Mnong language

The Mnong language (also known as Pnong or Bunong) (Bunong: ឞូន៝ង) belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family. It is spoken by the different groups of Mnong in Vietnam and a Pnong group in Cambodia.

Distribution

In Vietnam, Mnong is spoken in the districts of Đăk Song, Đăk Mil, Đăk R'Lấp, Krông Nô, Gia Nghĩa, and other nearby locations in Đắk Nông Province (Nguyễn & Trương 2009).

Varieties

According to Ethnologue, four major dialects exist: Central, Eastern and Southern Mnong (all spoken in Vietnam), and Kraol (spoken in Cambodia). Within a dialect group, members do not understand other dialects. The Mnong language was studied first by the linguist Richard Phillips in the early 1970s.

Lê, et al. (2014:234-235) lists the following subgroups of Mnong and their respective locations.

• Mnông Gar: in northwestern Lâm Đồng Province and southern Lak Lake.
• Mnông Nong: in Đắk Nông District and Đắk Min District
• Mnông Kuênh: in Krông Pắk District
• Mnông Pré: mainly in Đắk Nông District and Đắk Min District, and a few at Lak Lake.
• Mnông Prâng: scattered in Đắk Nông District and Đắk Min District, and a few in southern Lak Lake and in Bản Đon, Ea Súp District.
• Mnông Rlăm: in Lắk District. Many have close relationships with the Ê-đê people.
• Mnông Bu-đâng: in Bản Đon, Ea Súp District
• Mnông Chỉl: in Lắk District. Many have close relationships with the Ê-đê people. Some also live in Lạc Dương District and Đức Trọng District of Lâm Đồng Province.
• Mnông Bu Nor: in Đắk Nông District and Đắk Min District
• Mnông Dih Bri: very small population in Đắk Nông District; Êa Krông.
• Mnông Đíp: Đắk Min District and the northern part of former Sông Bé Province.
• Mnông Biat: small population in former Sông Bé Province. Majority living around the Vietnam-Cambodia border.
• Mnông Bu Đêh: in former Sông Bé Province and Đắk Lắk Province
• Mnông Si Tô: a group of Mạ (Mạ Tô) people in Đắk Nông District who have become assimilated into the Mnông population ("Mnông-ized" Mạ people)
• Mnông K’ah: a group of Ê-đê people scattered across Đắk Nông District, Lắk District, and M'Đrăk District who have become assimilated into the Mnông population ("Mnông-ized" Ê-đê people)
• Mnông Phê Đâm: small population living only in Quảng Tín commune, Đắk Nông District.

Other minor Mnong ethnic groups include the Mnông Rơ Đe, Mnông R’Ông, and Mnông K’Ziêng.

Nguyễn & Trương (2009) cover the following M'Nông dialects.

• M'Nông Preh
• Kuênh
• Mạ
• M'Nông Nâr (Bu Nâr)
• M'Nông Noong (Bu Noong)
• M'Nông R'Lâm
• M'Nông Prâng

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	c	k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	cʰ	kʰ
	prenasal	ᵐp	ⁿt	ᶮc	ᵑk
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ	(ʄ)	(ɠ)
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Fricative				ç		h
Rhotic			r
Approximant	plain	w	l	j
	preglottal	ʔw		ʔj

• Implosives /ʄ, ɠ/ may vary across dialects.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː	ɨ ɨː	u uː
Mid	e eː	ə əː	o oː
Open	ɛ ɛː	a aː	ɔ ɔː

Numerals

The following comparative numerals from various Mnong dialects are from Nguyễn & Trương (2009).

Gloss	Preh	Bu Noong	Bu Nâr	Prâng	R'Lăm	Mạ	Kuênh
1	du, ngoay, hŏ	muay	waay	dul	ju, ƀơn, muei	dul	đu
2	bar	bar	ra'r	baar	bar	bar	par
3	pê	pê	per	păi	pei	pê
4	puăn	puăn	waam	puô	puan, puôn	puôn
5	prăm	prăm	t'rơ̆m, năm	prăm, năm	prăm, pram	jorăm, sơ năm	snăm
6	prau			pro
7	poh	poh	pops	pŏh	poh	poh	pêh
8	pham			pham
9	dŭm, sĭn	sĭn	chĭnh	sin	sư̆n, sĭn	sin
10	jât	jât	dư	joơt	măt	jơt

Further reading

• Blood, Henry Florentine. A Reconstruction of Proto-Mnong. Waxhaw, N.C.: Wycliffe-JAARS Print Shop, 1968.
• Nguyễn Kiên Trường & Trương Anh. 2009. Từ Điển Việt - M'Nông. Hà Nội: Nhà Xuất Bản Từ Điển Bách Khoa.

External links

• Mnong at www.peoplesoftheworld.org