The Pearic languages (alternatively called the Chongic languages) are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern
Mon–Khmer
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 th ...
branch of the
Austroasiatic language family, spoken by
Pear people (the ''Por'', the ''Samré'', the ''Samray'', the ''Suoy'', and the ''Chong'') living in western
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 eastern
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.
Pearic languages are remnants of the aboriginal languages of much of
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 ...
, but have dwindled in numbers due to assimilation. "Pear" is a pejorative term meaning '
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
' or '
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...
'.
Classification
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 nota ...
proposed the following classification of the Pearic languages in Sidwell (2009:137), synthesizing analyses from Headley (1985), Choosri (2002), Martin (1974), and Peiros (2004)
[Sidwell, Paul (2009)]
"Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art"
''LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics'', 76. Munich: Lincom Europa. He divides Pearic into two primary branches (''Pear'' and ''Chong''), with ''Chong'' being further divided into four groups.
*''
Pear
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...
'' of
Kompong Thom (Baradat ms.)
*Chong
**Southern
***''
Suoi'' of
Kampong Speu (Pannetier ms., Baradat ms.)
***''
Saoch'', two dialects:
****''Chung'' of
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 ...
- Phum Veal Renh,
Prey Nob District
Prey Nob ( km, ព្រៃនប់) is one of four districts (''srok'') of Sihanoukville Province in Cambodia. According to the 2008
census of Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the ...
in
Kampong Som
Sihanoukville (; km, ក្រុងព្រះសីហនុ, ), also known as Kampong Som ( km, កំពង់សោម, ), is a coastal city in Cambodia and the capital of Preah Sihanouk Province, at the tip of an elevated peninsula ...
(Isara Chooseri 2007), (Pannetier ms.)
****''Chung'' of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
-
Kanchanaburi (Isara Chooseri 2007)
**
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
***''Chong'' of
Chantaburi (Baradat ms.)
***(Branch)
****''Chong həəp'' (Martin 1974)
****''Khlong Phlu Chong'' (Siripen Ungsitibonporn 2001)
***(Branch)
****''Chong lɔɔ'' (Martin 1974)
****''Wang Kraphrae Chong'' (Siripen Ungsitibonporn 2001)
****''Chong'' (Huffman 1983)
**
Central
***
''Samre'' of Pursat
***''Samre'' (Pornsawan Ploykaew 2001)
***''Chong'' (Baradat ms.)
***''
Kasong'' (Noppawan Thongkham 2003), historically called, ''Chong of Trat'' (Pannetier ms., Isarangura 1935)
**Northern (''
Somray'')
***''Somray'' of
Battambang
Battambang ( km, បាត់ដំបង, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang Province and the third largest city in Cambodia.
Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the leading rice-pr ...
(Baradat ms.)
***''Somre'' of
Siem Reap
Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia.
Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...
early extinct
Early may refer to:
History
* The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.:
** Early Christianity
** Early modern Europe
Places in the United States
* Early, Iowa
* Early, Texas
* Early ...
(Moura 1883)
Pearic lexical innovations include 'fish', 'moon', 'water leech', 'chicken', and 'fire'.
[Sidwell, Paul and Felix Rau (2015). "Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction: An Overview." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). ''The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages''. Leiden: Brill.]
Reconstruction
Headley (1985)
The Proto-Pearic language, the reconstructed ancestor of the Pearic languages, has been reconstructed by Robert Headley (1985).
[Headley, Robert K. 1985.]
Proto-Pearic and the classification of Pearic
" In Suriya Ratanakult et al. (eds.), ''Southeast Asian Linguistic Studies Presented to Andre-G. Haudricourt''. Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University. pp. 428-478. The 149 Proto-Pearic forms below are from Headley (1985).
