Native speakers 23,000 (2008) | Ethnicity Temuan Dialects BelandasMantra | |
Language family AustronesianMalayo-Polynesian (MP)Nuclear MPMalayo-SumbawanMalayicMalayanMalay?Temuan | ||
Temuan language (Temuan: Benua,Bual Uwang Hutarn, bual Mutan, Niap, Bahasak Temuan, Malay: Bahasa Temuan) is an Malayan language (part of Austronesian languages) spoken by the Temuan people, one of the Orang Asli or indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia in the states of Selangor, Pahang, Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan. Temuan is a separate language but has a degree of mutual intelligibility with the Malay language. It is written in a Latin alphabet, but no standard orthography has been made.
Dialects
Temuan is divided into two major dialects namely Belandas and Mantra which differs mostly in terms of phonology and also some of the vocabulary but still mutually intelligible to one another.
Comparison between Belandas and Mantra dialects:
Sample of Temuan Belandas dialect - diak ( he/she ), hajak (only), kitak ( we ), tai ( the end of sentence particle ).
Sample of Temuan Mantra dialect - dien ( he/she), hajen (only), kiten ( we ), tea ( the end of sentence particle )