A family of roughly 117 million speakers across Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, of which Vietnamese and Khmer, its only two national languages, together account for more than two thirds. Scholars place the proto-language's homeland around the Red River Delta or elsewhere in Mainland Southeast Asia or southern China, roughly 3000-2000 BCE. Proto-Mon-Khmer, the family's best-studied branch, has been reconstructed in detail, most fully in Harry L. Shorto's comparative dictionary, with Paul Sidwell's later work reconstructing the wider proto-consonant inventory including implosive consonants.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusProto-Mon-Khmer, the family's largest branch, is reconstructed in detail; a single Proto-Austroasiatic uniting all branches is less securely established. 1 The wider Austric hypothesis linking Austroasiatic to Austronesian, and possibly Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien, remains a minority position most specialists do not accept. RegionMainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Nepal; proposed homeland near the Red River Delta. 1 Speaker Count Connections
Ancestor Of
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.
Source Wikipedia: Munda Languages
Held Differently
Austronesian, Language Families Why this is disputed. The Austric hypothesis proposes a common ancestor for Austroasiatic and Austronesian, and possibly Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien; most specialists do not accept it as proven.
Source Wikipedia: Austroasiatic Languages
Includes
Source Wikipedia: Khmuic Languages
Source Wikipedia: Vietic Languages
Source Wikipedia: Vietnamese Language
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Austroasiatic Languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead and Classification sections
Approximately 117 million people speak an Austroasiatic language, of which more than two-thirds are Vietnamese speakers.
- Associated With: Austronesian
View the Source Wikipedia: Vietnamese Language
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Vietnamese, Lead section, Austroasiatic language, Vietic subgroup statementView the Source Wikipedia: Munda Languages
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Munda, Introduction, first paragraphQuote, Ancestor Of: Munda, Introduction, first paragraph
They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language family
Wikipedia: Vietic Languages
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Vietic, Lead section, first sentence (branch-of-family clause)Quote, Includes: Vietic, Lead section, first sentence (branch-of-family clause)
The Vietic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by the Vietic peoples in Laos and Vietnam.
Wikipedia: Khmuic Languages
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Khmuic, Lead section, first sentence (branch-of-family clause)Quote, Includes: Khmuic, Lead section, first sentence (branch-of-family clause)
The Khmuic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken mostly in northern Laos, as well as in neighboring northern Vietnam and southern Yunnan, China.
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