* *peːm 'angry'
* *pe(ː)ʔ 'three'
* *taːɲ 'to weave'
* *kam 'arrow'
* *keːv 'to call'
* *caː 'to eat'
* *ciʔ 'louse'
* *ʔic 'excrement'
* *ʔan 'here'
* *Pa(ː)ŋ 'flower'
* *Poːt 'to cut, hack'
* *Tɔːŋ 'to fear'
* *Teːv 'right (dexter)'
* *Cak 'to hunt'
* *Ceːv 'to go'
* *Kaːŋ 'month'
* *Kɔːj 'long(time)'
* *Kic 'small'
* *buːl 'drunk'
* *beːt(?) 'knife'
* *baːŋ 'morning'
* *dɔːn 'must'
* *deːv 'to buy'
* *daːk 'water'
* *ɟuːm 'vine'
* *ɟeːv 'soup'
* *ɟɔːr 'sap'
* *graːɲ 'alcohol'
* *gɨl 'to sit'
* *guːm 'to winnow'
* *suk 'hair'
* *saŋ 'to hear'
* *sɔːŋ 'to dance'
* *huːm 'to bathe'
* *hɔː 'not'
* *h(ɨː)r 'to fly'
* *hjɔk 'breast'
* *hmɔːk 'bat'
* *hmaːr 'field'
* *hnoːk 'to stretch oneself'
* *hŋɔːn 'thatch'
* *hrɔːk 'to hide'
* *hlɔːŋ 'banana'
* *hluk 'salt'
* *v(ɛː)ŋ 'raw, uncooked'
* *rəvaːj 'tiger'
* *jaːv 'scorpion'
* *j(i)p 'to come'
* *m(a)t 'eye'
* *nɔːŋ 'mountain'
* *nɨm 'year'
* *ŋ(əː)r 'red'
* *reːs 'root'
* *rɔːj 'fly'
* *raːj 'ten'
* *loːm 'to ask'
* *laːc 'lightning'
* *_liɲ 'elder sibling'
* *Pac 'to break'
* *hoːc 'dead'
* *hoːc 'dead'
* *pah 'to slap'
* *c(u)h 'to spit'
* *tak 'broken apart'
* *lɨk 'bran'
* *-haːm 'blood'
* *tɨm 'to cook'
* *k(eː)n 'child'
* *kɨn 'female'
* *hlɨŋ 'deep'
* *ɟiɲ 'foot'
* *ʔɔːɲ 'to keep, put'
* *Təp 'to bury'
* *h(ɔː)p 'to eat'
* *veːt 'blue'
* *klaːv 'skink'
* *knaːj 'elephant'
* *Tɔːj 'before'
* *sɨl 'sharp-edged'
* *taːl 'to stand'
* *coːl 'to plant'
* *meːl 'fish'
* *Peːr 'water leech'
* *Keːr 'to bark'
* *h(oː)r 'to blow'
* *Ceːs 'kind of deer'
* *loːs 'kind of deer'
* *coːs 'hundred'
* *cɨs 'old'
* *pa(ː)s 'tail'
* *c(ɔ)ʔ 'dog'
* *rəgiʔ 'thin'
* *tŋiʔ 'day'
* *poʔ 'dream'
* *teˀ 'earth'
* *(c)kaː 'mouth'
* *(c)mɨː 'civet'
* *(c)ŋ(ɨ)n 'wife'
* *(c)rɛːŋ 'ring'
* *ɟrəlaʔ 'thorn'
* *kdɔːŋ 'six'
* *kleˀ 'ashamed'
* *klɔːŋ 'bone'
* *kmaːs 'smoke'
* *kmɔk 'cough'
* *gmaʔ 'rain'
* *knɔːk 'to flail'
* *gnuːl 'seven'
* *grɨk 'to awaken'
* *ks(ɨ)m 'star'
* *kvak 'to hook'
* *kjoŋ 'kind of lizard'
* *gjaːŋ 'turtle'
* *ml(ɔː)ŋ 'eel'
* *pliː 'fruit'
* *bluː 'thigh'
* *pnaːk 'basket'
* *bnaːm 'ugly'
* *(p)ŋaːm 'bee'
* *brɔːŋ 'Khmer'
* *braːj 'cotton thread'
* *psiː 'snake'
* *skɛːŋ 'wing'
* *smaɲ 'cramp'
* *snɛːŋ 'after'
* *sŋal 'to know'
* *sriː 'to ask'
* *tmoˀ 'stone'
* *tpɔʔ 'winnowing basket'
* *trɔːj 'wild cow'
* *ʔiːn 'to get'
* *briː 'forest'
* *kriɲ 'drum'
* *ksuː 'red ant'
* *bleːv 'fire'
* *ləkheːt 'to slide'
* *ʔoːc 'to take'
* *Coːj 'sore, wound'
* *Toːs 'head'
* *koːj 'tooth'
* *(m)oːt 'younger sibling'
* *b(oː) 'you'
* *koj 'kind of lizard'
* *hlɛːk 'chicken'
* *Tɛːŋ 'left'
* *bɛːk 'to laugh'
* *tɛ(h) 'lightning'
* *gɔŋ 'long'
* *tɔŋ 'house'
Sidwell & Rau (2015)
The following Proto-Pearic lexical proto-forms have been reconstructed by Sidwell & Rau (2015: 303, 340-363).
