Kri language

Kri
Krìì, meengq Kri
Native to Laos or Vietnam
Native speakers
 250 (2009)[1]
Dialects
  • Kri
  • Phóng
  • Mlengbrou
Language codes
ISO 639-3 aem
pkt-kha [2]
Glottolog khap1242[3]

Kri (Krìì) is a recently described Vietic language. Kri speakers live in the Upper Ñrong (Nam Noy) valley of Khammouane Province, Laos, as well as other locations within the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area. It is mutually intelligible with Pròòngq, which is spoken in several villages downstream from the Kri (Enfield & Diffloth 2009).

The Kri call themselves mleeng Kri, and their language meengq Kri. They are swidden cultivators who move every 2–3 years among pre-existing village sites (Chamberlain 1998).[4] Houses are torn down after the death of a household member, and the housing materials are then used to construct a new house in a different location. Other than the Kri language, many adults, especially men, are also fluent in Vietnamese, Saek, Bru, and Lao.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonants in Kri are:

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ
tenuis p t ʈʂ c k ʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ ʈʂʰ kʰ
Fricative s h
Approximant w l r~ʐ j~ʝ ɣ

[5]

Finals

These are the consonants that may come at the end of a syllable in Kri:

BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelar
Checked[pˀ][tˀ][kˀ]
Nasal[m][n][ɲ][ŋ]
Oral[w][l] , [r][j]Vowel

Do note that they are all contrastive, and that vowels, nasal consonants, and oral consonants may have checked endings. The Oral endings also may become voiceless.

Morphology

Kri has a few morphological features, less than Khmu but more than Vietnamese.

Causative Infix

The -a- infix may be inserted into words with two initial consonants, between them. This infix turns intransitive verb into a transitive verb, adding an agent. It can also turn a noun into a verb. Here are some examples:

praang - to cross over
paraang - to take someone across.

slôôj- to be washed away by running water
salôôj- to discard into flowing water, to let something be washed away.

kleeh- to fall off
kaleeh- to pick off

blang- of the eyes, to become open (like a young dog's)
balang- to open one's eyes

ckaang- a hand span
cakaang- to measure something by hand spans

Nominalising Infix

The -rn- infix is placed after a single initial consonant. This infix makes a noun from a verb:

sat- to get one's foot stuck
srnat- a foothold

koq- to live
krnoq- a house

This shortens to -r- when between consonants:

kadôôlq- to rest the head on something
krdôôlq- a pillow

References

  1. ↑ The Kri language
  2. ↑ Names/varieties are listed as Kha Phong, Maleng Kari, Maleng Bro, Kha Nam Om, Phong, Phòòngq
  3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Kha Phong". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ↑ Chamberlain, J.R. 1998, "The origin of Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history", in The International Conference on Tai Studies, ed. S. Burusphat, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 97-128. Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University.
  5. ↑ http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:107912:5/component/escidoc:204877/Enfield_2009_Phonology%20and%20sketch%20grammar%20of%20Kri.pdf

Further reading

  • Enfield, N.J.; Diffloth, Gérard (2009). "Phonology and sketch grammar of Kri, a Vietic language of Laos" (PDF). Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale. 38 (1): 3–69. doi:10.1163/1960602809x00063.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.