PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

1. VOWEL

Semai has both oral and nasal vowels; the difference is their length and quality.

Oral Vowels include front, central and back vowels.

For example; close vowels are /iiː/, /ɨɨː/, /uuː/; close-mid vowels are /eeː/, /ooː/; open-mid vowels include /ɛɛː/, /ə/, /ɔɔː/; and open vowels like /ɑɑː/.

Nasal Vowels mirror the oral vowels in front, central and back position also with distinctions in length.

For example; /ĩĩː/, /ɨ̃ɨ̃ː/, /ũũː/ for close nasal vowels and /ɛ̃ɛ̃ː/, /ə̃/, /ɔ̃ɔ̃ː/ for mid nasal vowels1.

The language also features diphthongs and vowel length contrasts, with some vowels pronounced similarly to those in Malay or English but with specific articulatory qualities, such as the Semai /a/ being similar to the English "cart" vowel, and /aa/ pronounced further back in the mouth like "ahh" in English.

2. CONSONANTS

Semai consonants include a range of plosives, nasals, fricatives, rhotics, laterals, and approximants;

• Plosives: voiceless /p, t, c, k, ʔ/ and voiced /b, d, ɟ, ɡ/

• Nasals: voiced /m, n, ɲ, ŋ/ and preploded nasals /ᵇm, ᵈn, ɟɲ, ᶢŋ/

• Fricatives: /s, h/

• Rhotic: /ɾ~r/ (trilled or tapped r)

• Lateral: /l/

• Approximants: /w, j/

REDUPLICATION AND PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES

Semai exhibits a highly irregular pattern of expressive reduplication involving discontiguous copying from the edges of the base word, often forming a minor syllable. This process is complex and varies across dialects, with some verb forms showing different reduplicated forms depending on meaning.

1. Ma Igah

2. Petar

3. Jajak

4. Cak

5. Ngot

6. Keral

7. Amek

8. Imoh

9. Hek

10. Kedur

Māori phonology is seemingly simple and straightforward. In total there are ten consonant which are /p,t,k,m,n,ŋ, f,w,r,h/. On the other hand, the Maori vowel system is usually analyzed by its five vowels, /i,e,a,o,u/. The vowels can be long or short. Contemporary conventions are that long vowels should be indicated by a macron such as ā, ē, ī, ō, ū. Historically, long vowels were not marked, or were indicated by double vowels – aa, ee, ii, oo, uu – a system still used by the Waikato people in the 2000s (Rawinia & Basil, 2015). Overall, the Maori alphabet consists of 15 letters. Therefore, in this part, there will be 10 examples of Maori language that can be transcribed.

In the Piraha language, there’s no word for numbers or counting. Instead, people describe amounts using terms like “a little” or “a lot.” They don’t even use gestures, like holding up fingers to show quantity. There are also no specific words for colors like green or orange. Instead, people describe things by saying they’re “light” or “dark,” or compare them to familiar things, an orange bird might be described as “the color of fire.” It’s a reminder that language doesn’t have to name everything directly to express meaning in rich and creative ways.

Here is the examples of Piraha language:

1. /hìògiái/big' ['hiòhál]~['hìògiái]

2. /?íbògì/ 'milk' ['íbòli]~['?íbògi]

3. /tòògì?i/'hoe' ['tòò[i?i]~['tòògi?i]

4. /?òglál/'man's name[?òli'ái]~[?ògì'ái]

5. /làògií/ 'woman' ['2ào[èé]~['?àogèé]