Brao is a Mon–Khmer language of Cambodia and Laos.

Phonology

Varieties

According to Ethnologue, there are four distinct but mutually intelligible varieties, sometimes considered separate languages: Lave (Brao proper), Kru’ng (Kreung), and Kavet (Kravet), the latter spoken by only a couple thousand.

Sidwell (2003) also lists four communities of speakers, three of which are in Cambodia.

• Laveh (Lave, Rawe): spoken in Attapeu Province, Laos south of the capital city of Attapeu. Laveh is the official designation given by the Laotian government.
• Krung (Krüng, "Krung 2"): spoken around Ban Lung in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
• Kavet (Kravet): spoken in Voeun Sai District, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
• Brao (Brou, Palaw, Preou): spoken in and around the town of Taveng in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia

Lun, spoken in Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, is related to Lave and Kavet (Philip Lambrecht 2012).[3]

Demographics

Sidwell (2003) suggests the possibility of a total of 50,000 speakers, while Bradley (1994:161) gives an estimate of 35,000. All estimates below are drawn from Sidwell (2003:30).

• Laos: The 1995 Laotian census places the Laveh population at 17,544.
• Cambodia: The Asian Development Bank gave an estimate of 29,500 speakers as of the early 2000s.
• Vietnam: About 300 Brau live in Đắc Mế village, Bờ Y commune, Ngọc Hồi district, Kon Tum province (Đặng, et al. 2010:112).[4] Parkin (1991:81) also estimates several hundred Brao in Vietnam.
• Thailand: Parkin (1991:81) estimates a Brao population of 2,500 in Thailand.

References

• 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.

Further reading

• Keller, C. E. (1976). A grammatical sketch of Brao, a Mon–Khmer language. Grand Forks, N.D.: Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session. OCLC: 2915938