Bahnar
Austroasiatic
Bahnar (autonymously Bahnar) is a Bahnaric language of the Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic) family, spoken by around 250,000 people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam (Gia Lai, Kon Tum provinces) and small populations in Cambodia. Bahnar is historically the most-prestigious Bahnaric language and was the first Mon-Khmer language outside Vietnamese to receive a Latin orthography — developed by French Catholic missionaries in the 1860s for Catholic religious materials. The Bahnar people are one of the major Central Highlands ethnic minorities of Vietnam, with cultural traditions including the elaborate Bahnar communal house (rông) architecture and the gong music tradition that has been UNESCO-recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Bahnar community survived the Vietnam War, which significantly disrupted Central Highlands ethnic minority culture, and has seen post-war revitalization through bilingual education programs.
Where it is spoken
87 core words in Bahnar
Sources
Words compared
Compared with languages in the same classification: Austroasiatic
| Meaning | Bahnar | Eastern Bru | Proto-Austroasiatic | Khmu | Old Mon | Kuy | Northern Khmer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | đak /ɗaːk/ | daak /daːk/ | *ɗaːk /ɗaːk/ | ʔom /ʔom/ | ဍာက် /ɗaik/ | diaʔ /diaʔ/ | ទឹក /tɨʔ/ |
| Fire | unh /uɲ/ | oih /ʔoiʔ/ | *ʔuːs /ʔuːs/ | pʰrɨə /pʰrɨə/ | ပ်ၟ /pmaʔ/ | uh /ʔuh/ | ភ្លើង /pʰlɤːŋ/ |
| Sun | măt ʼnăr /mat ʔnar/ | mat plei /mat plei/ | *tŋiːʔ /tŋiːʔ/ | mat briʔ /mat briʔ/ | တ္ၚဲ /tŋai/ | tʰaj /tʰaj/ | ថ្ងៃ /tʰŋaj/ |
| Moon | khei /kʰɛːj/ | kasai /kasai/ | *khe(ː)ʔ /kheːʔ/ | moŋ /moŋ/ | ဂျိုၚ် /klɔŋ/ | luəŋ /luəŋ/ | ខែ /kʰɛː/ |
| Star | sơnglŏng /səŋlɔŋ/ | mansơ /mənsɤ/ | *smʔaɲ /smʔaɲ/ | sərmeɲ /sərmeɲ/ | ကၟာဲ /həmoa/ | ntar /ntaːr/ | ផ្កាយ /pkaːj/ |
| Night | măng /maŋ/ | sadâu /sədaw/ | *cəːm /cəːm/ | psɨəm /psɨəm/ | ဗိရ္တံ /birtam/ | sadaw /sədaw/ | យប់ /jop/ |
| Rain | ʼmi /ʔmiː/ | mia /mia/ | *gmaʔ /ɡmaʔ/ | kəmaʔ /kəmaʔ/ | ဗြဲ /brɔj/ | məmia /məmia/ | ភ្លៀង /pʰliːɲ/ |
