Jedek: a newly discovered Aslian variety of Malaysia

Jedek is a previously unrecognized variety of the Northern Aslian subgroup of the Aslian branch of the Austroasiatic language family. It is spoken by about 280 individuals in the resettlement area of Sungai Rual, near Jeli in Kelantan state, Peninsular Malaysia. The community originally consisted of several bands of foragers along the middle reaches of the Pergau river. Jedek’s distinct status first became known during a linguistic survey carried out in the DOBES project Tongues of the Semang (2005–2011). This article describes the process leading up to its discovery and provides an overview of its typological characteristics.