NPR

Linguists Discover Previously Unidentified Language In Malaysia

Swedish researchers were studying one rare language in southeast Asia, when they discovered a group of 280 resettled people speaking a different language, never observed or documented before.
In a small Malaysian village, some residents speak a language that linguists had never before identified. It's now been documented, under the name "Jedek," by Swedish researchers.

Linguists working in the Malay Peninsula have identified a language, now called Jedek, that had not previously been recognized outside of the small group of people who speak it.

The newly documented language is spoken by some 280 people, part of a community that once foraged along the Pergau river. The Jedek speakers now live in resettlement area in northern Malaysia.

Jedek was recognized as a unique language by Swedish linguists from Lund University, who ran across the new language while

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