The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty

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 t ...

spoken by about 700,000 people in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

, and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Paul Sidwell Paul James Sidwell is an Australian linguist based in Canberra, Australia who has held research and lecturing positions at the Australian National University. Sidwell, who is also an expert and consultant in forensic linguistics, is most notable ...

notes that Austroasiatic/

Mon–Khmer 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 t ...

are lexically more similar to Bahnaric and

Katuic languages The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples. Paul Sidwell is the leading specialist on the Katuic ...

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 innovation In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...

s that would suggest that together they form a branch of the Austroasiatic family, rather forming separate branches.

Internal controversy

Internal diversity suggests that the family broke up about 3,000 years ago. North Bahnaric is characterized by a

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...

contrast between breathy and modal voice, which in Sedang has tensed to become modal–creaky voice. Lamam is a clan name of the neighboring Tampuon and Kaco’. Sidwell (2009) tentatively classifies the Bahnaric languages into four branches, with Cua (Kor) classified independently as East Bahnaric. Unclassified Bahnaric languages of Cambodia include

Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

, Khaonh, Ra’ong, and Thmon.Barr, Julie and Eric Pawley. 2013.
Bahnaric Language Cluster survey of Mondul Kiri and Kratie Provinces, Cambodia
'. SIL International. ;Bahnaric *West Bahnaric ** Jru' ( Laven),

Juk Juk may refer to: * JuK, software * Juk (food), Korean rice porridge * Juk language, a Mon–Khmer language spoken in Laos * Ukkusissat Heliport, in Greenland * Wapan language Wapan (Jukun Wapan) or Kororofa, also known as Wukari after the lo ...

, Su' **

Nyaheun Nyaheun (autonym: ''Heun'' ) is a Mon–Khmer language of the Bahnaric branch spoken in southern Laos. Chazée (1999:95) estimates the population at 4,200, while the 1995 Laotian census places the Nyaheun population at 5,152. According to ''Ethn ...

** Oi,

The ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, Sok, Sapuan, Cheng ** Brao, Laveh,

Krung Rade (Rhade; Rade: ; or ) is an Austronesian language of southern Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainl ...

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*Central Bahnaric ** Taliang ( Kasseng) ** Alak **Central South *** Tampuon *** Bahnar ***South Bahnaric **** Chrau **** Sre **** Stieng **** Mnong *North Bahnaric ** Halang,

Kayong Kayong (Ca Giong) is an Austro-Asiatic language of Vietnam. Speakers are officially classified by the Vietnamese government as Sedang people. Kayong (Ca-dong) is spoken in Sa Thầy District and Kon Plông District Kon may refer to: Places ...

Jeh Jahi is the Avestan language name of Zoroastrianism's demoness of "lasciviousness." As a hypostatic entity, Jahi is variously interpreted as "hussy," "rake," "libertine," "courtesan" and "one who leads a licentious life." Her standard epithet i ...

**Kotau ** Tadrah, Modrah ** Sedang ** Hrê **

Monom Monom (Monam), not to be confused with ''Bonam'' (a Bahnar subgroup), is an Austro-Asiatic language of Vietnam. Speakers are officially classified by the Vietnamese government as Sedang people. Monom is spoken mostly in Kon Plông District Kon ...

(Bonam) ** Rengao ** Kaco’, Ramam *East Bahnaric ** Cua (Kor)

North Bahnaric

North Bahnaric consists of a

dialect chain A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...

spoken to the north of the

Chamic languages The Chamic languages, also known as Aceh–Chamic and Achinese–Chamic, are a group of ten languages spoken in Aceh (Sumatra, Indonesia) and in parts of Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hainan, China. The Chamic languages are a subgroup of Mala ...

. Sedang and Hre have the most speakers, each with about 100,000. Other Northern Bahnaric languages, too poorly known to classify further, are Duan and Katua.

West Bahnaric

West Bahnaric is a dialect chain to the west of North Bahnaric, Unlike the other Bahnaric languages to the east, the West Bahnaric languages were under Khmer rather than Chamic influence, and also by the Katuic languages as part of a Katuic-West Bahnaric sprachbund (Sidwell 2003). *West Bahnaric **Brao–Kavet:

Lave ''Lave'' was an ironclad floating battery of the French Navy during the 19th century. She was part of the of floating batteries. In the 1850s, the British and French navies deployed iron-armoured floating batteries as a supplement to the wooden ...

(Brao), Kru'ng,

** Laven, Sou plit?**

**Oi–The: Jeng; Oy, Sok, Sapuan,

Sidwell (2003) proposes the following West Bahnaric groupings, with Lavi branching off first, Jru'/Laven, Su', and Juk as forming a branch that had branched off secondarily, and the rest within a core group. Jru' and Brao each have tens of thousands of speakers, while the other languages have no more than 1,000 speakers each. *West Bahnaric **

Lavi Lavi ( he, לָבִיא, ''lit.'' Lion) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located 310 meters above sea level and 10 minutes from Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The ...

**(branch) *** Jru'/ Laven, Su',

***(branch) ****

**** Sapuan **** Oi/Sok/ Cheng ****Laveh/ Brao

Central Bahnaric

Central Bahnaric is a language family divided by the Chamic languages, Bahnar, Mnong, and Sre (Koho) each have over 100,000 speakers. *Central Bahnaric ** Alak ** Cua ** Taliang ( Kassang) **Central South: to the southwest of Chamic: *** Tampuon *** Bahnar ***South Bahnaric ****Stieng–Chrau: Chrau, Stieng (Bulo, Budeh) ****Sre–Mnong: Koho, Mnong Kassang is a Bahnaric language (Sidwell 2003), though ''Ethnologue'' lists it as Katuic. Sidwell (2002, quoted in Sidwell 2003) gives the following classification for the Central Bahnaric languages. Note that Sidwell (2009) later classifies Cua as an independent branch, namely East Bahnaric. *Central Bahnaric **North Central *** Alak (Halak) **West Central *** Kasseng/ Taliang ***Yaeh **East Central *** Cua **South Central *** Tampuon *** Bahnar ****South Bahnaric ***** Chrau ***** Koho *****Ma' ***** Stieng ***** Mnong

Language diagrams

;North Bahnaric (2022)

Lexical innovations

(2015:183)Sidwell, Paul. 2015. "Austroasiatic classification." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). ''The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages''. Leiden: Brill. lists the following Bahnaric lexical innovations that had replaced original

Proto-Austroasiatic Proto-Austroasiatic is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austroasiatic languages. Proto-Mon–Khmer (i.e., all Austroasiatic branches except for Munda) has been reconstructed in Harry L. Shorto's ''Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary'', while ...

forms.

References

External links

*http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage) * http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-6711-8@view Bahnaric languages in RWAAI Digital Archive {{authority control Languages of Cambodia Languages of Laos Languages of Vietnam