Khmuic languages
Encyclopedia
Khmuic languages are a subgroup of the Mon–Khmer languages.
  • Khao: Khao, Bit
    Bit language
    Bit is a language spoken by around 1,500 people in northern Laos, concentrated in the provinces of Louang Namtha and Phongsali. There are thought to be about another 500 speakers over the border in Yunnan Province, China. It has been classified as Khmuic, Palaungic, and as Mangic....

     (also classified as Mangic and Palaungic
    Palaungic languages
    The nearly thirty Palaungic or Palaung–Wa languages form a branch of the Austro-Asiatic languages.Most of the Palaungic languages lost the contrastive voicing of the ancestral Austro-Asiatic consonants, with the distinction often shifting to the following vowel...

    )
  • Mlabri: Mlabri
    Mlabri language
    Mlabri is a language spoken by the Mlabri people in the border area between Thailand and Laos.It is usually classified as a Khmuic language, a subgroup of the Austro-Asiatic languages. Linguist Jørgen Rischel has studied the language and described its peculiarities in several works...

    , Yumbri
  • Xinh Mul: Khang, Phong-Kniang
    Phong-Kniang language
    Phong Kniang is an Austro-Asiatic language of the Mon–Khmer family, spoken in Laos. Its nearest relatives are the fellow Xinh Mul tongues, the Khang language and Puoc language, both spoken in Vietnam. The number of speakers of Phong-Kniang is estimated at 1,000....

    , Puoc (also classified as Mangic)
  • Khmu’: Khmu’
    Khmu language
    Khmu 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 Austro-Asiatic language family, which also includes Khmer and Vietnamese. Within Austro-Asiatic, Khmu is often...

    , Khuen, O’du, Mal, Phray, Phai, Lua (Lua’, Pray)


The Khmu is the only language in the group that has a large number of speakers, while, e.g., the Mlabri
Mlabri
The Mlabri or Mrabri are an ethnic group of Thailand and Laos, and have been called "the most interesting and least understood people in Southeast Asia". Only about 300 or fewer Mlabris remain in the world today, with some estimates as low as 100. A hill tribe in northern Thailand along the border...

 language is only spoken by a few hundreds. There is some disagreement over whether the Khao branch, which is here listed as part of the Khmuic language tree, is Khmuic or Palaungic
Palaungic languages
The nearly thirty Palaungic or Palaung–Wa languages form a branch of the Austro-Asiatic languages.Most of the Palaungic languages lost the contrastive voicing of the ancestral Austro-Asiatic consonants, with the distinction often shifting to the following vowel...

; according to linguist Svantesson, the Khao and Bit languages are best classified as Palaungic.

Classification

The following classification of the Khmuic languages is from Chazée (1999), citing Diffloth & Proschan (1989).
  • Khmuic
    • (Khang?)
    • Khmu
    • Phray–Pram
      • Mlabri
      • Phay/Mal/T'in
      • (Branch)
        • Ksing Moul (Ksongmul)
        • Pramic
          • Tai Hat
          • Tai Then
          • Phong Laan, Phong Phène, Phong Tapouang
          • Kaniang, Phong Piat, (Phong Saloey)


Ilia Peiros, however, gives different classification (Peiros 2004:39).
  • Khmuic
    • (Branch)
      • Khang
      • Bit
    • (Branch)
      • Mlabri–Pray
        • Mlabri
        • Pray
      • (Branch)
        • Kmu
        • (Branch)
          • Kxinh Mul
          • Ksinmul
        • (Branch)
          • Phong
          • Iduh

External links

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