The Khmuic languages are a branch of the

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 mostly in northern

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

, as well as in neighboring northern

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 ...

and southern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

, China. Khmu is the only widely spoken language in the group.

Homeland

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 notab ...

(2015) suggests that the Khmuic

Urheimat In historical linguistics, the homeland or ''Urheimat'' (, from German '' ur-'' "original" and ''Heimat'', home) of a proto-language is the region in which it was spoken before splitting into different daughter languages. A proto-language is the r ...

(homeland) was in what is now

Oudomxay Province Oudomxay (alternates: Oudômxai or Moung Xai; lo, ອຸດົມໄຊ) is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. Its capital is Muang Xai. It covers an area of . It borders China to the north, Phongsali province to t ...

, northern Laos.

Languages

The Khmuic languages are: * Mlabri (Yumbri) * Kniang (Phong 3, Tay Phong) * Ksingmul (Puok, Pou Hok, Khsing-Mul) * Khmu’ *Khuen * O’du * Prai * Mal (Thin) * Theen (Kha Sam Liam) There is some disagreement over whether Bit is Khmuic or

Palaungic The nearly thirty Palaungic or Palaung–Wa languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages. Phonological developments Most of the Palaungic languages lost the contrastive voicing of the ancestral Austroasiatic consonants, with the disti ...

; Svantesson believes it is most likely Palaungic,Ethnologue Report for Bit
/ref> and it is sometimes placed in Mangic, but most classifications here take them as Khmuic. Similarly, Phuoc (Xinh Mul) and Kháng are also sometimes classified as Mangic, and Kháng is classified as

by Diffloth. The recently discovered Bumang language is also likely a Khmuic or Palaungic language. Jerold A. Edmondson considers it to be most closely related to Khang. Also, Quang Lam is a poorly attested language in Vietnam that may be closely related to Kháng or Bit.

Classification

The interrelationships of these languages are uncertain. ''Ethnologue'' 19 classifies them as follows: *Khmuic **Khao: Khao, Bit **Mlabri: Mlabri **

Xinh Mul Ksingmul (Ksing Mul, Puoc, vi, Xinh Mun, ) is a Mon–Khmer language spoken by the Ksingmul people of Vietnam and Laos. Varieties Jerold Edmondson (2010: 144), citing Đặng Nghiêm Vạn, et al. (1972: 254 ff.), lists 3 major varieties of K ...

: Khang, Phong-Kniang, Puoc **Mal–Khmu’ *** Khmu’, Khuen, O’du ***Mal–Phrai: Lua’, Mal, Prai, A provisional classification at SEALangSEALang SALA: Southeast Asian Linguistics Archives
/ref> keeps Mal–Phrai, but connects Khao with Khang instead of with Bit, treats Khuen as a dialect of Khmu': *Khmuic ** Bit **Khao–Khang: Khao, Khang ** Mlabri ** Phong ** Puoc ** Khmu’ ** O’du **Mal–Phrai: Lua’, Mal, Phray, Phai

Diffloth & Proschan (1989)

Chazée (1999), citing Diffloth & Proschan (1989), has the following: *Khmuic **('' Khang''?) **'' Khmu'' **Phray–Pram ***'' Mlabri'' ***'' Phay/ Mal/ T'in ***(Branch) ****'' Ksing Moul (Ksongmul)'' ****Pramic *****'' Tai Hat (Iduh)'' *****'' Tai Then'' *****'' Phong Laan, Phong Phène, Phong Tapouang'' *****'' Kaniang, Phong Piat, ( Phong Saloey)'' However,

Gérard Diffloth Gérard Diffloth (born in Châteauroux, France, 1939) is a French linguist who is known as a leading specialist in the Austroasiatic languages. As a retired linguistics professor, he was former employed at the University of Chicago and Cornell Un ...

now considers Pramic (i.e., all Khmuic languages except for Khmu) to be a separate Austroasiatic branch that has come under heavy influence from Khmu.Sidwell, Paul. 2018
Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018
Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, May 22, 2018.

Peiros (2004)

Ilia Peiros Ilia Peiros (full name: Ilia Iosifovich Peiros, Илья Иосифович Пейрос; born 1948) is a Russian linguist who specializes in the historical linguistics of East Asia. Peiros is a well-known scholar in the Moscow School of Compa ...

(Peiros 2004:39) gives the following classification: *Khmuic **(Branch) ***'' Khang'' ***'' Bit'' **(Branch) ***Mlabri–Pray ****'' Mlabri'' ****'' Pray'' ***(Branch) ****'' Kmu'' ****(Branch) *****'' Kxinh Mul'' *****'' Ksinmul'' ****(Branch) *****'' Phong-Kniang'' *****'' Iduh''

Sidwell (2014)

Based on developments of Proto-Khmuic *aː₁,

(2014) classifies the Khmuic languages as follows. ;Khmuic *'' Khmu'' *Mlabri-Pram **'' Mlabri'' **Phay-Pram ***'' Phay/ Mal/ T'in'' ***'' Khsing Mul'' ***Pramic ****'' Tai Hat'' ****'' Phong Laan, Phong Phène, Phong Tapouang'' ****'' Kniang, Phong Piat, ( Phong Saloey)'' ****'' Tayten'' The developments of Proto-Khmuic *aː₁ according to Sidwell (2014) are: *Proto-Khmuic: *aː₁ ** Khmu: *aː **Proto- Mlabri-Pram: *ɛː ***Proto-Pray-Pram: *iə ****Proto-Pramic *iː

References

External links

RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)

The Kammu Project (Lund University)
* http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66E8-9@view Khmuic languages in RWAAI Digital Archive {{Austro-Asiatic languages