Khmu language

"Khuen language" redirects here. For the language of the Tai Khün people, see Khün language.
Khmu’
Khamu, Kamhmu
Native to Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China
Native speakers
710,000  (1999–2005 census)[1]
Lao, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
kjg  Khmu
khf  Khmu Khwen[3]
Glottolog khmu1255[4]

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 Austroasiatic language family, the latter of which also includes Khmer and Vietnamese. Within Austroasiatic, Khmu is often cited as being most closely related to the Palaungic and Khasic languages.[5] 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.

Dialects

Approximate location of Khmu dialects in Laos

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.

Suwilai Premsrirat (2002)

Suwilai Premsrirat (2002)[8] reports the following locations and dialects of Khmu in Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand.

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.[9]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive Aspirated
Voiceless p t c k ʔ
Voiced b d ɟ ɡ
Nasal Voiceless ɲ̥ ŋ̥
Voiced m n ɲ ŋ
Preglottalized ʔm ʔn ʔɲ ʔŋ
Fricative Voiceless (f) s h
Approximant Voiceless *
Voiced w l r j
Preglottalized ʔw ʔj

* 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/).[6]

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. Khmu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Khmu Khwen[2] at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Khmu'". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. 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.
  4. 6.0 6.1 SUWILAI Premsrirat, author. 2001. "Tonogenesis in Khmu dialects of SEA." Mon-Khmer Studies: a Journal of Southeast Asian Linguistics and Languages 31: 47-56.
  5. Suwilai, Premsrirat, et al. Mahidol University. Dictionary of Khmu in Laos.
  6. Premsrirat, Suwilai. 2002. Dictionary of Khmu in Laos. Mon-Khmer Studies, Special Publication, Number 1, Volume 3. Salaya, Thailand: Mahidol University.
  7. 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 9740501125

Further reading