 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2022) |
| Northern Khmer | |
|---|---|
| Surin Khmer, Thai Khmer | |
| เขมรถิ่นไทย (khmĕ :n thìn thai) | |
| Pronunciation | /pʰᵊsaː.kʰᵊmɛːr/ |
| Native to | Thailand, Cambodia |
| Ethnicity | Northern Khmer |
Native speakers | 1.4 million, very few monolingual[1] (2006)[2] |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Thai script (usually oral) Khmer script | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Royal Society of Thailand |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kxm |
| Glottolog | nort2684 |
Northern Khmer (พซาคแมร; Khmer: ខ្មែរខាងជើង), also called Surin Khmer (Khmer: ខ្មែរសុរិន្ទ), is the dialect of the Khmer language spoken by approximately 1.4 million Khmers native to the Thai provinces of Surin, Sisaket, Buriram and Roi Et as well as those that have migrated from this region into Cambodia.[3]
Northern Khmer differs from the standard language, based on a dialect of Central Khmer, in the number and variety of vowel phonemes, consonantal distribution, lexicon, grammar, and, most notably, pronunciation of syllable-final /r/, giving Northern Khmer a distinct accent easily recognizable by speakers of other dialects. Some speakers of Northern Khmer may understand other varieties of Khmer but speakers of standard Khmer who have not been exposed to Northern Khmer often have trouble understanding Northern Khmer at first. The two varieties are 80–85% cognate on a basic 270-word list.[3] These facts have led some linguists to advocate considering Northern Khmer a separate, but closely related language.[4]
- ^ William J. Frawley, ed. (2003). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 488.
- ^ Northern Khmer at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Thomas, David; Wanna, Tienmee (1984). "An Acoustic Study of Northern Khmer Vowels" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 16–17: 99–108.
- ^ Thomas, David (1990). "On the 'language' status of Northern Khmer". JLC. 9 (1): 98–106.