Mon-Khmer is the traditional name for the branch of the Austroasiatic language family that excludes Munda, encompassing branches such as Vietic, Khmer, Katuic, Bahnaric, Monic, Aslian and Nicobarese, spoken across Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and parts of Malaysia and Northeast India. It was long treated as one of Austroasiatic's two primary branches alongside Munda, but recent scholarship has proposed alternative internal groupings, so the term now functions mainly as a historical and areal label rather than a settled genealogical unit.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusThe status of Mon-Khmer as a valid branch distinct from Austroasiatic as a whole is disputed. Some recent classifications no longer treat it as a taxon at all, folding what would be its reconstructed ancestor into Proto-Austroasiatic directly, while other schemes retain a three way Munda, Mon-Khmer and Khasi-Khmuic split. 1 Classification is actively contested; two incompatible recent schemes are both cited in the source, one abandoning Mon-Khmer as a taxon altogether. RegionMainland and island Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia 1 Speaker CountAggregate estimate across the Mon-Khmer languages as given in the cited source infobox. Mon-Khmer languages
Filter Results1 entry
Connections
Descends From
Mon-Khmer is the traditional core branch of the Austroasiatic family (also called Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer in older classifications), grouping the Vietic, Khmuic, Palaungic, Khasian, Pearic, Bahnaric, Katuic, and Khmer branches under the broader Austroasiatic phylum. Now often treated as coextensive with Austroasiatic itself in current classification, disclosed in this atlas's own Mon-Khmer entity description.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mon-Khmer Languages
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, Region field
Southeast, South and East Asia
Infobox, native speakers field
est. 117 million
Proto-language section, demotion clause
Proto-Mon-Khmer becomes synonymous with the Proto-Austroasiatic language with their demotion from a primary branch.
Opening paragraph, classification clause
one recent classification posits three groups (Munda, Mon-Khmer, and Khasi-Khmuic), while another has abandoned Mon-Khmer as a taxon altogether
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