Hmm, what languages do you think they speak?
- Phoebe Yap
- Feb 29, 2020
- 1 min read
Despite the fact that the Orang Asli are grouped together, they are not a homogenous group. Linguistically, the Orang Asli are divided into two groups, one that speaks Austroasiatic languages and the other that's made up of Austronesian-speaking people. Most of the Senoi and Negrito groups speak Aslian languages, which is a subdivision of Austroasiatic languages. The Austroasiatic language family has around 169 languages that are spoken mainly in Southeast Asia.
The Proto-Malay people speak Austronesian languages, except for Semelai and Temoq people who speak dialects which are Austroasiatic. Austronesian is the largest language family in the world. There are about 1,200 languages that fall under this language group including Malay, with speakers spread from Madagascar all the way to Hawaii in the north, and Southeast Asia.
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