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 and
modal voice, which in Sedang has tensed to become modal–
creaky voice.
Lamam is a clan name of the neighboring Tampuon and Kaco’.
Sidwell (2009) tentatively classifies the Bahnaric languages into four branches, with
Cua (Kor) classified independently as East Bahnaric.
Unclassified Bahnaric languages of Cambodia include
Mel,
Khaonh,
Ra’ong, and
Thmon.
[Barr, Julie and Eric Pawley. 2013. ]
Bahnaric Language Cluster survey of Mondul Kiri and Kratie Provinces, Cambodia
'. SIL International.
*Bahnaric
**West Bahnaric
***
Jru' (
Laven),
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
{{ ...
,
Su'
***
Nyaheun
***
Oi,
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 ...
,
Sok,
Sapuan,
Cheng
***
Brao,
Laveh,
Krung,
Kravet
**Central Bahnaric
***
Taliang (
Kasseng)
***
Alak
***Central South
****
Tampuon
****
Bahnar
****South Bahnaric
*****
Chrau
*****
Sre
*****
Stieng
*****
Mnong
**North Bahnaric
***
Halang,
Kayong
***
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 ...
***Kotau
***
Tadrah, Modrah
***
Sedang
***
Hrê
***
Monom (Bonam)
***
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 ...
***
Kaco’,
Ramam
**East Bahnaric
***
Cua (Kor)
North Bahnaric
North Bahnaric consists of a
dialect chain
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated variet ...
spoken to the north of the
Chamic languages
The Chamic languages, also known as Aceh–Chamic and Acehnese–Chamic, are a group of ten languages spoken in Aceh (Sumatra, Indonesia) and in parts of Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hainan, China. The Chamic languages are a subgroup of Malay ...
. Sedang and Hre have the most speakers, each with about 100,000.

* North Bahnaric
**
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 ...
**
Halang
**
***
Kayong
***
****
Romam–
Kaco’
****
*****
Takua
*****
******
Monom (Bonam, Monam)
******
*******
Todrah (Didrah, Modrah)
*******
********
Sedang
********
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 ...
********
Hrê
Other Northern Bahnaric languages, too poorly known to classify further, are
Duan and
Katua.
West Bahnaric
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
**
Laven,
Sou plit?**
Nyaheun
**Oi–The:
Jeng;
Oy,
Sok,
Sapuan,
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 ...
**
***
Jru'/
Laven,
Su',
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
{{ ...
***
****
Nyaheun
****
Sapuan
****
Oi/Sok/
Cheng
****Laveh/
Brao
Central Bahnaric
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
Language diagrams
North Bahnaric (2022)
*North Bahnaric
**
*** Sedang
**** Halang
**** Sedang
**** Todrah
**** Monom
**** Kayong
*** Hre
*** Bahnar-Rengao
**** Bahnar
****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 ...
** Romam
**Katua
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 ...
(2015:183)[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 ...
forms.
References
Further reading
*Cheeseman, Nathaniel; Herington, Jennifer; Sidwell, Paul (2013).
Bahnaric Bahnaric linguistic bibliography with selected annotations
'. ''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 ...
'', Vol. 32. Mahidol University, Thailand.
*Sidwell, Paul (2000).
Proto South Bahnaric: a reconstruction of a Mon–Khmer language of Indo-China
'. Pacific Linguistics, 501. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
*Smith, K. D. (1972).
A phonological reconstruction of Proto-North-Bahnaric
'. Language data: Asian-Pacific series, no. 2. Santa Ana, Calif: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
External links
*http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
* http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-6711-8@view Bahnaric languages in RWAAI Digital Archive
{{authority control
Languages of Cambodia
Languages of Laos
Languages of Vietnam