Mah Meri language

There are two voice registers in Mah Meri:
Register 1: Register 1 vowels have a clear tense voice quality, shorter duration and lower pitch. Register 1 vowels also have fewer phonotactic restrictions.
Register 2: Register 2 vowels are laxer, longer and higher in pitch. Register 2 vowels also have a slight breathy voicing.

In Mah Meri, modifiers and demonstratives occur after the head as shown in examples (1) and (2) while prepositions occur before the head as shown in example (3).

For transitive clauses, Mah Meri generally follows an Agent-Verb-Object (AVO) order as shown in example (4), but a Verb-Agent-Object (VAO) order is more common during natural discourse as shown in example (5).

For intransitive clauses in Mah Meri, both Subject-Verb (SV) and Verb-Subject (VS) orders are possible as shown in examples (6) and (7) respectively.

Morphology in Mah Meri is exclusively through prefixation and infixation.

1. Detransitivizing N- 'DTR'

The prefix n- is attached to monosyllabic verbs and the vowel from the final syllable is reduplicated into the vowel position.

Example: bɛ 'to do' → nɛ-bɛ 'doing, doer'

For disyllabic verbs, the initial consonant is replaced by a homorganic nasal.

Example: plɘt 'to extinguish' → m:ɘlɘt 'extinguishing'

2. Transitive focus ka- 'TR'

The prefix ka- only applies to indigenous monosyllabic verbs.

Example: jɛt 'to follow' → ka-jɛt 'to follow someone or something', cɔʔ 'to go' → ka-cɔʔ 'to go to someone or a place'

3. Distributive < l > 'DISTR'

The infix < l > applies to disyllabic intransitive verbs of position or state and also some verbs of motion.

The infix is inserted into the initial syllable and a schwa replaces to well to correct syllable structure.

Example: kancɛw 'to be naked' → kɘlancɛw 'many naked (people)'.

If the penultimate syllable CV is a palatal stop plus schwa, the < la > infix is applied instead.

Example: jɘkɘʔ 'to sit motionless' → jɘ-la-kɘʔ 'many sitting motionless'

The prefix sɘ is attached to the initial constituent of reduplicated bases to express iteration. Example: sɘ-nake-nake (ITER-RDP-that) 'that one over and over again'

The prefix tɘ- expresses:

• an inadvertent event
• ability or inability when used in a negated clause.

Example: tɘ-ka-ca 'happen to eat'

The prefix bɘ- is applied to either verbal or nominal roots to express an attributive or possessive function. Example: bɘ-dṳk 'having a house'