| Wind | kial /kjaːl/ | cuyal /kujal/ | *kjɔʔ /kjɔʔ/ | hndrəːj /hndrəːj/ | ကျာ /kjal/ | — | ខ្យល់ /kʰjɑl/ |
| Earth | teh /tɛh/ | cutễq /kuteʔ/ | *tiʔ /tiʔ/ | pteʔ /pteʔ/ | တိ /tiʔ/ | ktɛːʔ /ktɛːʔ/ | ដី /ɗɛj/ |
| Stone | tơmo /təmo/ | tamáu /təmaw/ | *tmɔʔ /tmɔʔ/ | glaŋ /ɡlaŋ/ | တၟံ /tmɔʔ/ | tamaw /təmaw/ | ថ្ម /tʰmɑː/ |
| Mountain | kông /koːŋ/ | cóh /kɔh/ | *bruʔ /bruʔ/ | mok /mok/ | — | bru /bru/ | ភ្នំ /pʰnom/ |
| Sea | đak dơsĭ /ɗaːk dəsiʔ/ | dỡq mưt /dɤʔ mɨt/ | — | — | — | thle̤ː /tʰleː/ | — |
| Mother | mei /mei/ | amey /amej/ | *maʔ /maʔ/ | maʔ /maʔ/ | မိ /mi/ | mə /mə/ | ម៉ែ /mɛː/ |
| Father | bă /bə/ | amung /amuŋ/ | *ɓa(ː)ʔ /ɓaːʔ/ | joŋ /joŋ/ | ဖ /pʰɛʔ/ | pə /pə/ | ឪ /ʔɤw/ |
| Daughter | kon adruh /kɔːn ʔadruh/ | con mansễm /kɔn mənsem/ | — | — | — | — | កូនស្រី /koːn srɛj/ |
| I | inh /iɲ/ | cứq /kɯʔ/ | *ʔaɲ /ʔaɲ/ | oʔ /ʔoʔ/ | အဲ /ʔua/ | aɲ /ʔaɲ/ | អញ /ʔaɲ/ |
| You | ih /ʔih/ | mới /mɤːj/ | *miːʔ /miːʔ/ | meʔ /meʔ/ | ဗှ်ေ /peh/ | may /maj/ | ឯង /ʔɛːɲ/ |
| We | bơn / nhon /bən / ɲon/ | hái / hếq /haj / heʔ/ | — /—/ | iʔ /ʔiʔ/ | ပိုဲ /poj/ | hmai /m̥aj/ | យើង /jɤːŋ/ |
| Name | anĕ /anɛ/ | ramoh /rəmɔːh/ | *ɟmuh /ɟmuh/ | sŋməh /sŋməh/ | ယု /jəmu/ | mah /məh/ | ឈ្មោះ /cʰmoːh/ |
| Person | bơngai /bəŋaːj/ | cũai /kuaj/ | *m-raʔ /mraʔ/ | gon /ɡon/ | ညး /mɲah/ | kuj /kuj/ | មនុស្ស /mnɨh/ |
| Head | kơl /kəl/ | plỡ /plɤ/ | *ɓoːkʔ /ɓoːkʔ/ | kəmpoŋ /kəmpoŋ/ | — | plɑː /plɑː/ | ក្បាល /kɓaːl/ |
| Eye | mat /mat/ | mat /mat/ | *mat /mat/ | mat /mat/ | မတ် /mɔt/ | mɜ̤t /mɜt/ | ភ្នែក /pʰneːʔ/ |
| Ear | đon /ɗɔːn/ | cutũr /kutur/ | *Ctoːr /Ctoːr/ | rəməj /rəməj/ | က္တောဝ် /ktor/ | katɔr /kətɔr/ | ត្រចៀក /tciːʔ/ |
| Nose | muh /muh/ | muh /muh/ | *muh /muh/ | muh /muh/ | မိုဟ် /mɯh/ | muh /muh/ | ច្រមុះ /cmɔh/ |
| Mouth | ʼbơ̆r /ɓər/ | bỗq /ɓoʔ/ | *miəŋʔ /miəŋʔ/ | tənɔh /tənɔh/ | ပါၚ် /paiŋ/ | nɔh /nɔh/ | មាត់ /mɨət/ |
| Tooth | sơneng /səneŋ/ | kanêng /kəneŋ/ | *lmVɲ /lməɲ/ | hraŋ /hraŋ/ | ငေက် /ŋiak/ | kaneːŋ /kəneːŋ/ | ធ្មេញ /tʰmeɲ/ |
| Tongue | rơpiêt /rəpiet/ | liayh /liajh/ | *lntaːk /lntaːk/ | həntak /həntak/ | ကတာက် /kətaik/ | ntaʔ /ntaʔ/ | អណ្ដាត /naːt/ |
| Hand | ti /ti/ | ati /ati/ | *tiːʔ /tiːʔ/ | tiʔ /tiʔ/ | တၟုိ /toi/ | təy /təj/ | ដៃ /ɗaj/ |
