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Sesquisyllabic
Primarily in Austroasiatic languages (also known as Mon–Khmer), in a typical word a minor syllable is a reduced (minor) syllable followed by a full tonic or stressed syllable. The minor syllable may be of the form or , with a reduced vowel, as in colloquial Khmer, or of the form with no vowel at all, as in Mlabri "navel" (minor syllable ) and "underneath" (minor syllable ), and Khasi "rule" (minor syllable ), ''syrwet'' "sign" (minor syllable ), "transform" (minor syllable ), "seed" (minor syllable ) and ''tyngkai'' "conserve" (minor syllable ). This iambic pattern is sometimes called sesquisyllabic (lit. 'one and a half syllables'), a term coined by the American linguist James Matisoff in 1973 (Matisoff 1973:86). Sometimes minor syllables are introduced by language contact. Many Chamic languages as well as Burmese have developed minor syllables from contact with Mon-Khmer family. In Burmese, minor syllables have the form , with no consonant clusters allowed in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Tai
Proto-Tai is the reconstructed proto-language (common ancestor) of all the Tai languages, including modern Lao, Shan, Tai Lü, Tai Dam, Ahom, Northern Thai, Standard Thai, Bouyei, and Zhuang. The Proto-Tai language is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the comparative method. It was reconstructed in 1977 by Li Fang-KueiLi, Fang-Kuei. (1977). ''A handbook of comparative Tai''. Manoa: University Press of Hawaii. and by Pittayawat Pittayaporn in 2009.Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. (2009a)''The Phonology of Proto-Tai (Doctoral dissertation)''.Department of Linguistics, Cornell University. Phonology Consonants The following table shows the consonants of Proto-Tai according to Li Fang-Kuei's ''A Handbook of Comparative Tai'' (1977), considered the standard reference in the field. Li does not indicate the exact quality of the consonants denoted here as and which are indicated in his work as , čh, žand described merely as palatal af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austroasiatic Languages
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are the majority languages of Vietnam and Cambodia. There are around 117 million speakers of Austroasiatic languages. Of these languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have a long-established recorded history. Only two have official status as modern national languages: Vietnamese in Vietnam and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand. In Myanmar, the Wa language is the de facto official language of Wa State. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The rest of the languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status. '' Ethnologue'' identifies 168 Austroasiatic languages. These form thirteen established families (plus perhaps Shompen, which is poorly atte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khmer Language
Khmer (; , ) is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people, and the Official language, official and national language of Cambodia. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pāli, Pali, especially in the royal and religious Register (sociolinguistics), registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also the earliest recorded and earliest written language of the Mon–Khmer family, predating Mon language, Mon and Vietnamese Language, Vietnamese, due to Old Khmer being the language of the historical empires of Chenla, Angkorian Empire, Angkor and, presumably, their earlier predecessor state, Funan. The vast majority of Khmer speakers speak Central Khmer, the dialect of the central plain where the Khmer are most heavily concentrated. Within Cambodia, regional accents exist in remote areas but these are regarded as varieties of Central Khmer. Two exceptions are the speech of the capital, Phnom Penh, and that of the Khmer Khe in Stung ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
