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Koho language

{{short description|Austroasiatic language spoken in Vietnam}}

{{Infobox language

|name = Sre

|nativename = Kơho

|states = Vietnam

|region =

|speakers = {{sigfig|200,800|2}}

|date = 2019 census

|ref = e18

|familycolor = Austro-Asiatic

|fam2= Bahnaric

|fam3=South

|fam4=Sre–Mnong

|lc1 = kpm |ld1 = Kơho

|lc2 = cma |ld2 = Maa

|glotto = koho1243

|glottorefname = Koho-Maa

|script = Latin script

}}

Koho or K'Ho is a South Bahnaric language spoken by the Koho people and Mạ people, mainly in the Lâm Đồng Province of Vietnam. It is very close to the Mnong language.

The autonym of the Kơho people is kon cau ({{IPA|kpm|kɔn.caw|IPA}}) while Koho ({{IPA|cja|kəˈhɔ|IPA}}) is a Cham exonym.{{Cite book |title=The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages |last=Olsen |first=Neil H. |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |editor-last=Jenny |editor-first=Mathias |location=Leiden |chapter=Kơho-Sre |editor-last2=Sidwell |editor-first2=Paul}}

Subgroups and dialects

There are at least twelve Kơho dialect groups for the area: Chil (Cil, Til); Kalop (Tulop); Kơyon (Kodu, Co-Don); Làc (Làt, Lach); Mà (Mạ, Maa); Nồp (Nop, Xre Nop, Noup); Pru; Ryông Tô (Riồng, Rion); Sop, Sre (Chau Sơre, Xrê); Talà (To La); and Tring (Trinh). Although Mạ/Maa is a Koho dialect group, the Mạ people identify as a separate ethnic group.{{Cite thesis |last=Le |first=Tan Duong |title=A phonological comparison of Maa and Koho varieties |date=2003 |degree=Master’s |publisher=Payap University}}

Phonology

Data below are from Olsen (2015).

=Consonants=

==Initial consonants==

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

! colspan="2" |

! Bilabial

! Alveolar

! Palatal

! Velar

! Glottal

rowspan="4" |Stop

! Voiceless

| {{IPA|p}}

| {{IPA|t}}

| {{IPA|c}}

| {{IPA|k}}

| {{IPA|ʔ}}

Aspirated

| {{IPA|pʰ}}

| {{IPA|tʰ}}

| {{IPA|cʰ}}

| {{IPA|kʰ}}

|

Voiced

| {{IPA|b}}

| {{IPA|d}}

| {{IPA|ɟ}}

| {{IPA|g}}

|

Implosive

| {{IPA|ɓ}}

| {{IPA|ɗ}}

|

|

|

colspan=2|Nasal

| {{IPA|m}}

| {{IPA|n}}

| {{IPA|ɲ}}

| {{IPA|ŋ}}

|

colspan=2|Fricative

|

| {{IPA|s}}

|

|

| {{IPA|h}}

colspan=2|Rhotic

|

| {{IPA|r}}

|

|

|

colspan=2|Approximant

| {{IPA|w}}

| {{IPA|l}}

| {{IPA|j}}

|

|

  • The phoneme /r/ is commonly a voiced alveolar trill [r] but also often reduces to a flap [ɾ] when it occurs as the second segment in a consonant cluster.

==Final consonants==

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

! colspan="2" |

! Bilabial

! Alveolar

! Palatal

! Velar

! Glottal

colspan=2| Stop

| {{IPA|p}}

| {{IPA|t}}

| {{IPA|c}}

| {{IPA|k}}

| {{IPA|ʔ}}

colspan=2|Nasal

| {{IPA|m}}

| {{IPA|n}}

| {{IPA|ɲ}}

| {{IPA|ŋ}}

|

colspan=2|Fricative

|

| {{IPA|s}}

|

|

| {{IPA|h}}

colspan=2|Rhotic

|

| {{IPA|r}}

|

|

|

colspan=2|Approximant

| {{IPA|w}}

| {{IPA|l}}

| {{IPA|j}}

|

|

  • Before the palatal finals /c/ and /ɲ/, there is an audible palatal offglide after the vowel [Vʲ], so that /pwac/ ‘flesh’ is pronounced as [pwaʲc] and /ʔaɲ/ ‘I (1st person singular)’ as [ʔaʲɲ].

=Vowels=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
 

! Front

! Central

! Back

High

| {{IPA|/i/}}

| {{IPA|/ɨ~ɯ/}}

| {{IPA|/u/}}

Close-mid

| {{IPA|/e/}}

| {{IPA|/ǝ/}}

| {{IPA|/o/}}

Open-mid

| {{IPA|/ɛ/}}

|

| {{IPA|/ɔ/}}

Low

|

| {{IPA|/a/}}

| {{IPA|/ɑ/}}

Morphology

=Compounding=

Compounding is a common way of coining new words in Koho. Some examples:

  • muh mat ‘face’ < muh ({{IPA|[muh]}}) ‘nose’ + mat ({{IPA|[mat]}}) ‘eye’
  • phe mbar ‘sticky rice’ < phe ({{IPA|[phɛ]}}) ‘husked rice’ + mbar ({{IPA|[mbar]}}) ‘sticky’
  • ôi ao ‘clothes’ < ôi ({{IPA|[ʔoːj]}}) ‘blanket’ + ao ({{IPA|[ʔaːw]}}) ‘shirt’

=Affixing=

One of the more productive prefixes in Sre is the causative tơn- {{IPA|[tən-]}}, converts intransitive

verbs to causative verbs. If the prefixed verbs have a nasal initial, then the nasal cluster avoidance rule applied.

class="wikitable"
WordMeaningPrefixed formMeaning
duh {{IPA|[duh]}}to be hottơnduh {{IPA|[tənduh]}}to make hot
chơt {{IPA|[cʰət]}}to dietơnchơt {{IPA|[təncʰət]}}to kill
ring {{IPA|[riŋ]}}to be flat, level, equaltơnring {{IPA|[tənriŋ]}}to equalize, make right
mut {{IPA|[mut]}}to entertơmut {{IPA|[təmut]}}to make enter
muu {{IPA|[muː]}}to descend, go downtơmuu {{IPA|[təmuː]}}to make descend, to lower

Cultural References

  • The Vietnamese acrobatic show Teh Dar by Lune Productions uses the Koho language.

References

{{Reflist}}

Sources

  • {{Cite thesis |last=Olsen |first=Neil H. |title=A descriptive grammar of Kơho-Sre: a Mon-Khmer language |date=2014 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Utah |url=https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63r4228}}

{{Incubator|kpm}}{{Languages of Vietnam}}

{{Austro-Asiatic languages}}

Category:Bahnaric languages

Category:Languages of Vietnam