Brao is a
Mon–Khmer language of
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
and
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
Varieties
According to
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
, there are four distinct but mutually intelligible varieties, sometimes considered separate languages: Lave (Brao proper), Kru’ng (Kreung), and Kavet (Kravet), the latter spoken by only a couple thousand.
Sidwell (2003) also lists four communities of speakers, three of which are in Cambodia.
*Laveh (Lave, Rawe): spoken in
Attapeu Province,
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
south of the capital city of
Attapeu. Laveh is the official designation given by the Laotian government.
*Krung (Krüng, "Krung 2"): spoken around
Ban Lung in
Ratanakiri Province,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
*Kavet (Kravet): spoken in
Voeun Sai District,
Ratanakiri Province,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
*Brao (Brou, Palaw, Preou): spoken in and around the town of
Taveng in
Ratanakiri Province,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
Lun, spoken in
Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, is related to Lave and Kavet (Philip Lambrecht 2012).
Demographics
Sidwell (2003) suggests the possibility of a total of 50,000 speakers, while Bradley (1994:161) gives an estimate of 35,000. All estimates below are drawn from Sidwell (2003:30).
*Laos: The 1995 Laotian census places the Laveh population at 17,544.
*Cambodia: The Asian Development Bank gave an estimate of 29,500 speakers as of the early 2000s.
*Vietnam: About 300 Brau live in Đắc Mế village, Bờ Y commune, Ngọc Hồi district,
Kon Tum province (Đặng, et al. 2010:112).
[Đặng Nghiêm Vạn, Chu Thái Sơn, Lưu Hùng. 2010. ''Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam''. Hà Nội: Thế Giới Publishers.] Parkin (1991:81) also estimates several hundred Brao in Vietnam.
*Thailand: Parkin (1991:81) estimates a Brao population of 2,500 in Thailand.
Phonology
References
*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.
Further reading
*Keller, C. E. (1976). ''A grammatical sketch of Brao, a Mon–Khmer language''. Grand Forks, N.D.: Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session. OCLC: 2915938
Bahnaric languages
Languages of Laos
Languages of Cambodia
{{AustroAsiatic-lang-stub
Languages of Vietnam