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The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family
Language family

A language family is a group of languages related Genetic from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with Alpha taxonomy, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics....
 of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
, and also scattered throughout India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
. The name comes from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word for "south" and the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 name of Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, hence "South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
." Among these languages, only Vietnamese
Vietnamese language

Vietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people , who constitute 86% of Demographics of Vietnam, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States....
, Khmer
Khmer language

Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austro-Asiatic languages, with speakers in the tens of millions....
, and Mon
Mon language

The Mon language is an Austroasiatic languages spoken by the Mon people, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, unlike most languages in the Southeast Asian region, is not tonal language....
 have a long established recorded history, and only Vietnamese and Khmer have official status (in Vietnam and Cambodia, respectively). The rest of the languages are spoken by minority groups.






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The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family
Language family

A language family is a group of languages related Genetic from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with Alpha taxonomy, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics....
 of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
, and also scattered throughout India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
. The name comes from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word for "south" and the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 name of Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, hence "South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
." Among these languages, only Vietnamese
Vietnamese language

Vietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people , who constitute 86% of Demographics of Vietnam, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States....
, Khmer
Khmer language

Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austro-Asiatic languages, with speakers in the tens of millions....
, and Mon
Mon language

The Mon language is an Austroasiatic languages spoken by the Mon people, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, unlike most languages in the Southeast Asian region, is not tonal language....
 have a long established recorded history, and only Vietnamese and Khmer have official status (in Vietnam and Cambodia, respectively). The rest of the languages are spoken by minority groups. Ethnologue
Ethnologue

Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christianity linguistics service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles, in their native language....
 identifies 168 Austro-Asiatic languages. These were traditionally divided into two families, Mon-Khmer and Munda, but recent classifications have abandoned Mon-Khmer as a valid node.

Austro-Asiatic languages have a disjunct distribution across India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, separated by regions where other languages are spoken. It is widely believed that the Austro-Asiatic languages are the autochthonous languages of Southeast Asia and the eastern Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
, and that the other languages of the region, including the Indo-European
Indo-European languages

The Indo-European languages are a Language family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau , Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ....
, Kradai, Dravidian
Dravidian languages

The Dravidian Language families and languages includes approximately 73 languages and are mainly spoken in South India and northeastern Sri Lanka Tamils , as well as certain areas in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and eastern and central India, as well as in parts of Afghanistan, Iran, and overseas in other countries such as Malaysia and Si...
, and Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan languages

The Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family composed of, at least, the Chinese language and the Tibeto-Burman languages, including some 250 languages of East Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia....
, are the result of later migrations of people
Human migration

Human migration denotes any movement by humans from one district to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups.Migration is one of the four evolutionary forces ...
. There are, for example, Austro-Asiatic words in the Tibeto-Burman languages of eastern Nepal. Some linguists have attempted to prove that Austro-Asiatic languages are related to Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages

The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia....
, thus forming the Austric
Austric languages

The Austric language superfamily is a large theoretical grouping of languages primarily spoken in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and the eastern Indian subcontinent....
 superfamily.

The Austro-Asiatic languages are well known for having a "sesqui-syllabic" pattern, with basic nouns and verbs consisting of a reduced minor syllable
Minor syllable

Minor syllable is a term used primarily in the description of Mon-Khmer languages, where a word typically consists of a reduced syllable followed by a full syllable....
 plus a full syllable. Many of them also have infix
Infix

An infix is an affix inserted inside a stem . It contrasts with adfix, a rare term for an affix attached to the outside of a stem, such as a prefix or suffix....
es.

Classification

Linguists traditionally recognize two primary divisions of Austro-Asiatic: the Mon-Khmer languages
Mon-Khmer languages

The Mon-Khmer languages are the Autochthonous language language family of Southeast Asia. Together with the Munda languages of India, they are one of the two traditional primary branches of the Austroasiatic languages family....
 of Southeast Asia, Northeast India
North-East India

North-East India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States, Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal ....
 and the Nicobar Islands
Nicobar Islands

The Nicobar Islands are an island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, and are part of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India....
, and the Munda languages
Munda languages

The Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic languages, generally placed in opposition to the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, which means they are distantly related to Vietnamese language and Khmer language....
 of East
East India

East India, or more properly Eastern India, is a List_of_regions_in_India of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa....
 and Central India and parts of Bangladesh. However, no evidence for this classification has ever been published, and it is possible that the linguistic classification has been influenced by researchers' subjective perception of a racial dichotomy between the speakers of languages that have traditionally been classified as Mon-Khmer and those that have traditionally been classified as Munda.

Each of the families that is written in boldface type below is accepted as a valid clade. However, the relationships between these families within Austro-Asiatic is debated; in addition to the traditional classification, two recent proposals are given, neither of which accept traditional Mon-Khmer as a valid unit. It should be noted that little of the data used for competing classifications has ever been published, and therefore cannot be evaluated by peer review.

Gérard Diffloth (2005)

Diffloth
Gérard Diffloth

G?rard Diffloth is a retired Austro-Asiatic Languages professor, formerly of the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, and Cornell University, Ithaca, New York....
 compares reconstructions of various clades, and attempts to classify them based on shared innovations. As a schematic, we have:

Or in more detail,

  • Munda languages
    Munda languages

    The Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic languages, generally placed in opposition to the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, which means they are distantly related to Vietnamese language and Khmer language....
     (India)
  • Koraput: 7 languages
  • Core Munda languages


  • Kharian-Juang: 2 languages
  • North Munda languages
Korku Kherwarian: 12 languages

  • Khasi-Khmuic languages (Northern Mon-Khmer)
  • Khasian
    Khasic languages

    The Khasic or Khasian languages are a language family of Austro-Asiatic languages. They consist of Khasi language, Pnar language and War language....
    : 3 languages of eastern India and Bangladesh
  • Palaungo-Khmuic languages


  • Khmuic
    Khmuic languages

    Khmuic languages are a subgroup of the Mon-Khmer languages.*Khao *Mlabri *Xinh Mul *Khmu? The Khmu is the only language in the group that has a large number of speakers, while, e.g., the Mlabri language is only spoken by a few hundreds....
    : 13 languages of Laos and Thailand


  • Palaungo-Pakanic languages
Pakanic or Palyu
Palyu languages

The Palyu languages, also known as Pakanic and Mangic, are a tentative recently identified branch of endangered Austro-Asiatic languages....
: 4 or 5 languages of southern China and Vietnam 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 voiced consonant of the ancestral Austro-Asiatic consonants, with the distinction often shifting to the following vowel....
: 21 languages of Burma, southern China, and Thailand

  • Nuclear Mon-Khmer languages
  • Khmero-Vietic languages (Eastern Mon-Khmer)


  • Vieto-Katuic languages ?
Vietic
Vietic languages

The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages language family. Vietnamese was identified as an Austroasiatic language in the mid nineteenth century, and there is now evidence for this classification....
: 10 languages of Vietnam and Laos, including the Vietnamese language
Vietnamese language

Vietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people , who constitute 86% of Demographics of Vietnam, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States....
, which has the most speakers of any Austro-Asiatic language. These are the only Austro-Asiatic languages to have highly developed tone systems. Katuic
Katuic languages

The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples....
: 19 languages of Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.

  • Khmero-Bahnaric languages
  • Bahnaric
    Bahnaric languages

    The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty Mon-Khmer languages spoken by about 700,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Internal diversity suggests that the family broke up about 3000 years ago....
    : 40 languages of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
  • Khmeric languages
The Khmer dialects
Khmer language

Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austro-Asiatic languages, with speakers in the tens of millions....
 of Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Pearic
Pearic languages

The Pearic languages are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern Mon-Khmer languages branch of the Austroasiatic languages, spoken by Pear living in western Cambodia and southeastern Thailand....
: 6 languages of Cambodia.

  • Nico-Monic languages (Southern Mon-Khmer)


  • Nicobarese languages
    Nicobarese languages

    The Nicobarese languages form an isolated group of six closely-related Mon-Khmer languages, spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of the Nicobar Islands of India....
    : 6 languages of the Nicobar Islands
    Nicobar Islands

    The Nicobar Islands are an island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, and are part of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India....
    , a territory of India.


  • Asli-Monic languages
Aslian
Aslian languages

The Aslian languages are the languages of the Orang Asli, the aboriginal inhabitants of Malay Peninsula and peninsular Thailand, and a branch of the Mon-Khmer languages, in the Austro-Asiatic languages language family....
: 19 languages of peninsular Malaysia] and Thailand. Monic
Monic languages

The Monic languages are a branch of the Austro-Asiatic languages language family descended from the Old Monic language of the kingdom of Dvaravati in what is now central Thailand....
: 2 languages, the Mon language
Mon language

The Mon language is an Austroasiatic languages spoken by the Mon people, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, unlike most languages in the Southeast Asian region, is not tonal language....
 of Burma and the Nyahkur language
Nyah Kur language

The Nyah Kur language is an Austro-Asiatic languages spoken by a remnant of the Mon people of Dvaravati, the Nyah Kur people, who live in present-day Thailand....
 of Thailand.

Ilia Peiros (2004)

Peiros is a lexicostatistic
Lexicostatistics

Lexicostatistics is an approach to comparative linguistics that involves quantitative comparison of lexical cognates. Lexicostatistics is related to the comparative method but does not reconstruct a proto-language....
 classification, based on percentages of shared vocabulary. This means that a language may appear to be more distantly related than it actually is due to language contact
Language contact

Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics....
, so it is only a starting point for a proper genealogical classification.

  • Nicobarese
    Nicobarese languages

    The Nicobarese languages form an isolated group of six closely-related Mon-Khmer languages, spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of the Nicobar Islands of India....
  • Munda-Khmer
    • Munda
      Munda languages

      The Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic languages, generally placed in opposition to the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, which means they are distantly related to Vietnamese language and Khmer language....
    • Mon-Khmer
      Mon-Khmer languages

      The Mon-Khmer languages are the Autochthonous language language family of Southeast Asia. Together with the Munda languages of India, they are one of the two traditional primary branches of the Austroasiatic languages family....
      • Khasi
        Khasi language

        Khasi is an Austro-Asiatic languages spoken primarily in Meghalaya state in India. Khasi is part of the Khasi-Khmuic group of languages, and is distantly related to the Munda languages branch of the Austroasiatic family, which is found in east-central India....
      • Nuclear Mon-Khmer
        • Mangic (Mang + Palyu
          Palyu languages

          The Palyu languages, also known as Pakanic and Mangic, are a tentative recently identified branch of endangered Austro-Asiatic languages....
          ) (perhaps in Northern MK)
        • Vietic
          Vietic languages

          The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages language family. Vietnamese was identified as an Austroasiatic language in the mid nineteenth century, and there is now evidence for this classification....
           (perhaps in Northern MK)
        • Northern Mon-Khmer
          • 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 voiced consonant of the ancestral Austro-Asiatic consonants, with the distinction often shifting to the following vowel....
          • Khmuic
            Khmuic languages

            Khmuic languages are a subgroup of the Mon-Khmer languages.*Khao *Mlabri *Xinh Mul *Khmu? The Khmu is the only language in the group that has a large number of speakers, while, e.g., the Mlabri language is only spoken by a few hundreds....
            '
        • Central Mon-Khmer
          • Khmer
            Khmer language

            Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austro-Asiatic languages, with speakers in the tens of millions....
             dialects
          • Pearic
            Pearic languages

            The Pearic languages are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern Mon-Khmer languages branch of the Austroasiatic languages, spoken by Pear living in western Cambodia and southeastern Thailand....
          • Asli-Bahnaric
            • Aslian
              Aslian languages

              The Aslian languages are the languages of the Orang Asli, the aboriginal inhabitants of Malay Peninsula and peninsular Thailand, and a branch of the Mon-Khmer languages, in the Austro-Asiatic languages language family....
            • Mon-Bahnaric
              • Monic
                Monic languages

                The Monic languages are a branch of the Austro-Asiatic languages language family descended from the Old Monic language of the kingdom of Dvaravati in what is now central Thailand....
              • Katu-Bahnaric
                • Katuic
                  Katuic languages

                  The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples....
                • Bahnaric
                  Bahnaric languages

                  The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty Mon-Khmer languages spoken by about 700,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Internal diversity suggests that the family broke up about 3000 years ago....


