| Aslian | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand |
| Linguistic classification: | Austro-Asiatic
|
| Subdivisions: | |
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. Aslian languages recognized by the Malaysian administration include Kensiu, Kintaq, Jehai, Mendriq, Bateg, Che' Wong, Lanoh, Temiar, Semai, Jah Hut, Mah Meri, Semaq Beri, Semelai, and Temoq.[1]
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Aslian languages originally appeared on the western side of the main mountains and eventually spread eastwards into Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.[2] The nearest relatives to the Aslian languages are Monic and Nicobarese.[3] 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 to contain a complex palimpsest of loanwords from linguistic communities 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.
Aslian words may either be monosyllabic, sesquisyllabic or disyllabic:
Aslian words generally start with a consonant. Words which start with a vowel will be followed by a glottal stop.[2] In most Aslian languages, aspirated 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.
A typical Aslian system is displayed by Northern Temiar, which has 30 vocalic nuclei.[8]
| Oral | Nasal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | |
| Close | i ʉ u | iː ʉː uː | ĩ ʉ̃ ũ | ĩː ʉ̃ː ũː |
| Mid | e ə o | eː əː oː | N/A | N/A |
| Open | 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[10] 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/.[4]
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.
Aslian languages are well endowed with final consonants,[4] with most of the languages placing a lot of stress on them.[2]
It has been reported that Temiar -h has bilabial friction after -u-, e.g. /tuh/ 'speak' pronounced as [tuɸ].[8]
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.[4]
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.[2]
Example: Jah Hut causatives [4]
| 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' |
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.
A reduplication of the final consonant of the root is being infixed to the root. This process [6] occurs in all 3 branches of Aslian.
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).[4]
| (1) | Mənūʔ | ʔəh (big, it) |
| VP | NP (Subject) | |
| It's big. | ||
| (2) | Cwəʔ | yəh- | mʔmus |
| NP (Subj) | P (Pfx) | V | |
| The dog growls. | |||
| (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 | |||||||
| (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. | |||||
| (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? | |||||||
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.[4]
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) | |||||
No comprehensive dictionary of an Aslian language has yet to be published, though it is already clear that their lexicons are extraordinarily rich.[4] While the Aslian languages have borrowed from each other [1]
Austroasiatic languages have a penchant for encoding semantically complex ideas into unanalyzable, monomorphemic lexemes e.g. Semai thãʔ 'to make fun of elders sexually'.[16] 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.[17]
Expressives are words which describe sounds, visual phenomena, bodily sensations, emotions, smells, tastes etc., with minute precision and specificity.[4] 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.[4]
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.[3] For example, several Aslian Languages made use of Austronesian classifiers, even though classifiers exist in the Aslian language.[18]
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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[2]