The Semang are an ethnic-minority group of the Malay Peninsula. They live in mountainous and isolated forest regions of Perak, Pahang, Kelantan and Kedah of Malaysia and the southern provinces of Thailand. The Semang are among the different ethnic groups of Southeast Asia who, based on their dark skin and other perceived physical similarities, are sometimes referred to by the superficial term Negrito.
They have been recorded since before the 3rd century. They are ethnologically described as nomadic hunter-gatherers.
The Semang are grouped together with other Orang Asli groups, a diverse grouping of several distinct hunter-gatherer populations. Historically they preferred to trade with the local population. For more than one thousand years, some of the Semang people remained in isolation while others were either subjected to slave raids or forced to pay tribute to Southeast Asian rulers.Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America
Name and status
In Malaysia, the term Semang ( in Malay) is used to refer to the hunter-gatherers, that are referred to more generically as Negrito, Spanish for 'little negro'. In the past, eastern groups of Semang have been called Pangan. Semang are referred to as Sakai in Thailand, although this term is considered to be derogatory in Malaysia.
The etymology of the word Semang has been a matter of debate. While early researchers like Skeat and Blagden noted it had "never been satisfactorily explained," the ethnographer Paul Schebesta speculated that it originated from the Lanoh word , meaning "human". According to this theory, the word was misheard by Perak Malays, who changed the final glottal stop to the velar nasal [ŋ], resulting in "Semang".
In Malaysia, the Semang are one of three groups that are considered to be Orang Asli, the hunter-gatherer people of the Peninsula. The other two groups are the Senoi and the Proto-Malay (Aboriginal Malay). The Semang have six sub-groups: Kensiu, Kintaq, Lanoh, Jahai, Mendriq and Batek. The Malaysian federal government has designated the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli, JAKOA) as the agency responsible for integrating the Orang Asli into the wider Malaysian society.
The three category division of the indigenous population was inherited by the Malaysian government from the British administration of the colonial era. It is based on racial concepts, according to which the Negrito were seen as the most primitive race leading the vagrant way of life of hunter-gatherers. The Senoi were considered more developed, and the Proto-Malay were placed at almost the same level with the Malaysian Malay Muslims.
In Thailand, the terms Semang and Orang Asli are replaced by the terms Sakai or Ngopa (Ngò 'Pa or Ngoh Paa, which literally means 'curly/frizzy (haired) people'). The first term is derogatory in Malaysia, with the connotation of savages, subjects or slaves. The Semang have had a degree of patronage from the royal family of Thailand.
Physical features
They have dark skin, often curly-hair and Asiatic facial characteristics, and are stockily built.
Ethnic groups
The Semang do not have a sense of common ethnic identity. The term Semang is applied on them from an outside view, however the Semang refer to themselves only with their tribes names.
In total there are at least ten tribes that are classified as Semang in Malaysia (not all of them are officially recognized by the Malaysian government):- Kensiu live in the northern part of Kedah, near the borders with Thailand. Most of them settled in the district village, Kampung Lubuk-Legong, which is in Baling District, Kedah. Kintaq also have only one village, which is located near the city Gerik in Hulu Perak District, Perak. Traditionally they wandered around Klian Intan in Hulu Perak District and near Baling District in Kedah. Lanoh located in three villages situated in the Hulu Perak District in the northwest of Perak near Gerik. Among these people there are also distinct tribal groups such as the Lanoh Yir (probably nomadic), Lanoh Jengjeng (semi-settled) and possibly others. Semnam are not included in the official list of JAKOA, however they are grouped with the Lanoh. They live at the Ayer Bal River near Kampung Kuala Kenering in the Hulu Perak District, west of Gerik. Sabub'n are also grouped together with the Lanoh. The remnants of this nearly extinct tribe, along with other Lanoh groups, live near Lenggong and Gerik in Hulu Perak District. Jahai live in the mountains separating the states of Perak and Kelantan, at south of the borders of Thailand. This is the only mountain that the Semang inhabit. Their settlements are mainly along rivers or near lakes. In Perak they live along rivers such as Sungai Banun, Sungai Tiang and near Temenggor Lake in the Hulu Perak District. In Kelantan, the Jahai are concentrated along rivers namely Sungai Rual and Sungai Jeli in Jeli District. Mendriq live in several villages along the middle reaches of the Kelantan River in the remotes of Gua Musang District in the southern state of Kelantan. Batek:- Bateg Deq live mostly at the Aring River in southern Kelantan, partly in the neighbouring districts of Terengganu and Pahang. JAKOA does not distinguish between different Batek groups. Bateg Nong, another Batek group, live in the Jerantut District of northern Pahang. In total, there are 7 villages in the Pahang state, of which 5 of them are in the Lipis District and the other 2 are in Jerantut District; while in Kelantan there are 4 hamlet villages in the Gua Musang District. Mintil or "Mayah" live along the riverbanks of Sungai Tanum near Chegar Perah in north-central of Lipis District, Pahang. Officially, they are recognized as part of the Batek.Lim, Teckwyn. 2020. Ethnolinguistic Notes on the Language Endangerment Status of Mintil, an Aslian Language. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS) 13.1 (2020): i-xiv. ISSN 1836-6821. University of Hawaiʼi Press.
