Semaq Beri/Batek
Semaq Beri and Batek are Aslian (Austroasiatic: Mon-Khmer) languages spoken in the Malay Peninsula. The Aslian languages are divided into three clades—Northern, Central and Southern—with one language, Jah Hut, considered an isolate. Semaq Beri belongs to the Southern clade along with Semelai, Mah Meri and Temoq. The Semaq Beri population is estimated to be 2,600. The northeastern Semaq Beri (pop. 360) live at the edge of the Semang linguistic and cultural sphere. The languages of their Semang neighbours, the Batek Deq and Batek Teq, belong to the Northern clade. Batek Teq is now moribund with perhaps only 26 speakers left. The Semang are documented in the Tongues of the Semang Project led by Niclas Burenhult.
A map of the distribution of the Aslian languages is available at the Ethnologue website here.
Major reference works on the Aslian languages:
Burenhult, Niclas. 2005. A Grammar of Jahai. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Kruspe, Nicole. 2004. A Grammar of Semelai. Cambridge Grammatical Descriptions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
—2010. A Dictionary of Mah Meri. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 36. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
A map of the distribution of the Aslian languages is available at the Ethnologue website here.
Major reference works on the Aslian languages:
Burenhult, Niclas. 2005. A Grammar of Jahai. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Kruspe, Nicole. 2004. A Grammar of Semelai. Cambridge Grammatical Descriptions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
—2010. A Dictionary of Mah Meri. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 36. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.