Chong language
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| Chong | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Thailand/Cambodia | |
| Region: | Southeast Asia | |
| Total speakers: | 5,500 | |
| Language family: | Mon-Khmer languages Pearic languages Chong |
|
| Writing system: | Chong | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | — | |
| ISO 639-3: | cog | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
The Chong language (also referred to as Chawng, Shong, or Xong) is an endangered language spoken in Cambodia and southeastern Thailand. It is a Pearic language in the Eastern branch of the Mon-Khmer language family, and is currently the focus of a language revitalization project in Thailand.
The Chong language is marked by its unusual glottal stops and has a grammar structure vastly different from Thai language. It had no written form until 2000, when researchers at Mahidol University used a simplified version of standard Thai characters to create a Chong writing system, after which the first teaching materials in the language appeared.[1] Chong also has four registers, and is currently considered to be at stage 7 in Joshua Fishman's Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), where stage 8 is the closest to extinction.[2]
The language only has about 5500 speakers remaining, 5000 in Cambodia and 500 in Thailand. The Chong community in Thailand is primarily located in and around Chanthaburi.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lim Li Min. "Saving Thailand's Other Languages", International Herald Tribune, October 23, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
- ^ Chong Language Revitalization Project (PDF) (June 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
[edit] External links
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