Pronunciation Guide

As Semai concepts differ from Euro-American concepts, so the sounds used in speaking Semai are different from the sounds used in English. What follows is therefore merely a rough-and-ready guide to pronouncing Semai words.

Stress in Semai is on the last syllable of a word, except in the case of words recently taken over from Malay. This stress is especially pronounced in the eastern dialects, but weaker in the west. Typically, the last syllable is pronounced on a slightly higher pitch. This change of pitch is especially noticeable among infants just learning to talk. Semai words are sometimes distinguished from one another by vowel length, a characteristic not found in English. I have indicated vowel length by doubling the letter in the case of long vowels. The "a" sound in mənhaar ("generous") is thus longer than that in mənhar ("meat"). The English vowel sounds that approximate those used in Semai are as follows:

• a, as in f_a_ther
• e, as in b_e_t
• i, as in s_ee_k
• o, as in r_o_pe, but a little shorter
• u, as oo in b_oo_t, but a little shorter
• ɔ, as ou in _ou_ght
• əə, as in u in p_u_t
• ə, shorter than əə; slurred over in unstressed syllables (for example, səlai may be pronounced like sly)

Most consonants have approximately the same value as in English:

• j, as dg in e_dg_e
• r, trilled as in German
• s, midway between s and sh
• ', a glottal stop, as in Brooklynese "li'l" for little
• ch, as tch in etch

The east Semai sometimes nasalize final consonants, that is, consonants that occur at the end of a word. Thus, final -g sounds like -gn, -b like -bm, -d like -dn and -' like -'n. The vowel preceding final -nd or -nh is nasalized.

A final grammatical note: Semai is characterized by the use of infixes, particles inserted into the middle of a word to change its meaning. For example, səngɔh might be translated "to be afraid"; sərənɔh with the infix -ər- "to make afraid"; and sənngɔh with the infix -n- (sometimes -ən-) "a fear."