The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty
Austroasiatic languages
The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority popu ...
spoken by about 700,000 people in
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
.
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 ...
notes that Austroasiatic/
Mon–Khmer languages
The Austroasiatic languages ( ) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority pop ...
are lexically more similar to Bahnaric and
Katuic languages
The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.5 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples. Paul Sidwell is the leading specialist on the Katuic ...
the closer they are geographically, independently of which branch of the family they belong to, but that Bahnaric and Katuic do not have any
shared innovation
In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...
s that would suggest that together they form a branch of the Austroasiatic family, rather forming separate branches.
Internal diversity
Internal diversity suggests that the family broke up about 3,000 years ago. North Bahnaric is characterized by a
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), ...
contrast between
breathy
Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing and susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal folds vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are adjusted to let more air escape which produces a sighing-like s ...
and modal voice, which in Sedang has tensed to become modal–
West Bahnaric is a dialect chain to the west of North Bahnaric, Unlike the other Bahnaric languages to the east, the West Bahnaric languages were under Khmer rather than Chamic influence, and also by the Katuic languages as part of a Katuic-West Bahnaric sprachbund (Sidwell 2003).
*West Bahnaric
**Brao–Kavet: Lave (Brao), Kru'ng,
Kravet
Kravet Inc., is a home furnishings company established in 1918. This fifth generation family business distributes fabrics, furniture, wallcoverings, trimmings, carpets and accessories.
Kravet Inc. owns Kravet, Lee Jofa, GP & J Baker, Brunschwi ...
The
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
Sidwell (2003) proposes the following West Bahnaric groupings, with Lavi branching off first, Jru'/Laven, Su', and Juk as forming a branch that had branched off secondarily, and the rest within a core group. Jru' and Brao each have tens of thousands of speakers, while the other languages have no more than 1,000 speakers each.
*West Bahnaric
**
Lavi
Lavi (, ''lit.'' Lion) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located 310 meters above sea level and 10 minutes from Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
Founding
Kibbut ...
Juk
Juk or JUK may refer to:
* JuK, software
* Juk (food), Korean rice porridge
* Juk language, a Mon–Khmer language spoken in Laos
* Ukkusissat Heliport (IATA: JUK), in Greenland
* Wapan language (ISO 639-3: juk), a Jukunoid language of Nigeria
{{ ...
Central Bahnaric is a language family divided by the Chamic languages, Bahnar, Mnong, and Sre (Koho) each have over 100,000 speakers.
*Central Bahnaric
** Alak
** Cua
** Taliang ( Kassang)
**Central South: to the southwest of Chamic:
*** Tampuon
*** Bahnar
***South Bahnaric
****Stieng–Chrau: Chrau,Stieng (Bulo, Budeh)
****Sre–Mnong: Koho, Mnong
Kassang is a Bahnaric language (Sidwell 2003), though ''Ethnologue'' lists it as
Katuic
The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.5 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples. Paul Sidwell is the leading specialist on the Katuic ...
.
Sidwell (2002, quoted in Sidwell 2003) gives the following classification for the Central Bahnaric languages. Note that Sidwell (2009) later classifies Cua as an independent branch, namely East Bahnaric.
*Central Bahnaric
**North Central
*** Alak (Halak)
**West Central
*** Kasseng/ Taliang
***Yaeh
**East Central
*** Cua
**South Central
*** Tampuon
*** Bahnar
****South Bahnaric
***** Chrau
***** Koho
*****Ma'
***** Stieng
***** Mnong
Hre
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
Rengao
Rengao is a North Bahnaric language. It is spoken in parts of south and central 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 ...
**
***
Jeh
Jahi is the Avestan language name of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism's demoness of "lasciviousness." As a Hypostasis (linguistics), hypostatic entity, Jahi is variously interpreted as "hussy," "rake," "libertine," "courtesan" and "one who leads a ...
***
Trieng
Taliang (Tariang, Talieng, Trieng) is a Bahnaric language spoken by the Jeh-Tariang people of Laos and Vietnam. It is possibly related to the Stieng language
Stieng (, Vietnamese: Xtiêng, Khmer: ) is the language of the Stieng people of s ...
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 ...
(2015:183)Sidwell, Paul. 2015. "Austroasiatic classification." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). ''The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages''. Leiden: Brill. lists the following Bahnaric lexical innovations that had replaced original
Proto-Austroasiatic
Proto-Austroasiatic is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austroasiatic languages. Proto-Mon–Khmer (i.e., all Austroasiatic branches except for Munda) has been reconstructed in Harry L. Shorto's ''Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary'', while a ...
Mon-Khmer Studies
''Mon-Khmer Studies'' was an academic journal that focused on Mon-Khmer languages. It was established in 1964 and ceased publication in 2016. From 1992 onwards, it was published by Mahidol University and SIL International
SIL Global (formerl ...
'', vol. 42 Mahidol University and SIL International.
*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.
*Jacq, P., & Sidewell, P. (2000). ''A comparative West Bahnaric dictionary''. Languages of the world, 21. München: LINCOM Europa.
* Sidwell, Paul. (2002) Genetic Classification of the Bahnaric Languages: a comprehensive review ''
Mon-Khmer Studies
''Mon-Khmer Studies'' was an academic journal that focused on Mon-Khmer languages. It was established in 1964 and ceased publication in 2016. From 1992 onwards, it was published by Mahidol University and SIL International
SIL Global (formerl ...