Brao is a

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 ...

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 Thailan ...

and Laos.

Phonology

Varieties

According to Ethnologue, 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 south of the capital city 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 ...

. Laveh is the official designation given by the Laotian government. *Krung (Krüng, "Krung 2"): spoken around Ban Lung in Ratanakiri Province,

*Kavet (Kravet): spoken in Voeun Sai District, Ratanakiri Province,

*Brao (Brou, Palaw, Preou): spoken in and around the town of Taveng in Ratanakiri Province,

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 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 ...

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.

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.

Phonology

Varieties

Demographics

References

Further reading