Brao is a Mon–Khmer language of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
| Brao | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam |
Native speakers | 62,000 (2009–2015)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:brb – Brao (was Lave)krr – Krungkrv – Kavet |
| Glottolog | lave1249 |
| ELP | Lave |
 | |
Phonology
edit| Labial | Dental- Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obstruent | voiceless | p | t | c | k | ʔ |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ç | kʰ | h | |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | g | ||
| glottalized | ˀb | ˀd | ˀɟ | ˀg | ||
| Nasal | plain | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| preaspirated | ʰm | ʰn | ʰŋ | |||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||
Varieties
editAccording 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
editSidwell (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
edit- ^ Brao (was Lave) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Krung at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
Kavet at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
- ^ Keller, Charles E. (April 1999). "Brao-Krung Phonology" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Đặng Nghiêm Vạn, Chu Thái Sơn, Lưu Hùng. 2010. Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam. Hà Nội: Thế Giới Publishers.
- 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
edit- 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