Khmu language

Khmu [kʰmuʔ] is the language of the Khmu people of the northern Laos region. It is also spoken in adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and China. Khmu lends its name to the Khmuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, the latter of which also includes Khmer and Vietnamese. Within Austroasiatic, Khmu is often cited as being most closely related to the Palaungic and Khasic languages.[5] The name "Khmu" can also be seen romanized as Kmhmu, Khmu', Kammu, or Khamuk in various publications or alternatively referred to by the name of a local dialect.

Not to be confused with Khmer language.
Khmu
Kmhmu
ກຶມຫມຸ
กำมุ
Native toLaos, Vietnam, Thailand, China
EthnicityKhmu
Native speakers
(798,400 cited 1990–2015 census)[1][2]
Lao, Latin, Thai
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
kjg – Khmu
khf – Buddhist Khmu (Kmhmu' Khwen)[3][4]
Glottologkhmu1255

Dialects
Approximate location of Khmu dialects in Laos

Khmu has several dialects but no standard variety. Dialects differ primarily in consonant inventory, existence of register, and the degree to which the language has been influenced by the surrounding national language(s). Dialects are, for the most part, mutually intelligible; however communication can be difficult between speakers of geographically distant dialects.

The dialects of Khmu can be broadly categorized into two groups, Western Khmu and Eastern Khmu.

  • Western Khmu dialects have fewer consonant phonemes and instead use phonemic register contrast, as seen in other Austroasiatic languages, of "lax" breathy register and "tense" modal register. In at least one dialect of Western Khmu, known as Khmu Rook, tonogenesis is evident as the register contrast has developed into a system of two phonetic tones with six phonemic realizations.[6]
  • Eastern Khmu dialects show the opposite tendency. Completely lacking either register or tone distinction, these dialects utilize a three-way distinction of stops (voiced, voiceless and aspirated voiceless) and nasals (voiced, voiceless, and pre-glottalized) in the syllable-initial position for phonemic contrast.[7]

Suwilai Premsrirat (2002)

Suwilai Premsrirat (2002)[8] reports the following locations and dialects of Kmhmu' in Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant inventory of Khmu' is shown in the table below. The phoneme /f/, present in dialects of both Eastern and Western Khmu', is a result of borrowings from the surrounding Tai languages.[9]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive Aspirated pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ
Voiceless p t c k ʔ
Voiced b d ɟ1 ɡ1
Nasal Voiceless1 m̥ n̥ ɲ̥ ŋ̥
Voiced m n ɲ ŋ
Preglottalized1 ˀm ˀn ˀɲ ˀŋ
Fricative Voiceless (f) s h
Approximant Voiceless1 w̥2 l̥r̥ j̊
Voiced w lr j
Preglottalized1 ˀw ˀj
  1. Only found in Eastern Khmu dialects.
  2. w̥ is a voiceless labio-velar approximant

Vowels

The vowels of the Khmu' language show little variation across the dialects with all varieties having 19 monophthongs and three diphthongs (/iə/, /ɨə/ and /uə/).[6]

Front Central Back
shortlong shortlong shortlong
Close iiː ɨɨː uuː
Close-mid eeː əəː ooː
Open-mid ɛɛː ʌː ɔɔː
Open aaː

Grammar

Pronouns
PersonSingularDualPlural
1stໂອະ (òɂ)ອະ (àɂ)ອິ (ìɂ)
2ndແຢະ (jɛ̀ɂ) (masculine), ປາ (pàː) (feminine)ສວາ (swáː)ປໍ (pɔ̀ː)
3rdກັຽ (kəː) (masculine), ນາ (nàː) (feminine)ສນາ (snáː)ນໍ (nɔ̀ː)

Syntax

Khmu uses mainly an SVO word order although an OVS order is also possible.

Vocabulary

Numeral
Cardinal /nɨŋ//sɔ́ːŋ//sáːm//síː//háː//rók//cét//pɛ́t//káw//síp/
ນຶງສອງສາມສີຫາຣົກເຈຕັແປດເກົ້າສິບ
12345678910
Ordinal /mòːj//pà:ː//péʔ//puːl//pɨəŋ//tɔːl//tel//taːm//kaːj//kal/
ໂມຢປາຣເປະປູລເປືອງຕອລເຕລຕາມກາຍກັລ
1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th

Comparison with Khmer
EnglishKhmuKhmer
dogເສາະ ([sɔ́ɂ])ឆ្កែ (chhkê)
childກອນ ([kɔ́ːn])កូន (kon)
motherມະ ([màɂ])ម៉ាក់ (măk)
flowerຣາງ ([ràːŋ])ផ្កា (phka)
mountainມົກ ([mòk])ភ្នំ (phnum)
to seeກເລະ ([klèɂ])ឃើញ (kheunh)
enemyສັຕູ ([sa tùː])សត្រូវ (sâtrov)
to disappearງັຕ ([ŋát])បាត់ (băt)
to shootປິຍ ([píɲ])បាញ់ (bănh)
sevenເຈຕັ ([cét])ប្រាំពីរ (brămpir)
penisລົກ ([lòk])លិង្គ (lĭngk)

See also

References
  1. "Kmhmu'". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  2. "Khuen". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  3. Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices
  4. "Mon-Khmer Classification (Draft)".
  5. Diffloth, Gérard (2005). "The contribution of linguistic palaeontology and Austroasiatic". in Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, eds. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. 77–80. London: Routledge Curzon.
  6. SUWILAI Premsrirat, author. 2001. "Tonogenesis in Khmu dialects of SEA." Mon-Khmer Studies: a Journal of Southeast Asian Linguistics and Languages 31: 47-56.
  7. Suwilai, Premsrirat, et al. Mahidol University. Dictionary of Khmu in Laos.
  8. Premsrirat, Suwilai. 2002. Dictionary of Khmu in Laos. Mon-Khmer Studies, Special Publication, Number 1, Volume 3. Salaya, Thailand: Mahidol University.
  9. Suwilai, Prēmsīrat. The Thesaurus and Dictionary Series of Khmu Dialects in Southeast Asia. Nakorn Pathom: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University at Salaya, Thailand, 2002. ISBN 9740501125

Further reading
  • Premsirat, Suwilai (1991). "Aspects Inter-Clausal Relations in Khmu". In Davidson, Jeremy H. C. S.; Shorto, H. L. (eds.). Austroasiatic Languages: Essays in Honour of H.L. Shorto. University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. pp. 123–140. ISBN 0728601834. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  • Prēmsīrat, Suwilai. The Thesaurus and Dictionary Series of Khmu Dialects in Southeast Asia. Nakorn Pathom: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University at Salaya, Thailand, 2002. ISBN 9740501125
  • Prēmsīrat, Suwilai. Khmu, a Minority Language of Thailand. Papers in South-East Asian linguistics, no. 10. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1987. ISBN 0-85883-365-4
  • Proschan, Frank. Kmhmu' Language and Language Policy: At Home and Abroad. s.l: s.n, 1995.
  • Proschan, Frank. Poetic Parallelism in Kmhmu Verbal Arts: From Texts to Performances. s.l: s.n, 1988.
  • Smalley, William Allen. Outline of Khmu structure. American Oriental series. Essay, v.2. New Haven, Conn: American Oriental Society, 1961.
  • Svantesson, Jan-Olof. Kammu Phonology and Morphology. Travaux de l'Institut de linguistique de Lund, 18. Lund: CWK Gleerup, 1983. ISBN 91-40-04870-5
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