The Peculiar History of the Ethnonym “Temiar”

The names for the various Orang Asli populations of Peninsular Malaysia did not begin to achieve any recognizable similarity to current usage until the 1920s. Versions of the ethnonym “Temiar”, which identifies one of the largest of these populations, were first tentatively reported in the 1880s. At that time the people themselves were barely known to the outside world and were mostly referred to, if at all, by other names. The current spelling and pronunciation of the word “Temiar” were not fully established until the 1950s, replacing a surprising variety of earlier written forms and pronunciations. A close examination of the latter throws light on the premodern relations holding between the Temiars and other populations. Etymological analysis, involving both Mon-Khmer and Austronesian sources, provides evidence that the earlier linguistic situation in the Peninsula was more complex than currently recognized. The Temiar language belongs to the Mon-Khmer stock, but it has long been in contact with one or more Austronesian languages. Investigation suggests two likely etymological sources for the word “Temiar”, both meaning “edge” or “side”, and having forms similar to the Malayo-Polynesian (but non-Malay) *tambir or to Mon-Khmer *tbiar.