Mon language

Mon
ဘာသာမန်
Pronunciation[pʰesa mɑn]
Native toMyanmar
RegionLower Myanmar
EthnicityMon
Native speakers
1,900,000 (2014)[1]
Mon–Burmese (Mon alphabet)
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
mnw – Modern Mon
omx – Old Mon
omx Old Mon
Glottologmonn1252  Modern Mon
oldm1242  Old Mon
Monic languages distribution in Thailand and Myanmar where Mon is denoted by red area.
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Explanation on the Mon alphabet
Explanation of the Mon-Thai or Thai-Raman alphabet

The Mon language (/ˈmoʊn/,[2] listenⓘ; Mon: ဘာသာမန် [pʰesa mɑn]; Mon-Thai: ဘာသာမည် [pʰiəsa moʊn]; Burmese: မွန်ဘာသာစကားlistenⓘ; Thai: ภาษามอญlistenⓘ; formerly known as Peguan and Talaing) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon people. Mon, like the related Khmer language, but unlike most languages in mainland Southeast Asia, is not tonal. The Mon language is a recognised indigenous language in Myanmar as well as a recognised indigenous language of Thailand.[3]

Mon was classified as a "vulnerable" language in UNESCO's 2010 Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.[4] The Mon language has faced assimilative pressures in both Myanmar and Thailand, where many individuals of Mon descent are now monolingual in Burmese or Thai respectively. In 2007, Mon speakers were estimated to number between 1800,000 and 2 million.[5] In Myanmar, the majority of Mon speakers live in Southern Myanmar, especially Mon State, followed by Tanintharyi Region and Kayin State.[6]

  1. ^ Modern Mon at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
    Old Mon at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Mon". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination" (PDF). 28 July 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  4. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". UNESCO. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  5. ^ McCormick, Patrick; Jenny, Mathias (2013-05-13). "Contact and convergence: The Mon language in Burma and Thailand". Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale. 42 (2): 77–117. doi:10.1163/19606028-00422P01. ISSN 1960-6028.
  6. ^ "The Mon Language". Monland Restoration Council. Archived from the original on 2006-06-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)