Researchers from Lund University of Sweden has recently discovered a previously unknown language in the heart of the forest in northern Malaysia.
The language has been named Jedek and according to the researchers it is only spoken by 280 inhabitants of a small, remote village surrounded by forest.
The linguists from Lund University were studying the previously-known language of Jahai when they discovered that some of the inhabitants were speaking a completely different language.
Apparently the new-found language has no words for occupations or for court of law, and no words concerning ownership such as steal, but, sell and borrow. They do have a large amount of words surrounding exchanging and sharing.
The researchers at Lund University claims that the society surrounding Jedek has a greater amount of gender equality than in Western societies and almost no violence.
The indigenous tribes of Malaysia has been under a lot of pressure recently due to expansion of agricultural plantations and logging.
Colin Nicholas, Center for Orang Asli Concerns, which defends the rights of Malaysia’s indigenous peoples, hope that the recent discovery might urge the law-makers to take further steps protecting the indigenous tribes.
“We have a lot to learn from the discovery of this new language. It teaches us about the importance of gender equality, sharing and to maintain harmonious human relations,” he said
You can listen to a sample of the language in the video below:
