Bahnaric languages
| Bahnaric | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Indochina |
| Linguistic classification: |
Austroasiatic
|
| Subdivisions: |
|
| Glottolog: | bahn1264 |
The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 700,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Paul Sidwell notes that Austroasiatic/Mon–Khmer languages are lexically more similar to Bahnaric and Katuic languages the closer they are geographically, independently of which branch of the family they belong to, but that Bahnaric and Katuic do not have any shared innovations that would suggest that together they form a branch of the Austroasiatic family.
Internal diversity suggests that the family broke up about 3000 years ago. North Bahnaric is characterized by a register contrast between breathy and modal voice, which in Sedang has tensed to become modal–creaky voice.
Lamam is a clan name of the neighboring Tampuon and Kaco’.
Sidwell (2009) tentatively classifies the Bahnaric languages into four branches, with Cua (Kor) classified independently as East Bahnaric.
Unclassified Bahnaric languages of Cambodia include Mel, Khaonh, Ra’ong, and Thmon.
North Bahnaric consists of a dialect chain spoken to the north of the Chamic languages. Sedang and Hre have the most speakers, each with about 100,000.
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