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Nyah Kur language

 

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Nyah Kur language



 
 
The Nyah Kur language is an Austroasiatic language
Austro-Asiatic languages

The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name comes from the Latin word for "south" and the Greek language name of Asia, hence "South Asia." Among these languages, only Vietnamese language, Khmer language, and Mon language have a long established record...
 spoken by a remnant of the Mon people
Mon people

The Mon are an ethnic group from Myanmar, living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, Irrawaddy Delta of present Burma, and along the southern Thai-Myanmar border....
 of Dvaravati
Dvaravati

The Dvaravati kingdom existed from the 6th to the 11th centuries. The Kingdom was then absorbed by the growing Lavo and Suphanburi kingdoms. The people of the kingdom used the ancient Mon language, but whether they were ethnically Mon people is unknown....
, the Nyah Kur people, who live in present-day Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
. Known as Chao-bon in Thai, it is spoken by a few thousand people in the central and northeastern provinces. Being the only languages of the 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....
 branch of the Mon-Khmer language
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....
 family, 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....
 and Nyah Kur are very closely related. The speakers of Nyah Kur are the descendants of those Mon who did not flee west when the Khmer
Khmer Empire

The Khmer Empire was the largest empire of South East Asia based in what is now Cambodia. The empire, which seceded from the kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalised parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand,Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia....
 overran their empire in the 9th and 11th centuries.






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Encyclopedia


The Nyah Kur language is an Austroasiatic language
Austro-Asiatic languages

The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name comes from the Latin word for "south" and the Greek language name of Asia, hence "South Asia." Among these languages, only Vietnamese language, Khmer language, and Mon language have a long established record...
 spoken by a remnant of the Mon people
Mon people

The Mon are an ethnic group from Myanmar, living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, Irrawaddy Delta of present Burma, and along the southern Thai-Myanmar border....
 of Dvaravati
Dvaravati

The Dvaravati kingdom existed from the 6th to the 11th centuries. The Kingdom was then absorbed by the growing Lavo and Suphanburi kingdoms. The people of the kingdom used the ancient Mon language, but whether they were ethnically Mon people is unknown....
, the Nyah Kur people, who live in present-day Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
. Known as Chao-bon in Thai, it is spoken by a few thousand people in the central and northeastern provinces. Being the only languages of the 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....
 branch of the Mon-Khmer language
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....
 family, 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....
 and Nyah Kur are very closely related. The speakers of Nyah Kur are the descendants of those Mon who did not flee west when the Khmer
Khmer Empire

The Khmer Empire was the largest empire of South East Asia based in what is now Cambodia. The empire, which seceded from the kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalised parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand,Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia....
 overran their empire in the 9th and 11th centuries. Consequently, modern Mon and Nyah Kur have both developed directly from Old Mon independently for almost a millennium.

Nyah Kur was discovered by linguists early in the 20th century but was not recognized as being related (in fact a "sister" language) to Mon for nearly 70 years.

Due to integration into Thai society, the number of speakers of Nyah Kur as a first language is rapidly decreasing and some predict the language to become extinct within the next century unless the current course is reversed.

External links



Further reading

  • Theraphan L. Thongkum. (1984). Nyah Kur (Chao bon)-Thai-English dictionary. Monic language studies, vol. 2. Bangkok, Thailand: Chulalongkorn University Printing House. ISBN 9745637858