Oi (''Oy, Oey''; also known as The, Thang Ong, Sok) is an
Austroasiatic
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
dialect cluster
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 ...
of
Attapeu Province, southern
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. The dominant variety is Oy proper, with 11,000 speakers who are 80% monolinguals. The Jeng (Cheng) speak the same language but are ethnically distinct (Sidwell 2003). Speakers follow traditional religions.
[
]
Distribution
Some locations where Oi is spoken in include (Sidwell 2003:26):
*Ban Sok, 40 km north of Attapeu
Attapeu ( lo, ອັດຕະປື), also written as Attopu or Attapu, is the capital of Attapeu province, Laos. Its official name is Muang Samakhi Xay. It is the southernmost of provincial capitals in Laos.
Most of the inhabitants are Lao Lo ...
*Ban Lagnao, 10 km northwest of Attapeu
Attapeu ( lo, ອັດຕະປື), also written as Attopu or Attapu, is the capital of Attapeu province, Laos. Its official name is Muang Samakhi Xay. It is the southernmost of provincial capitals in Laos.
Most of the inhabitants are Lao Lo ...
*Ban Inthi, 25 km southwest of Attapeu
Attapeu ( lo, ອັດຕະປື), also written as Attopu or Attapu, is the capital of Attapeu province, Laos. Its official name is Muang Samakhi Xay. It is the southernmost of provincial capitals in Laos.
Most of the inhabitants are Lao Lo ...
; speakers claim to have migrated from the Bolaven Plateau
The Bolaven Plateau is an elevated region in southern Laos. Most of the plateau is located within Champasak Province of Laos, though the edges of the plateau are also located in Salavan, Sekong and Attapeu Provinces. It is located between ...
about 80 years ago, around the time of the Ong Kommandam Ong Kommandam (also Ong Kommadam) was the confidant and successor of Ong Keo as the leader of the Mon-Khmer tribes of southern Laos in their struggle for independence from French and Lao rule. Ong Keo was assassinated in 1910 by the Commissioner o ...
Rebellion.
*Ban Mai, at the southern slope of the Bolaven Plateau
*Ban Champao, at the southern slope of the Bolaven Plateau
*Sepian forest, as far as the Khampo River
The Jeng live mostly along the banks of the Sekaman River, in and around Ban Fandeng (Phandɛŋ).
References
External links
*Sidwell, Paul (2003).
A Handbook of comparative Bahnaric, Vol. 1: West Bahnaric
'. Pacific Linguistics, 551. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
*http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
* http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-903F-3@view Oi in RWAAI Digital Archive
* http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-9041-C@view Sapuar in RWAAI Digital Archive
Bahnaric languages
Languages of Laos
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