Nguồn language

Nguon
Nguồn, Năm Nguyên
Native to	Vietnam, Laos
Region	Quảng Bình Province
Ethnicity	2,000 (2007) to 40,000
Native speakers	unclear (date missing)
Language family	Austroasiatic Vietic Viet–Muong Nguon
Writing system	Latin (quốc ngữ)
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	nguo1239
Location of Quảng Bình Province

Nguồn (also Năm Nguyên) is a Vietic language spoken by the Nguồn people in the Trường Sơn mountains in Vietnam's North Central Coast region as well as in nearby regions of Laos.

Most Nguồn speakers in Vietnam live in the secluded Minh Hóa district of Quảng Bình Province, with others in the area around Đồng Lê, the seat of Tuyên Hoá District, approximately 50 km (31 mi) from the National Highway 1.

The Nguồn language has been variously described as a dialect of Vietnamese or as the southernmost dialect of Mường. Some researchers who consider it more closely related to Mường find that those who connect it more closely with Vietnamese are more influenced by ethnographic and/or political concerns than linguistic evidence. Chamberlain (2003) and Sidwell (2009) count it as a third Viet–Muong language.

Most Nguồn live in Tuyên Hóa District (alongside the neighboring Sách people, a subgroup of the Chứt people who also speak a Vietic language) and in Minh Hoá District (living with the neighboring Việt peoples).

There are also Nguồn living in Laos, but with conflicting reports as to their exact location. According to Chamberlain (1998), there is a Nguồn village in central Laos known as Ban Pak Phanang in Boualapha District, Khammouane Province.

Chéon (1907), Maspéro (1912), and Cuisinier (1948) considered Nguồn to be more closely related to Mường while Mạc (1964), Nguyễn Đ. B. (1975), and Phạm (1975) connected it with Vietnamese.