Diffloth (1974)

Diffloth's widely cited original classification, now abandoned by Diffloth himself, is used in Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclop?dia Britannica is a general English language encyclopedia published by Encyclop?dia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company....
 and—except for the breakup of Southern Mon-Khmer—in Ethnologue.

  • Munda
    Munda languages

    The Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic languages, generally placed in opposition to the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, which means they are distantly related to Vietnamese language and Khmer language....
    • North Munda
      • Korku
      • Kherwarian
    • South Munda
      • Kharia-Juang
      • Koraput Munda
  • Mon-Khmer
    Mon-Khmer languages

    The Mon-Khmer languages are the Autochthonous language language family of Southeast Asia. Together with the Munda languages of India, they are one of the two traditional primary branches of the Austroasiatic languages family....
    • Eastern Mon-Khmer
      • Khmer
        Khmer language

        Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austro-Asiatic languages, with speakers in the tens of millions....
         (Cambodian)
      • Pearic
        Pearic languages

        The Pearic languages are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern Mon-Khmer languages branch of the Austroasiatic languages, spoken by Pear living in western Cambodia and southeastern Thailand....
      • Bahnaric
        Bahnaric languages

        The Bahnaric languages are a group of about thirty Mon-Khmer languages spoken by about 700,000 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Internal diversity suggests that the family broke up about 3000 years ago....
      • Katuic
        Katuic languages

        The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples....
      • Vietic
        Vietic languages

        The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages language family. Vietnamese was identified as an Austroasiatic language in the mid nineteenth century, and there is now evidence for this classification....
         (includes Vietnamese)
    • Northern Mon-Khmer
      • Khasi
        Khasi language

        Khasi is an Austro-Asiatic languages spoken primarily in Meghalaya state in India. Khasi is part of the Khasi-Khmuic group of languages, and is distantly related to the Munda languages branch of the Austroasiatic family, which is found in east-central India....
         (Meghalaya
        Meghalaya

        Meghalaya is a small States of India in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means "The Abode of Clouds" in Sanskrit and other Indic languages....
        , India
        India

        India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
        )
      • 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 voiced consonant of the ancestral Austro-Asiatic consonants, with the distinction often shifting to the following vowel....
      • Khmuic
        Khmuic languages

        Khmuic languages are a subgroup of the Mon-Khmer languages.*Khao *Mlabri *Xinh Mul *Khmu? The Khmu is the only language in the group that has a large number of speakers, while, e.g., the Mlabri language is only spoken by a few hundreds....
    • Southern Mon-Khmer
      • Mon
        Mon language

        The Mon language is an Austroasiatic languages spoken by the Mon people, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, unlike most languages in the Southeast Asian region, is not tonal language....
      • Aslian
        Aslian languages

        The Aslian languages are the languages of the Orang Asli, the aboriginal inhabitants of Malay Peninsula and peninsular Thailand, and a branch of the Mon-Khmer languages, in the Austro-Asiatic languages language family....
         (Malaya
        Peninsular Malaysia

        Peninsular Malaysia , also known as Malaya or West Malaysia, is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north....
        )
      • Nicobarese
        Nicobarese languages

        The Nicobarese languages form an isolated group of six closely-related Mon-Khmer languages, spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of the Nicobar Islands of India....
         (Nicobar Islands
        Nicobar Islands

        The Nicobar Islands are an island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, and are part of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India....
        )


Protolanguage

Sidwell (2005) reconstructs the inventory of proto-Mon Khmer as follows:

*p*t*c*k*?
*b*d*?*g 
*?*?*?  
*m*n*?*? 
*w*l, *r*j  
*s *h
This is identical to earlier reconstructions except for , which is better preserved in the Katuic languages
Katuic languages

The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples....
 which Sidwell specializes in than in other branches of Austro-Asiatic.

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