| Mlabri | |
|---|---|
| Yumbri | |
| Native to | Thailand,Laos |
Native speakers | 130 (2007)[1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mra |
| Glottolog | mlab1235 |
| ELP | Mlabri |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Mlabri is a language spoken by theMlabri people in the border area betweenThailand andLaos.
It is usually classified as aKhmuic language, a subgroup of theAustroasiatic languages.LinguistJørgen 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 calledYumbri, and two others spoken by larger groups in Thailand. They differ inintonation and inlexicon.
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.
Mlabri distinguishes rounding in itsback vowels. It does not have theregister systems of some other Austroasiatic languages.
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | ||
| Close | i | ɯ | u |
| Close-mid | e | ɤ | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
| Open | a | ||
All vowels occurlong 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 beepenthetic. There are several diphthongs.
Consonants include the two implosive stops /ɓ/ and /ɗ/, attested in words such asɓuʔ 'slow' andɗɤŋ 'can'.[2] These apparent implosive stops could be analyzed as pre-glottalized stops, as pre-glottalization is also a used for sonorants. Consonants also include voiceless sonorants, as inm̥ɛʔ 'new',n̥taʔ 'tail',ŋ̊uh 'sit',l̥ak '(there is) none', orw̥ep 'shoulder'. Arguably, these could be analyzed as a sequence of /h/ and a sonorant.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obstruent | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ ~s | kʰ | h |
| tenuis | p | t | c | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ||
| glottalized | ˀb ~ɓ | ˀd ~ɗ | ||||
| Nasal | voiced | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| voiceless | m̥ | n̥ | ɲ̥ | ŋ̊ | ||
| Sonorant | voiced | w | l,r | j,j̊ | ||
| voiceless | w̥ | l̥, (r̥) | ||||
| glottalized | ˀw | ˀj | ||||
/r̥/ is only attested inminor syllables.
Mlabri has a different set of consonants which occur at the ends of syllables, including aspirated sonorants/lʰ,rʰ,jʰ/.[citation needed][are these voiceless or murmured?] The second is a trill, and the third more post-alveolar than palatal. Other final consonants are/ptckʔmnɲŋhlrjw/
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