The Bahnar or Ba-Na are an ethnic group of

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 ...

living primarily in the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai and

Kon Tum Kon Tum is the capital city of Kon Tum Province in Vietnam. It is located inland in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, near the borders of Laos and Cambodia. History After the People's Army of Vietnam invaded South Vietnam on March 30, 1 ...

, as well as the coastal provinces of Bình Định and Phú Yên. They speak the

Bahnar language The Bahnar language or Ba-Na language () is a Central Bahnaric language. It has nine vowel qualities and phonemic vowel length. Subdivisions Đào (1998) lists the following subgroups of Bahnar and their respective locations. *Bahnar Kon Tu ...

belongs the Bahnaric language that belongs to the Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic) languages family. Nhà thờ gỗ Kon Tum

Etymology

The word ''bahnar'' is similar to the ''phnom'' (ភ្នំ) in

Mon-Khmer language 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 ...

what means ''mountain''. Besides, they have many names as Bonom, Jolong, Rongao, Tolo, Kriem, Roh, Konkodeh,Golar...

Local groups

Bahnar local groups: *Bahnar Jơlơng... *Bahnar Rơngao... *Bahnar Gơlar(Roh)... *Bahnar KonKde... *Bahnar Kriem... *Bahnar Tơlô... *Bahnar Bơnâm... ...

Culture

Arts

Epics (

: H'amon) such as

Dam Noi A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

represent centuries-old aspirations of Banar people. Like many of the other ethnic groups of Vietnam's Central Highlands, the Bahnar play a great number of traditional musical instruments, including ensembles of pitched

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s and string instruments made from

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

. These instruments are sometimes played in concert for special occasions, which may also involve ceremonial Rượu cần ( rice wine) drinking and group dancing.

Festivals

* Koh Kpo (or Groong Kpo Tonơi): a festival to express gratitude toward

Yang Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration ...

(the god) with the main activity being the stabbing of a

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

. A possible Chamic reconstruction of this name would be 'Gleng Ka Ppo Tanguei' 'Dedication to the God of the Corn.' Contemporary Bahnar refer to this ceremony as the even more truncated 'Gong Kpo.'

Notable persons

* Dinh Nup, a hero who led villagers to carry out a war of resistance against the French colonial regime. He became the main character of a famous novel entitled ''Đất nước đứng lên'' ("Country rising up"), written by Nguyên Ngọc * Ya Dok, a heroine, the wife of

Nguyễn Nhạc Nguyễn Nhạc ( vi-hantu, 阮岳, died 1793) was the founder of the Tây Sơn dynasty, reigning from 1778 to 1788. From 1778 to 1788, Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself Emperor Thái Đức ( vi-hantu, 泰德). In 1788 after his younger bro ...

* Siu Black, popular singer

References

*Bùi Minh Đạo. 2011. ''The Bahnar people in Viet Nam''. Hanoi: World Publishers. *Đào Huy Quyền. 1998. ''Nhạc khí dân tộc Jrai và Bahnar usical instruments of the Jrai and Bahnar'. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản trẻ.
Bahnar language page
at Ethnologue site Ethnic groups in Vietnam {{Asia-ethno-group-stub