A few smaller groups of Semang live in the southern provinces of Thailand. These nomadic groups are mentioned under the names such as Tonga, Mos, Chong and Ten'en. They call themselves Mani, but their linguistic affiliation remains uncertain.
Because of the small number of some of these Semang groups, they are on the verge of disappearance.
Settlement areas
The Semang live mainly in the more isolated lowlands and foothills within the primary and secondary wet tropical jungles of the northern Malay Peninsula. Only the Jahai live at higher altitudes.
In the past, the territory of the Semang settlement was wider, but neighbouring ethnic groups pushed them into hard-to-reach areas. Kensiu now live in the northeast of Kedah, the Kintaq of which are settled in the adjoining areas of Kedah and Perak, the Jahai are in the northeast of Perak and in west of Kelantan, the Lanoh in the northeast of Perak, in the north-central Perak, the Mendriq in the south-east of Kelantan, and the Batek in the northwestern of Terengganu, northeastern of Pahang and southern Kelantan. One former group that is now extinct is the coastal Semang of Kedah, Penang and Perak (known as 'Semang Bakau' or Low Country Semang).
A significant part of these tribes live in permanent settlements, but traditionally separate groups of different time periods go into the jungle for the harvesting of jungle produce. Most often of such cases take place during the end of the fall on the maturation of wild fruit season. Because of this tradition, they are often designated as nomads, although the Semang in Malaysia at present are no longer leading a nomadic way of life.
Today, among the Semang; as part of the Orang Asli group, they also live in urban areas of Malaysia, mixed with members of other ethnic groups.
Several isolated Semang groups reside in the jungles of the southern provinces of Thailand. So far in the north, there are two groups in Trang Province and one in Phatthalung Province live for several kilometers apart from each other. For many kilometers, in the southern direction, there is another very small group of Semang in the southern part of the Satun Province, near the Malaysian border.
The remaining groups of Thai Semang can be found living in the Yala Province. In the upper part of the valley, in the Than To District of this province; about 2 km from the Thai-Malaysian border, there is a village in which is the only settled Semang group that lives in Thailand. There is another group of nomad Semang who live along the border with Malaysia in the Yala Province. Both nomadic and settled groups maintain close contacts with Malaysia. The border here has only political significance, and nothing prevents the Semang from freely crossing it.
The closest neighbours of the Semang are the Malay people. This applies not only to Malaysian Semang but also to groups living in Thailand. The extreme south of this country is ethnically predominantly Malay, although the Malay people there are officially called Thai Muslims because of Thaification.
Population
Dynamics of the Semang population after the declaration of independence of Malaysia:- Year 1960 1965 1969 1974 1980 1996 2000 2003 2010 Kensiu 126 76 98 101 130 224 254 232 280 Kintaq 256 76 122 103 103 235 150 157 234 Lanoh 142 142 264 302 224 359 173 350 390 Jahai 621 546 702 769 740 1,049 1,244 1,843 2,326 Mendriq 106 94 118 121 144 145 167 164 253 Batek 530 339 501 585 720 960 1,519 1,255 1,359 Total 1,781 1,273 1,805 1,981 2,061 2,972 3,507 4,001 4,842
Distribution of Orang Asli subgroups in Malaysia by states (1996):- Kedah Perak Kelantan Terengganu Pahang Total Kensiu 180 30 14 224 Kintaq 227 8 235 Lanoh 359 359 Jahai 740 309 1,049 Mendriq 131 14 145 Batek 247 55 658 960 Total 180 1,356 709 55 672 2,972
The population of Semang in Thailand was estimated at 240 people (2010).
Language
Semang languages belonged to the Aslian branch of the Austroasiatic languages. These languages are also spoken by the neighbouring Senoi. Austroasiatic languages, spoken by Khmer or Vietnamese, were adopted by various other hunter-gatherer groups during the Neolithic and pre-Neolithic period. Later, Kra-Dai and Austronesian languages partially replaced Austroasiatic and other languages.
It is believed that Aslian languages were brought to the Malay Peninsula from the north, from the territory of modern Thailand. The ancestors of the Semang lived on the peninsula long before the arrival of Austroasiatic. It is clear that they would have once spoken other, unknown, languages. However, no direct lexical evidence of this has yet been obtained.
Aslian languages are divided into four main divisions: the Northern Aslian languages, Central Aslian languages, Southern Aslian languages and the Jah Hut language, which occupies a separate position.
Among Semang in Malaysia, there are further extended languages and dialects such as Kensiu language, Kentaq Bong dialect, Kintaq Nakil dialect, Jahai language, Minriq language, Bateg Deq language, Mintil language, Bateg Nong language, Semnam language, Sabüm language, Lanoh Yir dialect, Lanoh Jengjeng dialect. Most of them form the Northern Aslian languages group of the Aslian languages, only the languages of the Lanoh language (with the dialects of its subfamilies and Semnam language close to it) belong to the Central Aslian languages group. Very few Semang languages have been studied in Thailand, most likely in Kensiu language or Jahai language.
A characteristic feature of the Semang languages is that they do not have clear boundaries. This is a typical phenomenon for languages whose carriers are mostly small nomadic groups, of whom the usual situation is when representatives of different ethnic groups live together in the same temporary camp settlement. Thus, all the Northern Aslian languages together form a large continuous network of languages, interconnected by constant contacts. A similar but smaller network form the languages of the Lanoh language.