| Foot | tơpang jơ̆ng /təpaːŋ ɟəŋ/ | ayững /ajɨːŋ/ | *ɟəːŋ /ɟəːŋ/ | krwɛh /krwɛh/ | ဇုၚ် /ɟɯŋ/ | ɟɯːŋ /ɟɯːŋ/ | ជើង /cɤːŋ/ |
| Heart | blei /blei/ | plong /ploŋ/ | *nuːɕ /nuːɕ/ | tlɔːm ŋok /tlɔːm ŋok/ | စိုတ် /cət/ | chlaj /tʃʰlaj/ | បេះដូង /ɓɛh ɗoːŋ/ |
| Bone | kơting /kətiŋ/ | nghang /ŋhaŋ/ | *cʔaːŋ /cʔaːŋ/ | cʼaaŋ /tʃʔaːŋ/ | ဇုတ် /ɟut/ | hŋaːŋ /ŋ̊aːŋ/ | ឆ្អឹង /cʔɤŋ/ |
| Blood | phăm /pʰam/ | aham /ʔaham/ | *mham /mham/ | maːm /maːm/ | ဆိမ် /cʰim/ | ʔəham /ʔəham/ | ឈាម /cʰiːəm/ |
| Poop | ĭch /ic/ | créq /kreʔ/ | *ʔicʔ /ʔicʔ/ | — | — | klɑːŋ /klɑːŋ/ | — |
| Love | rơngư /rəŋɨ/ | hong /hoŋ/ | — /—/ | kɔɔh /kɔːh/ | ဆာန် /cʰan/ | phɯ /pʰɯ/ | ស្រឡាញ់ /slaɲ/ |
| Tree | lông /loŋ/ | aleng /aleŋ/ | *ɟɕɨːʔ /ɟɕɨːʔ/ | sʔɔːŋ /sʔɔːŋ/ | ဆု /tɕu/ | ʔəŋ /ʔəŋ/ | ដើមឈើ /ɗɤːm cʰəː/ |
| Dog | kŏ /kɔʔ/ | acho /atʃo/ | *cɔː /cɔː/ | sɔʔ /sɔʔ/ | ခၠဵု /kʰlou/ | ca /caː/ | ឆ្កែ /ckɛː/ |
| Cat | miao /miao/ | miew /mieu/ | — /—/ | mɛːw /mɛːw/ | ဂျိ /kluj/ | chhlɔːk /tʃʰlɔːk/ | ឆ្មា /cʰmaː/ |
| Fish | ka /kaː/ | aka /ʔəka/ | *kaʔ /kaʔ/ | kaʼ /kaʔ/ | က /kaʔ/ | ka /kaː/ | ត្រី /trɛj/ |
| Bird | sem /səm/ | chớm /tʃɤm/ | *ciːm /ciːm/ | sim /sim/ | ဂစေမ် /kəcem/ | cɛm /cɛm/ | — |
| Egg | kơtăp /kətap/ | tarễl /tərel/ | *ktam /ktam/ | kədoŋ /kədoŋ/ | — | nthrɛ̤ːl /ntʰrɛːl/ | ពង /puːəŋ/ |
| Bear | chơgơu /tʃəɡəu/ | sacâu /sakəw/ | — | huəl /huəl/ | — | — | — |
| Horse | aseh /ʔasɛh/ | aséh /aseh/ | — | — | ချေံ /kseh/ | — | សេះ /sɛh/ |
| House | hnam /hnam/ | dung /duŋ/ | *ɲaːʔ /ɲaːʔ/ | gaːŋ /ɡaːŋ/ | သ္ၚိ /sŋiʔ/ | pno /pno/ | ផ្ទះ /ptiəh/ |
| Milk | đak toh /ɗaːk tɔh/ | dỡq tóh /dɤʔ tɔh/ | — | — | — | nom /nom/ | ទឹកដោះ /tɨʔ ɗah/ |
| Honey | đak sut /ɗaːk sut/ | dỡq khĩal /dɤʔ kʰial/ | — | — | — | — | ទឹកឃ្មុំ /tɨʔ kʰmum/ |
| Salt | boh /ɓɔh/ | boi /ɓɔːj/ | *ɓɔːh /ɓɔːh/ | hmaar /hmaːr/ | — | phɑ̤ːh /pʰɑːh/ | អំបិល /mmel/ |
| Wine | sik hơmu /sik həmu/ | blŏ́ng nho /blɔŋ ɲɔ/ | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rice | ʼba /ɓaː/ | — | *rŋkoːʔ /rŋkoːʔ/ | ʰŋɔʔ /ʰŋɔʔ/ | — | ŋkaːw /ŋkaːw/ | បាយ /ɓaːj/ |
| Iron | bơxey /bəsɛːj/ | tac /tak/ | — | cndroh /cndroh/ | — | taːʔ /taːʔ/ | ដែក /ɗɛːʔ/ |
