Chong (, also spelled ''Chawng, Shong, Xong'') is an

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead langua ...

spoken in eastern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and formerly in

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 ...

by the Chong. It is a Western Pearic language in the Mon–Khmer language family. Chong is currently the focus of a

language revitalization Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...

project in Thailand. The Chong language is marked by its unusual four-way contrast in

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), ...

. Its grammar has not been extensively studied, but it is unrelated to the

Thai language Thai,In or Central Thai (historically Siamese;Although "Thai" and "Central Thai" have become more common, the older term, "Siamese", is still used by linguists, especially when it is being distinguished from other Tai languages (Diller 2008:6 ...

which is in the Tai–Kadai language family. Chong had no written form until 2000, when researchers at

Mahidol University Mahidol University is an autonomous university, autonomous public university, public research university in Thailand. The university was founded as part of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. It was first called the University of Medical Science in 1943, ...

used a simplified version of standard Thai characters to create a Chong

writing system A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independen ...

, after which the first teaching materials in the language appeared. Chong is currently considered to be at stage 7 in

Joshua Fishman Joshua Fishman (Yiddish: שיקל פֿישמאַן — Shikl Fishman; July 18, 1926 – March 1, 2015) was an American linguist who specialized in the sociology of language, language planning, bilingual education, and language and ethnicity. ...

's Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), where stage 8 is the closest to extinction. Chong is actually two languages, Western Chong, and Central Chong or Samre. The Western Chong community in Thailand is primarily located in and around

Chanthaburi Chanthaburi (, ) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in the east of Thailand, on the banks of the Chanthaburi River. It is the capital of the Chanthaburi Province and the Mueang Chanthaburi District. The town covers the two ''tambons'' Talat an ...

. Central Chong includes the Kasong dialect of Trat. (See that article for details.) While the language spoken in Thailand has been studied recently, the Chong language in Cambodia has not been investigated yet. David Bradley (2007) reports no remaining speakers.

Classification

A number of

Pearic languages The Pearic languages (alternatively called the Chongic languages) are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern Mon–Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by Pear people (the ''Por'', the ''Samré'', the ''Samray'', t ...

are called "Chong", and they all do not constitute a single language. Chong proper consists of the majority of varieties which Sidwell (2009) labeled "Western Chong". This includes the main dialect around Chanthaburi Province (mostly in southern Khao Khitchakut District and western

Pong Nam Ron District Pong Nam Ron (, ) is the easternmost district (''amphoe'') of Chanthaburi province, eastern Thailand. Geography Neighboring districts are (from the southwest clockwise) Khlung, Makham, Khao Khitchakut, and Soi Dao of Chanthaburi province. To ...

Choosri, Isara. 2002. ''Mapping dialects of Chong in Chanthaburi province, Thailand: an application of Geographical Information System (GIS)''. M.A. dissertation, Mahidol University.). on the Thai–Cambodian border. These should not be confused with the variety called "Chong" in

Trat Province Trat province (, ), also spelt Trad province, is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (''changwat''), and is located in the region of eastern Thailand. It borders Chanthaburi province to the northwest, and Cambodia's provinces of Pailin, B ...

of western Thailand, nor with "Kasong" Chong, both of which were classified as "Central Chong" along with Samre, and so should perhaps be considered dialects of Samre rather than of Chong. Similarly, the languages called "Chung" in

Kanchanaburi Province Kanchanaburi (, ) is the largest of the western Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. The neighboring provinces are (clockwise, from the north) Tak province, Tak, Uthai Thani province, Uthai Thani, Suphan Buri province, Sup ...

and in Cambodia are dialects of Sa'och, and were classified as "Southern Chong" along with Suoi. *Western Chong dialects (Chong proper)Sidwell, Paul (2009). ''Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art''. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 76. Munich: Lincom Europa. **''Chong'' of Chantaburi (Baradat ms.) ** ***''Chong həəp'' (Martin 1974) ***''Khlong Phlu Chong'' (Siripen Ungsitibonporn 2001) ** ***''Chong lɔɔ'' (Martin 1974) ***''Wang Kraphrae Chong'' (Siripen Ungsitibonporn 2001) ***''Chong'' (Huffman 1983) Isara Choosri (2002) lists the following dialects of Chong spoken in Chanthaburi Province. *Takhian Thong ตะเคียนทอง (Northern Chong): in Ban Khlong Phlu คลองพลู (northernmost location); Ban Nam Khun, Ban Takhian Thong ตะเคียนทอง, Ban Cham Khloh. This is the northernmost dialect; in the past, Chong speakers used to settle as far north as Ban Chankhlem จันทเขลม. A few thousand speakers. Formerly grouped as part of the western dialect also known as ''Chong lɔɔ''. *Phluang พลวง (Southern Chong): in Ban Krathing, Ban Thung Saphan, Ban Thung Ta-In, Ban Phang Kalaeng. Hundreds of speakers. Formerly grouped as part of the western dialect also known as ''Chong lɔɔ''. *Pong Nam Ron โป่งน้ำร้อน (Eastern Chong): in Ban Wang Kraphrae. A few dozen speakers left. Eastern dialect also known as ''Chong həəp''. The Central Chong dialects are, *''Samre'' of

Pursat Pursat ( ; , ) is the capital of Pursat 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, ...

*''Samre'' (Pornsawan Ploykaew 2001) *''Chong'' (Baradat ms.) *'' Kasong'' (Noppawan Thongkham 2003), historically called ''Chong of Trat'' (Pannetier ms., Isarangura 1935)

Classification

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

References

Further reading