| Chong | |
|---|---|
| Samre | |
| ภาษาชอง | |
| Native to | Thailand |
| Region | Pursat Province,Chantaburi |
| Ethnicity | 2,000Chong (2007)[1] |
Native speakers | 500 (2007)[1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Dialects | |
| Thai, Chong (invented in 2010)[2] | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | cog |
| Glottolog | chon1284 Westerncent2314 Central |
| ELP | |
Chong (Thai:ภาษาชอง, also spelledChawng, Shong, Xong) is anendangered language spoken in easternThailand and formerly inCambodia by theChong. It is a WesternPearic language in theMon–Khmer language family.[3] Chong is currently the focus of alanguage revitalization project in Thailand.[4]
The Chong language is marked by its unusual four-way contrast inregister. Its grammar has not been extensively studied, but it is unrelated to theThai language which is in theTai–Kadai language family. Chong had no written form until 2000, when researchers atMahidol University used a simplified version of standard Thai characters to create a Chongwriting system, after which the first teaching materials in the language appeared.[5] Chong is currently considered to be at stage 7 inJoshua Fishman's Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), where stage 8 is the closest to extinction.[4]
Chong is actually two languages, Western Chong, and Central Chong orSamre.The Western Chong community in Thailand is primarily located in and aroundChanthaburi.[5]
Central Chong includes theKasong dialect of Trat. (See that article for details.)
While the language spoken in Thailand has been studied recently, the Chong language in Cambodia has not been investigated yet.David Bradley (2007) reports no remaining speakers.[1]
A number ofPearic languages are called "Chong", and they all do not constitute a single language. Chong proper consists of the majority of varieties which Sidwell (2009) labeled "Western Chong". This includes the main dialect aroundChanthaburi Province (mostly in southernKhao Khitchakut District and westernPong Nam Ron District[6]). on the Thai–Cambodian border. These should not be confused with the variety called "Chong" inTrat Province of western Thailand, nor with "Kasong" Chong, both of which were classified as "Central Chong" along withSamre, and so should perhaps be considered dialects of Samre rather than of Chong. Similarly, the languages called "Chung" inKanchanaburi Province and in Cambodia are dialects ofSa'och, and were classified as "Southern Chong" along withSuoi.
Isara Choosri (2002) lists the following dialects of Chong spoken inChanthaburi Province.[6]
The Central Chong dialects are,
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Stop | p pʰ b | t tʰ d | c cʰ | k kʰ | ʔ |
| Fricative | (f) | s | h | ||
| Trill | r | ||||
| Lateral | l | ||||
| Approximant | w | j |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i,iː | ɨ,ɨː | u,uː |
| Close-Mid | e,eː | ə,əː | o,oː |
| Open-mid | ɛ,ɛː | ɔ,ɔː | |
| Open | a,aː |
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