| Wheel | tang-wang /taːŋ waːŋ/ | carvang /karvaŋ/ | — | — | — | kɑŋ /kɑŋ/ | កង់ /kɑŋ/ |
| Book | sơ̆p hla bơar /səp hlaː bəar/ | tâm saráq /tam saraʔ/ | — | pɨːm /pɨːm/ | — | — | — |
| Eat | sa /sa/ | cha /tʃa/ | *ɟaː /ɟaː/ | mah /mah/ | စိ /tɕiʔ/ | sap /sap/ | ស៊ី /siː/ |
| Drink | ngoah /ŋoah/ | ngoot /ŋoːt/ | *ɲuʔ /ɲuʔ/ | ʔɨək /ʔɨək/ | သုက် /sok/ | suəm /suəm/ | ផឹក /pʰɤʔ/ |
| Sleep | têp /tɛp/ | bếq /ɓeʔ/ | *ɓic /ɓic/ | sih /sih/ | — | ŋɛt /ŋɛt/ | ដេក /ɗeːʔ/ |
| One | minh /miɲ/ | muoi /muoi/ | *muːj /muːj/ | moj /moj/ | မွဲ /mwɛ/ | mṳːy /muj/ | មួយ /muːj/ |
| Two | bar /ɓaːr/ | bar /ɓaːr/ | *ɓaːr /ɓaːr/ | baar /baːr/ | ၜါ /ɓa/ | bia /bia/ | ពីរ /piːr/ |
| Three | pêng /peːŋ/ | pái /paːi/ | *peʔ /peʔ/ | peʼ /peʔ/ | ပိ /poi/ | pei /pəj/ | បី /ɓɛj/ |
| Four | puăn /pwan/ | pôn /põːn/ | *punʔ /punʔ/ | pon /pon/ | ပန် /pan/ | apɔːn /ʔapɔːn/ | បួន /ɓuːn/ |
| Five | pơđăm /pəʔɗam/ | sỡng /sɤŋ/ | *pɗam /pɗam/ | — | မသုန် /msun/ | asʌːŋ /ʔasʌːŋ/ | ប្រាំ /ɓram/ |
| Hundred | hreng /hreŋ/ | culam /kulam/ | — | — | ကၠံ /klɔm/ | muːj ruʌj /muːj ruʌj/ | រយ /ruːəj/ |
| Hello | ô /o/ | te /te/ | — /—/ | lɔh /lɔh/ | — /—/ | sabaaj /sabaːj/ | សួស្តី /suːəsdəj/ |
| Thank you | kơbi /kəbi/ | kuhng /kuhŋ/ | — /—/ | ɔrkun /ʔɔrkun/ | — /—/ | khɔp /kʰɔp/ | អរគុណ /ʔɔːkun/ |
| Good | ʼlơ̆ng /ʔləŋ/ | huom /huom/ | — /—/ | ləʔ /ləʔ/ | ခိုဟ် /kʰɔh/ | ɟɔ /ɟɔ/ | ល្អ /lʔɑː/ |
| New | nao /ʔnao/ | tamái /təmaj/ | *tmeːʔ /tmeːʔ/ | həmmeʔ /həmmeʔ/ | — | tamaj /təmaj/ | ថ្មី /tʰmɛj/ |
| Red | bre /ɓreː/ | kusaw /kəsaw/ | *roːŋ /roːŋ/ | jim /jim/ | — /—/ | kəsaw /kəsaw/ | ក្រហម /khɑːm/ |
| White | kok /kɔːk/ | cloc /klɔːk/ | *ɓɔːk /ɓɔːk/ | klɔɔk /klɔːk/ | ဗ္တာၚ် /bətaiŋ/ | buaʔ /buaʔ/ | ស /sɑː/ |
| Black | găm /ɡam/ | cũm /kum/ | *Cjoŋ /Cjoŋ/ | hiəŋ /hiəŋ/ | — | twɛɲ /twɛɲ/ | ខ្មៅ /kʰmaw/ |
| Green | jơk /ɟəːk/ | ramoong /rəmɔːŋ/ | — | siw /siw/ | — | khew /kʰew/ | ខៀវ /kʰiːw/ |
| Blue | jơk /ɟəːk/ | — | — | siːw /siːw/ | — | — | — |
| Cuckoo | jɛːt /jɛːt/ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ninety-nine | tơsĭn-jĭt tơsĭn /təsin ɟit təsin/ | takêh chít takêh /takeh tʃit takeh/ | — | — | — | — | — |
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