The Mnong language (also known as Pnong or Bunong) (Bunong: ឞូន៝ង) belongs to the
Austro-Asiatic language family. It is spoken by the different groups of
Mnong 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 ...
and a
Pnong group 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 ...
.
Distribution
In Vietnam, Mnong is spoken in the districts of
Đăk Song,
Đăk Mil,
Đăk R'Lấp,
Krông Nô,
Gia Nghĩa
Gia Nghĩa is the Provincial city of Đắk Nông Province, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. It is located on the main road northward to Buôn Ma Thuột.
Name
Its present name ''Gia Nghĩa'' from the original name in Jarai language: Y ...
, and other nearby locations in
Đắk Nông Province (Nguyễn & Trương 2009).
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 ...
, four major dialects exist: Central, Eastern and Southern Mnong (all spoken in Vietnam), and Kraol (spoken in Cambodia). Within a dialect group, members
do not understand other dialects. The Mnong language was studied first by the linguist Richard Phillips in the early 1970s.
Lê, et al. (2014:234-235) lists the following subgroups of Mnong and their respective locations.
*Mnông Gar: in northwestern
Lâm Đồng Province Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin in Mandarin and Im in Korean.
Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm.
Lam is also a commonly held surname of Cantonese speakers of Chinese descent. Large populations ...
and southern
Lak Lake.
*Mnông Nong: in
Đắk Nông District and
Đắk Min District
*Mnông Kuênh: in
Krông Pắk District
*Mnông Pré: mainly in
Đắk Nông District and
Đắk Min District, and a few at
Lak Lake.
*Mnông Prâng: scattered in
Đắk Nông District and
Đắk Min District, and a few in southern
Lak Lake and in Bản Đon,
Ea Súp District.
*Mnông Rlăm: in
Lắk District. Many have close relationships with the Ê-đê people.
*Mnông Bu-đâng: in Bản Đon,
Ea Súp District
*Mnông Chỉl: in
Lắk District. Many have close relationships with the Ê-đê people. Some also live in
Lạc Dương District and
Đức Trọng District
Đức Trọng is a rural district (''huyện'') of Lâm Đồng province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. Đức Trọng is located at the center of Lâm Đồng Province. Liên Nghĩa Town (''thị trấn''), the district capital, is ...
of
Lâm Đồng Province Lâm is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Lin in Mandarin and Im in Korean.
Lam is the anglicized variation of the surname Lâm.
Lam is also a commonly held surname of Cantonese speakers of Chinese descent. Large populations ...
.
*Mnông Bu Nor: in
Đắk Nông District and
Đắk Min District
*Mnông Dih Bri: very small population in
Đắk Nông District; Êa Krông.
*Mnông Đíp:
Đắk Min District and the northern part of former
Sông Bé Province.
*Mnông Biat: small population in former
Sông Bé Province. Majority living around the Vietnam-Cambodia border.
*Mnông Bu Đêh: in former
Sông Bé Province and
Đắk Lắk Province
*Mnông Si Tô: a group of
Mạ (Mạ Tô) people in
Đắk Nông District who have become assimilated into the Mnông population ("Mnông-ized" Mạ people)
*Mnông K’ah: a group of
Ê-đê people scattered across
Đắk Nông District,
Lắk District, and
M'Đrăk District who have become assimilated into the Mnông population ("Mnông-ized" Ê-đê people)
*Mnông Phê Đâm: small population living only in Quảng Tín
commune,
Đắk Nông District.
Other minor Mnong
ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
s include the Mnông Rơ Đe, Mnông R’Ông, and Mnông K’Ziêng.
Nguyễn & Trương (2009) cover the following M'Nông dialects.
*M'Nông Preh
*Kuênh
*Mạ
*M'Nông Nâr (Bu Nâr)
*M'Nông Noong (Bu Noong)
*M'Nông R'Lâm
*M'Nông Prâng
Phonology
Consonants
* Implosives /ʄ, ɠ/ may vary across dialects.
Vowels
Numerals
The following comparative numerals from various Mnong dialects are from Nguyễn & Trương (2009).
References
Further reading
* Blood, Henry Florentine. ''A Reconstruction of Proto-Mnong''. Waxhaw, N.C.: Wycliffe-JAARS Print Shop, 1968.
* Nguyễn Kiên Trường & Trương Anh. 2009. ''Từ Điển Việt - M'Nông''. Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Từ Điển Bách Khoa.
External links
Mnong at www.peoplesoftheworld.org
{{Austro-Asiatic languages
Bahnaric languages