| Mnong | |
|---|---|
| Bunong, ឞូន៝ង | |
| Native to | Vietnam andCambodia |
| Region | throughoutTây Nguyên region, especially inĐắk Lắk,Lâm Đồng,Đắk Nông andBình Phước provinces;Mondulkiri inCambodia |
Native speakers | 130,000 (2002–2008)[1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Khmer Latin (Vietnamese alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:cmo – Central Mnongmng – Eastern Mnongmnn – Southern Mnongrka – Kraol |
| Glottolog | mnon1259 |
| ELP | Central Mnong |
| Kraol[2] | |
 | |
TheMnong language (also known asPnong orBunong) (Bunong: ឞូន៝ង) belongs to theAustro-Asiatic language family. It is spoken by the different groups ofMnong inVietnam and aPnong group inCambodia.
In Vietnam, Mnong is spoken in the districts ofĐăk Song,Đăk Mil,Đăk R'Lấp,Krông Nô,Gia Nghĩa, and other nearby locations inĐắk Nông Province (Nguyễn & Trương 2009).
According toEthnologue, four major dialects exist: Central, Eastern and Southern Mnong (all spoken in Vietnam), and Kraol (spoken in Cambodia). Within a dialect group, membersdo not understand other dialects. The Mnong language was studied first by the linguist Richard Phillips in the early 1970s.[3][4]
Lê, et al. (2014:234-235)[5] lists the following subgroups of Mnong and their respective locations.
Other minor Mnongethnic groups include theMnông Rơ Đe,Mnông R’Ông, andMnông K’Ziêng.
Nguyễn & Trương (2009) cover the following M'Nông dialects.
| 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 | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | ɨ ɨː | u uː |
| Mid | e eː | ə əː | o oː |
| Open | ɛ ɛː | a aː | ɔ ɔː |
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 |