Temiar language

Temiar
Native to	Peninsular Malaysia
Native speakers	30,000 (2020) [1]
Language family	Austroasiatic Aslian Senoic Temiar
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tea
Glottolog	temi1246
ELP	Temiar

Temiar is a Central Aslian (Austroasiatic) language spoken in Western Malaysia by the Temiar people. The Temiar are one of the most numerous Aslian-speaking peoples, numbering around 30,000 in 2017. ^[2]

Name

Etymologically, the word "Temiar" means "edge" or "side". This meaning reflects the way in which Temiars describe themselves as "people of the edge, outside, [i.e. jungle]." ^[3]

Phonology

Vowels

Oral vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː	ʉ ʉː	u uː
Close-mid	e eː		o oː
Open-mid	ɛ ɛː	ə əː	ɔ ɔː
Open		a aː

Nasal vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	ĩ ĩː	ʉ̃ ʉ̃ː	ũ ũː
Mid	ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː		ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː
Open		ã ãː

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	ɟ	ɡ
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Rhotic			ɾ
Lateral			l
Fricative				ɕ		h
Approximant		w		j

Morphosyntax

Noun Phrase

The noun phrase is (pro)noun initial followed by modifiers and demonstratives or possessor pronouns. Pronouns may not be modified by another pronoun. ^[4] There are three allomorphic classes of pronouns (stressed unstressed, and bound). Stressed third person pronouns must occur with a demonstrative (and hence only occur as unstressed or as bound morphemes on the demonstrative (e.g. na-doh 'he-here' or ʔun-tu:y 'they-elsewhere.' ^[4]

Stressed Pronouns

Person	Singular	Dual		Plural
		Inclusive	Exclusive	Inclusive	Exclusive
1	ye:ʔ	ʔa:r	ya:r	ʔɛ:ʔ	kanɛ:ʔ
2	ha:ʔ	kəʔan		ɲɔb

Unstressed Pronouns

Person	Singular	Dual		Plural
		Inclusive	Exclusive	Inclusive	Exclusive
1	yeh	ʔah	yah	ʔɛh	kanɛh
2	hah	kəʔan		ɲɔb
3	ʔəh	wehwɛh		ʔunʔən

Bound Pronouns

Person	Singular	Dual		Plural
		Inclusive	Exclusive	Inclusive	Exclusive
1	ʔi-	ʔa-	ya-	ʔɛ-	kanɛ- ki- kɛ-
2	ha-	kəʔa-		ɲɔ(b)-
3	na-ʔə-	we-wɛ-		ʔun-

Verb Phrase

The verb phrase is ordered as sentential negation, auxiliary verb and main verb. The verb phrase precedes the subject. ^[4]

References

1. Temiar at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Benjamin, Geoffrey (November 2013). "Aesthetic elements in Temiar grammar". In Williams, Jeffrey P (ed.). The Aesthetics of Grammar: Sound and Meaning in the Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia. pp. 36–60. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139030489.004. ISBN   9781139030489 . Retrieved 2019-10-14.
3. Benjamin, Geoffrey (2012). "The Peculiar History of the Ethnonym "Temiar"". Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia. 27 (2): 205–233. doi:10.1355/sj27-2a.
4. Benjamin, Geoffrey (1976). An Outline of Temiar Grammar. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 129–187. ISSN   0078-3188. JSTOR   20019155.

Further reading

• Benjamin, Geoffrey. 2011. "Deponent verbs and middle-voice nouns in Temiar." In: Sophana Srichampa & Paul Sidwell (eds), Austroasiatic Studies: Papers from ICAAL4 ( Mon-Khmer Studies , Special Issue no. 2), Canberra: Pacific Linguistics E-8, pp. 11–37. ISBN   9780858836419 (electronic document)
• Benjamin, Geoffrey. 2012. "The Temiar causative (and related features) Archived 2022-01-30 at the Wayback Machine ." Mon-Khmer Studies 41: 32–45. ISSN   0147-5207 (online).
• Benjamin, Geoffrey. 2014. "Aesthetic elements in Temiar grammar." In: Jeffrey Williams (ed.), The Aesthetics of Grammar: Sound and Meaning in the Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 36–60. ISBN   9781107007123 (print, hard cover), ISBN   9781107496309 (eBook, 2013). doi : 10.1017/CBO9781139030489.004

External links

• http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
• http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-D44A-D@view Temiar in RWAAI Digital Archive