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The Austroasiatic languages are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority populations scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China. Approximately 117 million people speak an Austroasiatic language, of which more than two-thirds are Vietnamese speakers. Of the Austroasiatic languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have lengthy, established presences in the historical record. Only two are presently considered to be the national languages of sovereign states: Vietnamese in Vietnam, and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand, while the Wa language is a "recognized national language" in the de facto autonomous Wa State within Myanmar. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The remainder of the family's languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status.
Vietnamese is an Austroasiatic language spoken primarily in Vietnam where it is the official language. It belongs to the Vietic subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese is spoken natively by around 85 million people, several times as many as the rest of the Austroasiatic family combined. It is the native language of ethnic Vietnamese (Kinh), as well as the second or first language for other ethnicities of Vietnam, and used by Vietnamese diaspora in the world.
The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.5 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples. Paul Sidwell is the leading specialist on the Katuic languages. He notes that Austroasiatic/Mon–Khmer languages are lexically more similar to Katuic and Bahnaric the closer they are geographically. He says this geographic similarity is independent of which branch of the family each language belongs to. He also says Katuic and Bahnaric do not have any shared innovations, so they do not form a single branch of the Austroasiatic family, but form separate branches.
Kuy, also known as Kui, Suay or Kuay, is a Katuic language, part of the larger Austroasiatic family spoken by the Kuy people of Southeast Asia.
The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by the Vietic peoples in Laos and Vietnam. The branch was once referred to by the terms Việt–Mường, Annamese–Muong, and Vietnamuong; the term Vietic was proposed by La Vaughn Hayes, who proposed to redefine Việt–Mường as referring to a sub-branch of Vietic containing only Vietnamese and Mường.
The Thổ ethnic group inhabits the mountainous regions of northern Vietnam, mainly Nghệ An Province southwest of Hanoi. Many Thổ speak the Tho language, which is closely related to Vietnamese. The Thổ population numbered 91,430 in 2019.
Halang, also known as Salang, is a Bahnaric language of the Mon–Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family. It is spoken in the southern Laotian province of Attapu by approximately 4,000 people and in the neighboring Kon Tum Province of Vietnam by approximately 13,000 people. In Vietnam, Halang is spoken in Đắk Na Commune, Đắk Tô District, Kon Tum Province
The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 700,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Paul Sidwell notes that Austroasiatic/Mon–Khmer languages are lexically more similar to Bahnaric and Katuic languages the closer they are geographically, independently of which branch of the family they belong to, but that Bahnaric and Katuic do not have any shared innovations that would suggest that together they form a branch of the Austroasiatic family, rather forming separate branches.
Kim Mun is a Mienic language spoken by 200,000 of the Yao people in the Chinese provinces of Guangxi, Hunan and Yunnan, with about 61,000 of the speakers in Hainan Province. There are also speakers in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
Nguồn is a Vietic language spoken by the Nguồn people in the Trường Sơn mountains in Vietnam's North Central Coast region as well as in nearby regions of Laos.
The Arem language is an endangered language spoken by the Arem people in a small area on both sides of the Laos–Vietnam border. It belongs to the Vietic branch of the Austroasiatic language family. Specifically, it is a member of the Chut language group, which is one of the six Vietic languages. This language is considered critically endangered by UNESCO. Like other Vietic languages, the Arem language makes use of a tonal or phonational system that is unique to Vietic languages. Like many southern Vietic Languages, the Arem language also makes use of pre-syllables or sesquisyllables within the language.
Bruu is a Mon–Khmer dialect continuum spoken by the Bru people of mainland Southeast Asia. Sô and Khua are dialects.
Pnar, also known as Jaiñtia is an Austroasiatic language spoken in India and Bangladesh.
The Katuic people are an ethnic group of about 102,551 who live in eastern Laos and central Vietnam. Numbered among the Katuic peoples, they speak a Mon-Khmer language. Katuic languages have been developed by Paul Sidwell, but Sidwell's work is not commonly used in Katuic communities due to language barriers.
Proto-Austroasiatic is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austroasiatic languages. Proto-Mon–Khmer has been reconstructed in Harry L. Shorto's Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary, while a new Proto-Austroasiatic reconstruction is currently being undertaken by Paul Sidwell.
Ta'Oi is a Katuic dialect chain of Salavan and Sekong provinces in Laos, and in Huế in Vietnam.
Kháng, also known as Mang U’, is an Austroasiatic language of Vietnam. It is closely related to the Bumang language of southern Yunnan, China.
Phuong, or High Katu, is a Katuic language (Mon-Khmer) of Vietnam.
The Kuy are an indigenous ethnic group of mainland Southeast Asia. The native lands of the Kuy range from the southern Khorat Plateau in northeast Thailand east to the banks of the Mekong River in southern Laos and south to north central Cambodia. The Kuy are an ethnic minority in all three countries, where they live as "hill tribes" or Montagnards. Their language is classified as a Katuic language of the Mon-Khmer language family. The Thais, Lao, and Khmer traditionally recognize the Kuy as the aboriginal inhabitants of the region. The word kuy in the Kuy language means "people" or "human being"; alternate English spellings include Kui, Kuoy and Kuay, while forms similar to "Suay" or "Suei" are derived from the Thai/Lao exonyms meaning "those who pay tribute". The Kuy are known as skilled mahouts, or elephant trainers, and many Kuy villages are employed in finding, taming, and selling elephants.
Nguyễn Văn Lợi was a Vietnamese linguist who served as the deputy director of the Institute of Linguistics at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences.
References
- ↑ Katu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ "Mon-Khmer Classification (Draft)".
- ↑ Endangered Languages Project data for Triw.
- ↑ Tổng điều tra dân số và nhà ở Việt Nam năm 2009: Kết quả toàn bộ. Archived 2012-11-14 at the Wayback Machine Hà Nội, 6-2010. Tabl. 5, p. 134-225. Accessed 10/2/2011
- ↑ Wallace, Judith M. (1969). "Katu phonemes". Mon-Khmer Studies . 3: 64–73.
- ↑ Sidwell (2005), pp. 15-16
