Semelai is an Aslian language belonging to the Mon-Khmer division of Austroasiatic. It is spoken by approximately 4,103 people in Peninsular Malaysia around the shores of Tasek Bera, along the banks of the Bera, Teriang and Serting rivers in south-west Pahang and north-west Negeri Sembilan states, and the Muar River in north-west Johore (see Maps).

As with all Aslian languages, there is no written tradition, or recorded history, other than oral based.

1.1 Linguistic type

Semelai exhibits many of the typological characteristics of a mainland Southeast Asian language, as well as incorporating aspects of Austronesian, notably from sustained contact with Malay. Whilst there has been considerable impact from Malay, particularly at the lexical level, Semelai remains a distinctly mainland Austroasiatic language, but at the same time raises questions with respect to our understanding of the typology of this region.

A. Phonology Semelai has a rich phonemic inventory. There are thirty-two consonant phonemes, including a series of voiceless nasals which have not been recorded previously in an Aslian language; a series of glottalised sonorants, and twenty vowel phonemes: ten oral vowels and ten phonemically nasal counterparts (§2.1).

The maximal canonical syllable is [CV(C)]σ. Phonemic contrasts of both consonants and vowels are richest in the final syllable; for consonants these contrasts are maximised in the onset of the final syllable.