Bru_language

Bru language

Bru language

Mon–Khmer dialect continuum of Southeast Asia

Not to be confused with Brao language.

Bruu (also spelled Bru, B'ru, Baru, Brou) is a Mon–Khmer dialect continuum spoken by the Bru people of mainland Southeast Asia.

Quick Facts Native to, Ethnicity ...

Sô and Khua are dialects.[2]

Names

There are various local and dialect designations for Bru (Sidwell 2005:11).

  • So ~ Sô
  • Tri (So Tri, Chali)
  • Van Kieu
  • Leu ~ Leung (Kaleu)
  • Galler
  • Khua
  • Katang (not the same as Kataang)

Distribution

The distribution of the Bru language spreads north and northeast from Salavan, Laos, through Savannakhet, Khammouane, and Bolikhamsai, and over into neighboring Thailand and Vietnam (Sidwell 2005:11). In Vietnam, Brâu (Braò) is spoken in Đắk Mế, Bờ Y commune, Đắk Tô District, Kon Tum Province.[3]

Dialects

Thailand has the following Western Bru dialects (Choo, et al. 2012).

The following Bru subgroups are found in Quảng Bình Province (Phan 1998).[5]

Below is a comparative vocabulary of Vân Kiêu, Măng Coong, Tri, and Khùa from Phan (1998:479-480),[5] with words transcribed in Vietnamese orthography.

More information Gloss, Vân Kiêu ...

Phonology

Consonants

The consonant sounds in both East and West dialects consist of the following:[6]

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
  • /w/ is typically pronounced as labiodental fricative [v] or approximant [ʋ] when occurring in initial position. In final position, it is always heard as [w].
  • /r/ can be heard as either a trill [r] or a tap [ɾ].
  • /tʰr/ as a consonant cluster, can be phonetically heard as [tʰɹ̥] in the Western dialect.
  • /h/ can also be heard as a voiced glottal [ɦ] when a preceding a breathy vowel sound in the Western Bru dialects. It can also be heard as nasal [h̃] when preceding a nasal vowel in the Western dialects.[7]
More information Labial, Alveolar ...
  • Plosive sounds /p, t, k/ in final position are heard as unreleased [p̚, t̚, k̚].

Vowels

More information Front, Central ...
More information Front, Central ...

Breathy vowels

Vowel sounds may also be distinguished using breathy voice:

More information Front, Central ...
More information Front, Central ...

Nasal vowels

Nasal vowel sounds may occur in the Western Bru dialect:

More information Front, Central ...

References

  1. [1]
    Eastern Bru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Western Bru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Sô at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Khua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Northern Katang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Southern Katang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. [2]
    "Mon-Khmer Classification (Draft)".
  3. [3]
    Lê Bá Thảo, Hoàng Ma, et al.; Viện hàn lâm khoa học xã hội Việt Nam - Viện dân tộc học. 2014. Các dân tộc ít người ở Việt Nam: các tỉnh phía nam. Ha Noi: Nhà xuất bản khoa học xã hội. ISBN 978-604-90-2436-8
  4. [4]
    Engelkemier, Jennifer M. (2010). Aspects of Bru Khok Sa-at grammar based on narrative texts (PDF) (M.A. thesis). Payap University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  5. [5]
    Phan Hữu Dật. 1998. "Về tên gọi các tộc người nói ngôn ngữ Môn-Miên ở miền tây tỉnh Quảng Bình." In Một số vấn đề về dân tộc học Việt Nam, p.476-482. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội.
  6. [6]
    Miller, Carolyn P. (2017). Eastern Bru Grammar Sketch. SIL Language and Culture Archives.
  7. [7]
    Thongkum, Theraphan L. (1980). The distribution of the sounds of Bruu. Mon-Khmer Studies 8. pp. 221–293.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Further reading
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