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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.

Khmu
Kmhmu ກຶມຫມຸ กำมุ
Native to	Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China
Ethnicity	Khmu
Native speakers	(3.500.000 cited 1990–2015 census)[1][2]
Language family	Austroasiatic Khmuic Khmu
Writing system	Lao, Latin, Thai
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: kjg – Khmu khf – Buddhist Kmhmu' (Kmhmu' Khwen)[3][4]
Glottolog	khmu1255

Dialects

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.

• Laos: spoken in the 8 northern provinces of Luang Namtha, Udomsai, Bokeo, Sayaburi, Phongsali, Luang Prabang, and Xiaq kvaaq, with a few villages near Vientiane. Dialects include Kmhmu' Rook, Khmu Lw, and Kmhmu' Cwaq (also known as Kmhmu' Uu).
• Vietnam: Kim Hua, Sop Pot, Sop Caw and Pung Kamong Villages, Kim Da Subdistrict, Tương Dương District, Vinh City, Nghệ An Province. Also in Lai Châu Province, Sơn La Province, and Thanh Hóa Province.
• China: Pung Soa village (more conservative with voicing contrasts in the initial consonants) and Om Kae village (has tonal contrasts) in Sipsongpanna, Yunnan
• Thailand: many villages, including the representative datapoint of Huai Ian village, Lai Ngao subdistrict, Wiang Kaen district, Chiang Rai province (originally from Pak Bang district of Laos, where the language is called Khmu Khrong, meaning 'Mekong Khmu'). Also in Nan province and Lampang province.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant inventory of Khmu' is shown in the table below. The phonemes in the colored cells are particular to the dialects of Eastern Khmu. 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		ɟ		ɡ
Nasal	Voiceless	m̥		n̥		ɲ̥		ŋ̥
	Voiced	m		n		ɲ		ŋ
	Preglottalized	ʔm		ʔn		ʔɲ		ʔŋ
Fricative	Voiceless	(f)		s						h
Approximant	Voiceless	w̥[lower-alpha 1]		l̥	r̥	j̊
	Voiced	w		l	r	j
	Preglottalized	ʔw				ʔj

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
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i	iː	ɨ	ɨː	u	uː
Close-mid	e	eː	ə	əː	o	oː
Open-mid	ɛ	ɛː		ʌː	ɔ	ɔː
Open			a	aː

Grammar

Pronouns

Person	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st	ໂອະ (òɂ)	ອະ (àɂ)	ອິ (ìɂ)
2nd	ແຢະ (jɛ̀ɂ) (masculine), ປາ (pàː) (feminine)	ສວາ (swáː)	ປໍ (pɔ̀ː)
3rd	ກັຽ (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/	/sɔ́:ŋ/	/sá:m/	/sí:/	/há:/	/rók/	/cét/
	ນຶງ	ສອງ	ສາມ	ສີ	ຫາ	ຣົກ	ເຈຕັ
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Ordinal	/mò:j/	/pà:r/	/péɂ/	/sí:/	/há:/	/lók/	/cét/
	ໂມຢ	ປາຣ	ເປະ	ສີ	ຫາ	ລົກ	ເຈຕັ
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th

Comparison with Khmer

English	Khmu	Khmer
dog	ເສາະ (sɔ́ɂ)	ឆ្កែ (chhke)
child	ກອນ (kɔ́ːn)	កូន (kaun)
mother	ມະ (màɂ)	ម៉ាក់ (meak)
flower	ຣາງ (ràːŋ)	ផ្កា (phka)
mountain	ມົກ (mòk)	ភ្នំ (phnom)
see	ກເລະ (klèɂ)	ឃើញ (keunh)
enemy	ສັຕູ (sa tùː)	សត្រូវ (sa trauv)
disappear	ງັຕ (ŋát)	បាត់ (bat)
shoot	ປິຍ (píɲ)	បាញ់ (banh)
seven	ເຈຕັ (cét)	ប្រាំពីរ (brapir)
penis	ລົກ (lòk)	លិង្គ (ling)

See also

• Khmuic languages
• Khmu people
• List of Khmu plant common names
• List of Khmu animal common names

References

• Thomas Khammeung Manokoune (Tamong)

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

External links

• http://projekt.ht.lu.se/rwaai RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
• http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66EA-B@view Khmu in RWAAI Digital Archive
• Database of audio recordings in Khmu - basic Catholic prayers

На других языках

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- [en] Khmu language

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[fr] Khmu

Le khmu (ou kammu) est une langue môn-khmer parlée au Laos. Des communautés importantes résident aussi en Thaïlande et au Viêt Nam. Des groupes réduits de locuteurs se trouvent en Chine et en Birmanie.

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