y7lA">Open</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Open_back_unrounded_vowel/znr1wT5C">ɑ</a> <a href="/facts/Open_back_unrounded_vowel/znr1wT5C">ɑː</a></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> Nasal vowels<table><tbody><tr><th></th><th><a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">Front</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Central_vowel/IFSaKUe9">Central</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">Back</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close_vowel/Ne6tHQHR">Close</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ĩ</a> <a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ĩː</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɨ̃</a> <a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɨ̃ː</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ũ</a> <a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ũː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Mid_vowel/uzjGLRhf">Mid</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɛ̃</a> <a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɛ̃ː</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ə̃</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɔ̃</a> <a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɔ̃ː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open_vowel/roS0Y7lA">Open</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɑ̃</a> <a href="/facts/Nasal_vowel/E8MYuu0T">ɑ̃ː</a></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Consonants</h3> <table><tbody><tr><th colspan="2"></th><th><a href="/facts/Bilabial_consonant/q2H5MUAe">Bilabial</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Alveolar_consonant/B6VkW2EX">Alveolar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Palatal_consonant/KLcKyXE8">Palatal</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Velar_consonant/blWClp79">Velar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Glottal_consonant/rMdEdLxH">Glottal</a></th></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Stop_consonant/okC9pztc">Plosive</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Voicelessness/575TtTUn">voiceless</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive/w4M9Igp6">p</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_palatal_plosive/nBqIqUIS">c</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_plosive/dDppVb6e">k</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Glottal_stop/Xfqy2ArP">ʔ</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Voice_(phonetics)/VdqrEGQ3">voiced</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_plosive/6ReC9arR">b</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_plosive/A6hNvmCp">d</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_plosive/otrWQbpW">ɟ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Nasal_consonant/m6D3cVhe">Nasal</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Voice_(phonetics)/VdqrEGQ3">voiced</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_nasal/1pd7NK2x">m</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_nasal/0CEs8314">n</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_nasal/dLa9YG49">ɲ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_nasal/r6v5q92L">ŋ</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Pre-stopped_consonant/JzE5TRs8">preploded</a></th><td>ᵇm</td><td>ᵈn</td><td>ɟɲ</td><td>ᶢŋ</td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Fricative/1FQuuhfX">Fricative</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative/WLKtEYDe">s</a></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_glottal_fricative/lfRB7CPW">h</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Rhotic_consonant/tcAGzjfP">Rhotic</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_dental_and_alveolar_taps_and_flaps/EvQ781EU">ɾ</a>~<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_trill/rDplJobc">r</a></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Lateral_consonant/Mcyc1or8">Lateral</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant/dgbHhqeK">l</a></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Approximant/SXrlw7zY">Approximant</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%E2%80%93velar_approximant/HLDqbrvr">w</a></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">j</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <p>Examples of words in Semai include the following: </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>English</th><th>Semai</th><th><a href="/facts/Malay_language/2T6pPtgv">Malay</a></th></tr><tr><td>I</td><td><i>Eng</i></td><td><i>Saya</i></td></tr><tr><td>Eat</td><td><i>Cak</i></td><td><i>Makan</i></td></tr><tr><td>Drink</td><td><i>Ngaut</i></td><td><i>Minum</i></td></tr><tr><td>Bathe</td><td><i>Mehmu</i></td><td><i>Mandi</i></td></tr><tr><td>Clean</td><td><i>Parlain</i></td><td><i>Bersih</i></td></tr><tr><td>Good</td><td><i>Bor</i></td><td><i>Bagus</i></td></tr><tr><td>Chicken</td><td><i>Bafung</i>/<i>Fung</i></td><td><i>Ayam</i></td></tr><tr><td>Rice</td><td><i>Cengroy</i></td><td><i>Beras</i></td></tr><tr><td>Mushroom</td><td><i>Cenai</i></td><td><i>Cendawan</i></td></tr><tr><td>Why</td><td><i>Jalek</i></td><td><i>Kenapa</i></td></tr><tr><td>How</td><td><i>Rahalook</i></td><td><i>Bagaimana</i></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="in-popular-culture">In popular culture</h2> <ul><li><i>Asli</i> (2017),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> a film directed by David Liew, is about a <a href="/facts/Multiracial_people/6Lw9XVgR">bi-racial</a> girl on a road to discover her cultural heritage, is the first film to use the Semai language in 50% of its dialogue.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Diffloth, Gerard. 1976a. Minor-Syllable Vocalism in Senoic Languages. In Philip N. Lenner, Laurence C. Thompson, and Stanley Starosta (eds.), <i>Austroasiatic Studies, Part I</i>, 229–247. Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press.</li> <li>Diffloth, Gerard. 1976b. Expressives in Semai. In Philip N. Lenner, Laurence C. Thompson, and Stanley Starosta (eds.), <i>Austroasiatic Studies, Part I</i>, 249–264. Honolulu: The University of Hawaii Press.</li> <li>Hendricks, Sean. 2001. Bare-Consonant Reduplication Without Prosodic Templates: Expressive Reduplication in Semai. <i>Journal of East Asian Linguistics</i> 10: 287–306.</li> <li>Phillips, Timothy C. 2013. Linguistic Comparison of Semai Dialects. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2013-010: 1–111.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <i>Semai language test</i> of <a href="/facts/Wikipedia/KDRNKWnc">Wikipedia</a> at Wikimedia Incubator <ul><li><a href="http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai">http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai</a> RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)</li> <li>http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66BF-5@view Semai in RWAAI Digital Archive</li> <li><a href="https://www.webonary.org/semai/en/">Semai dictionary of SIL International</a> – online version accessible from Webonary.org</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Asli". Cinema Online. Retrieved 3 February 2021. <a href="http://www.cinema.com.my/movies/details.aspx?search=2017.12698.asli.25455" target="_blank">http://www.cinema.com.my/movies/details.aspx?search=2017.12698.asli.25455</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Loh, Ivan (19 October 2017). "Semai Dialogue a First in Local Film". The Star. Retrieved 3 February 2021. <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/19/semai-dialogue-a-first-in-local-film-language-features-in-50-of-asli/" target="_blank">https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/19/semai-dialogue-a-first-in-local-film-language-features-in-50-of-asli/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>