Mlabri language
Encyclopedia
Mlabri is a language spoken by the Mlabri people in the border area between Thailand
and Laos
.
It is usually classified as a Khmuic language
, a subgroup of the Austro-Asiatic languages
. Linguist
Jørgen Rischel
has studied the language and described its peculiarities in several works. He divides the language into three varieties: one spoken by a small group in Laos and previously called Yumbri, and two others spoken by larger groups in Thailand. They differ in intonation
and in lexicon
.
Although it is possible to count up to ten in Mlabri, only the numerals one and two may be used to modify a noun, and the word for 'two' has uses closer to 'pair' or 'couple' in English than a numeral.
s. It does not have the register
systems of some other Austroasiatic languages.
All vowels occur long and short
. /a/ is fronted after palato-alveolar consonants, and may approach [ɛ]. There is also a very short vowel /ɪ/ that has limited distribution. Schwas occur in pre-tonic syllables, but may be epenthetic. There are several diphthongs.
Consonants include glottalized plosives and partially voiceless sonorants.
/r̥/ is only attested in minor syllable
s.
Mlabri has a different set of consonants which occur at the ends of syllables, including aspirated sonorants /lʰ, rʰ, jʰ/. The second is a trill, and the third more post-alveolar than palatal. Other final consonants are /p t c k ʔ m n ɲ ŋ h l r j w/
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
.
It is usually classified as a Khmuic language
Khmuic languages
Khmuic languages are a subgroup of the Mon–Khmer languages.*Khao: Khao, Bit *Mlabri: Mlabri, Yumbri*Xinh Mul: Khang, Phong-Kniang, Puoc...
, a subgroup of the Austro-Asiatic languages
Austro-Asiatic languages
The Austro-Asiatic languages, in recent classifications synonymous with Mon–Khmer, are a large language family of Southeast Asia, also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name Austro-Asiatic comes from the Latin words for "south" and "Asia", hence "South Asia"...
. Linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
Jørgen Rischel
Jørgen Rischel
Jørgen Rischel was a Danish linguist who worked extensively with different subjects in linguistics, especially phonetics, phonology, lexicography and documentation of endangered languages.-Childhood:...
has studied the language and described its peculiarities in several works. He divides the language into three varieties: one spoken by a small group in Laos and previously called Yumbri, and two others spoken by larger groups in Thailand. They differ in intonation
Intonation (linguistics)
In linguistics, intonation is variation of pitch while speaking which is not used to distinguish words. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation does distinguish words. Intonation, rhythm, and stress are the three main elements of linguistic prosody...
and in lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
.
Although it is possible to count up to ten in Mlabri, only the numerals one and two may be used to modify a noun, and the word for 'two' has uses closer to 'pair' or 'couple' in English than a numeral.
Phonology
Mlabri distinguishes rounding in its back vowelBack vowel
A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
s. It does not have the register
Register (phonology)
In linguistics, a register language, also known as a pitch-register language, is a language which combines tone and vowel phonation into a single phonological system. Burmese and the Chinese dialect Shanghainese are examples...
systems of some other Austroasiatic languages.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| unrnd | round | |
| i | ɯ | u |
| e | ɤ | o |
| ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
| a | ||
All vowels occur long and short
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
. /a/ is fronted after palato-alveolar consonants, and may approach [ɛ]. There is also a very short vowel /ɪ/ that has limited distribution. Schwas occur in pre-tonic syllables, but may be epenthetic. There are several diphthongs.
Consonants include glottalized plosives and partially voiceless sonorants.
| Lab. | Alv. | Pal. | Vel. | Glot. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obstruent | aspirate | pʰ | tʰ | tʃʰ ~ s | kʰ | h |
| tenuis | p | t | tʃ | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | ||
| glottalized | ʔb ~ ɓ | ʔd ~ ɗ | ||||
| Nasal | voiced | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ɲ̥ | ŋ̊ | ||
| Sonorant | voiced | w | l, r | j | ||
| voiceless | w̥ | l̥, (r̥) | ||||
| glottalized | ʔw | ʔj | ||||
/r̥/ is only attested in 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 tonic or stressed syllable...
s.
Mlabri has a different set of consonants which occur at the ends of syllables, including aspirated sonorants /lʰ, rʰ, jʰ/. The second is a trill, and the third more post-alveolar than palatal. Other final consonants are /p t c k ʔ m n ɲ ŋ h l r j w/
Further reading
- Rischel, JørgenJørgen RischelJørgen Rischel was a Danish linguist who worked extensively with different subjects in linguistics, especially phonetics, phonology, lexicography and documentation of endangered languages.-Childhood:...
, Minor Mlabri. A Hunter-Gatherer Language of Northern Indochina, 1995, ISBN 87-7289-294-3. - Rischel, JørgenJørgen RischelJørgen Rischel was a Danish linguist who worked extensively with different subjects in linguistics, especially phonetics, phonology, lexicography and documentation of endangered languages.-Childhood:...
, Pan-dialectal databases: Mlabri, an oral Mon–Khmer language, 2004 May, Lexicography Conference, Chiangmai. - Schliesinger, Joachim, Ethnic Groups of Laos, vol. 2, White Lotus 2000, ISBN 9744800364
External links
- Jørgen RischelJørgen RischelJørgen Rischel was a Danish linguist who worked extensively with different subjects in linguistics, especially phonetics, phonology, lexicography and documentation of endangered languages.-Childhood:...
, In what sense is Mlabri a West Khmuic language?