Khmu language

Khmu’
Khamu, Kamhmu
Spoken in

Laos
Vietnam
Thailand

China
Native speakers 480,000  (1985–2000)
Laos: 390,000 (1985)
Vietnam: 56,500 (1999)
Thailand: 31,400 (2000)
China: 1,600 (1990)
Language family
Austro-Asiatic
  • Khmuic
    • Khmu’ proper
      • Khmu’
Writing system Lao, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 kjg

Khmu (/kʰmuʔ/) is the language of the Khmu people of the northern Laos region. It is also spoken in adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and China. Khmu lends its name to the Khmuic branch of the Austro-Asiatic language family, the latter of which also includes Khmer and Vietnamese. Within Austro-Asiatic, Khmu is often cited as being most closely related to the Palaungic and Khasic languages.[1] The name "Khmu" can also be seen romanized as Kmhmu, Khmu', Kammu, or Khamuk in various publications or alternatively referred to by the name of a local dialect.

Contents

Dialects

As a minority language with no standardizing influence, many dialects have evolved.  Dialects differ primarily in consonant inventory, existence of register, and the degree to which the language has been influenced by the surrounding national language(s).  Dialects are, for the most part, mutually intelligible; however communication can be difficult between speakers of geographically distant dialects.

The dialects of Khmu can be broadly categorized into two groups, Western Khmu and Eastern Khmu. Western Khmu dialects have fewer consonant phonemes and instead use phonemic register contrast, as seen in other Austro-Asiatic languages, of "lax" breathy register and "tense" modal register. In at least one dialect of Western Khmu, known as Khmu Rook, tonogenesis is evident as the register contrast has developed into a system of two phonetic tones with six phonemic realizations.[2] Eastern Khmu dialects show the opposite tendency. Completely lacking either register or tone distinction, these dialects utilize a three-way distinction of stops (voiced, voiceless and aspirated voiceless) and nasals (voiced, voiceless, and pre-glottalized) in the syllable-initial position for phonemic contrast.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant inventory of Khmu is shown in the table below. The phonemes in the colored cells are particular to the dialects of Eastern Khmu. The phoneme /f/, present in dialects of both Eastern and Western Khmu, is a result of borrowings from the surrounding Tai languages.[4]

Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive Aspirated pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ ʔ
Voiceless p t c k
Voiced b d ɟ g
Nasal Voiceless m̥ n̥ ɲ̥ ŋ̥
Voiced m n ɲ ŋ
Preglottalized ʔm ʔn ʔɲ ʔŋ
Fricative Voiceless (f) s h
Approximant Voiceless w̥* l̥ r̥ j̊
Voiced w l r j
Preglottalized ʔw ʔj

*w̥ is technically a voiceless labio-velar approximant

Vowels

The vowels of Khmu show little variation across the dialects with all varieties having 19 monophthongs and three diphthongs (/iə/, /ɨə/ and /uə/).[2]

Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close /i/ /iː/ /ɨ/ /ɨː/ /u/ /uː/
Close-mid /e/ /eː/ /ə/ /əː/ /o/ /oː/
Open-mid /ɛ/ /ɛː/ /ʌː/ /ɔ/ /ɔː/
Open /a/ /aː/

See also

References

  1. ^ Diffloth, Gérard (2005). "The contribution of linguistic palaeontology and Austroasiatic". in Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, eds. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. 77–80. London: Routledge Curzon.
  2. ^ a b SUWILAI Premsrirat, author. 2001. "Tonogenesis in Khmu dialects of SEA." Mon-Khmer Studies: a Journal of Southeast Asian Linguistics and Languages 31: 47-56.
  3. ^ Suwilai, Premsrirat, et al. Mahidol University. Dictionary of Khmu in Laos.
  4. ^ Suwilai, Prēmsīrat. The Thesaurus and Dictionary Series of Khmu Dialects in Southeast Asia. Nakorn Pathom: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University at Salaya, Thailand, 2002. ISBN 740501125

Further reading

External links