Mah Meri language


Mah Meri, also known as Besisi, Cellate, Hmaʼ Btsisiʼ, Maʼ Betisek, and pejoratively as Orang Sabat, is an Austroasiatic language spoken in the Malay Peninsula. Along with Semaq [Beri language|Semaq Beri], Semelai and Temoq, Mah Meri belongs to the Aslian languages|Southern Aslian] branch of the Aslian languages. Mah Meri is the only remaining Aslian language spoken in a coastal area and its speaker population is 3,675 as recorded at the Orang Asli Museum in Gombak. A dictionary of the Mah Meri language has been compiled by Nicole Kruspe.

Phonology

Vowels

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Voice register

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There are two voice registers in Mah Meri:
Register 1: Register 1 vowels have a clear tense voice quality, shorter duration and lower pitch. Register 1 vowels also have fewer phonotactic restrictions.
Register 2: Register 2 vowels are laxer, longer and higher in pitch. Register 2 vowels also have a slight breathy voicing.

Consonants

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Grammar

Syntax

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In Mah Meri, modifiers and demonstratives occur after the head as shown in examples and while prepositions occur before the head as shown in example.
For transitive clauses, Mah Meri generally follows an Agent-Verb-Object order as shown in example, but a Verb-Agent-Object order is more common during natural discourse as shown in example.
For intransitive clauses in Mah Meri, both Subject-Verb and Verb-Subject orders are possible as shown in examples and respectively.

Morphology

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Morphology in Mah Meri is exclusively through prefixation and infixation.

Semi-productive derivations

1. Detransitivizing N- 'DTR

2. Transitive focus ka- 'TR
3. Distributive < l > 'DISTR'

Regular productive derivations

Iterative sɘ-RDP-root 'ITER'
The prefix sɘ is attached to the initial constituent of reduplicated bases to express iteration.
Example:
Happenstance 'happ'
The prefix tɘ- expresses:
  • an inadvertent event
  • ability or inability when used in a negated clause.
Example: tɘ-ka-ca 'happen to eat'
Middle voice bɘ- 'MID'
The prefix bɘ- is applied to either verbal or nominal roots to express an attributive or possessive function.
Example: bɘ-dṳk 'having a house'

Language endangerment and vitality

According to Ethnologue, the language status of Mah Meri is '6b: Threatened', referring to the situation whereby the language is used for face-to-face communications within all generations, but is losing users. This status is based on Lewis and Smino's Expanded [Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS)].
A study by Coluzzi, Riget & Wang on language use and attitudes across 4 different Mah Meri villages on Carey Island suggests that while Mah Meri still holds a strong and positive status in the community, there is a possibility of a complete language shift towards Malay in the future due to lesser usage of Mah Meri amongst the younger generation.