Chong language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chong | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Thailand/Cambodia | |
| Region: | Southeast Asia | |
| Total speakers: | 5,500 | |
| Language family: | Austro-Asiatic Mon-Khmer Pearic Chong |
|
| Writing system: | Thai, Khmer | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | – | |
| ISO 639-3: | cog | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
The Chong language (also referred to as Chawng, Shong, or Xong) is an endangered language spoken in Cambodia and southeastern Thailand. It is a Western Pearic language in the Eastern Mon-Khmer language family branch.[1] Chong is currently the focus of a language revitalization project in Thailand.
The Chong language is marked by its unusual 4-way contrast in register. Its grammar has not been extensively studied, but it is distinct from the Thai language which is in the Tai-Kadai language family. Chong had no written form until 2000, when researchers at Mahidol University used a simplified version of standard Thai characters to create a Chong writing system, after which the first teaching materials in the language appeared.[2] Chong is currently considered to be at stage 7 in Joshua Fishman's Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS), where stage 8 is the closest to extinction.[3]
The language only has about 5500 speakers remaining, 5000 in Cambodia and 500 in Thailand. The Chong community in Thailand is primarily located in and around Chanthaburi.[2] While the language spoken in Thailand has been studied recently, the Chong language in Cambodia has not been investigated yet.
[edit] Further reading
- Isarangura, N. N. (19XX.). Vocubulary of Chawng words collected in Krat Province. [S.l: s.n.].
[edit] References
- ^ Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Eastern Mon-Khmer, Pearic. ethnologue. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
- ^ a b Lim Li Min. "Saving Thailand's Other Languages", International Herald Tribune, October 23, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
- ^ Chong Language Revitalization Project (PDF) (June 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-24.