[Sidwell, Paul and Felix Rau (2015). "Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction: An Overview." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). ''The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages''. Leiden: Brill.]
* *ʔɨːs 'all'
* *bɔh 'ashes'
* *ker 'to bark'
* *tkɔːˀ 'bark (of tree)'
* *guŋ 'belly'
* *tak 'big'
* *ciːˀm 'bird'
* *tap 'to bite'
* *caˀŋ 'black'
* *pNhaːm 'blood'
* *klɔːŋ 'bone'
* *j̊ɔk, *tuh 'breast'
* *pɔːs, *tuːt 'to burn (vt.)'
* *ktraːˀs 'claw/nail'
* *juːr 'cloud'
* *saˀc 'cold'
* *jip 'to come/arrive'
* *hoːc 'die (of a person)'
* *cɔː 'dog'
* *taːˀl 'to drink (water)'
* *bah, *jeːˀs 'dry (adj./stat.)'
* *prlaːŋ 'ear'
* *teːˀ 'earth/soil'
* *caː 'to eat'
* *tuŋ 'egg'
* *mat 'eye'
* *pɨːs 'fat/grease/oil'
* *suk 'feather'
* *pliːw 'fire'
* *meːˀl 'fish (n.)'
* *hɨːr 'fly (v.)'
* *ɟɨŋ 'foot'
* *briː 'forest'
* *bɔːŋ 'full (vessel)'
* *ʔɨs 'give'
* *ceːw 'to go'
* toːˀn 'good'
* *weːt 'green'
* *suk 'hair (of head)'
* *tiː 'hand'
* *saŋ 'to hear/listen'
* *soːc, *sroːc 'horn'
* *ʔiɲ 'I'
* *pNhoːc 'to kill'
* *-nuːl, *mkuːr 'knee'
* *kah 'know'
* *-laːˀ 'leaf'
* *bic 'to lie (down)'
* *lɔːm 'liver'
* *goŋ 'long'
* *ciː 'louse (head)'
* *(c/k)lɔːŋ 'man/husband'
* *lɔː 'many'
* *pɔːm, *ɟuːc 'meat/flesh'
* *kaːŋ 'moon'
* *nɔːŋ 'mountain/hill'
* *(c)kaː 'mouth'
* *kɔːk 'neck'
* *blaː 'new'
* *klɛːˀŋ 'night'
* *-toːt, *mu(ː)s 'nose'
* *ʔih 'not'
* *moːˀj 'one'
* *kɟɨm 'person/human'
* *kɔːˀn 'rat'
* *gmaːˀ 'rain'
* *ŋar 'red'
* *ɟar 'resin'
* *kraː 'road, path'
* *reːs 'root (of a tree)'
* *moːl 'round (object)'
* *(g)laːŋ 'sand'
* *daŋ 'see'
* *kɨl 'sit'
* *-loːˀ 'skin'
* *bic 'sleep'
* *kic 'small'
* *kmaː⁽ˀ⁾s 'smoke (n.)'
* *ɲaːj 'to speak, say'
* *taːl 'to stand'
* *ksɨm 'star'
* *tmoːˀ 'stone'
* *(t/s)ŋiːˀ 'sun'
* *heːl 'to swim'
* *paːs 'tail'
* *dan 'that (dist.)'
* *ʔan 'this (prox.)'
* *boː 'thou/you'
* *ɟrlaʔ 'thorn'
* *ktaːˀk 'tongue'
* *koːj 'tooth'
* *neːˀm 'tree'
* *baːˀr 'two'
* *ceːw 'to walk, go'
* *tuːˀ 'warm/hot'
* *daːk 'water'
* *hɛːŋ 'we (excl.)'
* *taːɲ 'to weave'
* *cmpiːˀj 'what?'
* *broːŋ, *pruːs 'white'
* *ʔmih 'who?'
* *kɨn 'woman/wife'
* *joːˀs 'yellow'
Lexical innovations
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 nota ...
(2015:203)
[Sidwell, Paul. 2015. "Austroasiatic classification." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). ''The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages''. Leiden: Brill.] lists the following Pearic lexical innovations that had replaced original
Proto-Austroasiatic forms.
Sidwell (2021) subsequently revised the list of Pearic lexical innovations as follows.
References
Further reading
*Ferlus, Michel. 2009. "Toward Proto Pearic: Problems and Historical Implications". In Sophana Srichampa et al. (eds.), 38–51.
External links
SEAlang Project: Mon–Khmer languages. The Pearic BranchLinguist races to save a dying language spoken in CambodiaPearic/Chongic Languages Project
by Paul Sidwell
{{Austro-Asiatic languages