Mường language

{{Infobox language

| nativename = Thiếng Mươ̒ng

| ethnicity = Muong

| states = Vietnam

| region = Hòa Bình Province, Thanh Hóa Province, Phú Thọ Province, Sơn La Province

| speakers = {{sigfig|1.450000|2}} million

| date = 2019 census

| script = Latin (modified Chữ Quốc ngữ)
Lao script{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} (historical)

| ref = e27

| familycolor = Austro-Asiatic

| fam2 = Vietic

| fam3 = Viet–Mường

| fam4 = Mường–Nguồn

| iso3 = mtq

| glotto = muon1246

| glottorefname = Muong

}}

Mường (thiếng Mươ̒ng; {{langx|vi|tiếng Mường}}){{sfn|Hà Quang Phùng|2012|page=1}} is a group of dialects spoken by the Mường people of Vietnam. They are in the Austroasiatic language family and closely related to Vietnamese. According to Phan (2012), the Mường dialects are not a single language, or even most closely related to each other, but rather are an ethnically defined and paraphyletic taxon.{{cite journal |surname=Phan |given=John D. |year=2012 |title=Mường is not a subgroup: Phonological evidence for a paraphyletic taxon in the Viet-Muong sub-family |journal=Mon-Khmer Studies |volume=40 |pages=1–18 |url=http://www.sealang.net/mks/mksj40.pdf }}

Mường dialects are primarily spoken in mountainous regions of the northern Vietnamese provinces of Hòa Bình, Thanh Hóa, Vĩnh Phúc, Yên Bái, Sơn La, and Ninh Bình.

Mường has all six tones of Vietnamese; however, the nặng (heavy) tone is present only in Phú Thọ and Thanh Hóa provinces while in Hòa Bình Province, it is merged with the sắc (sharp) tone.{{sfn|Hà Quang Phùng|2012|page=2}}

Writing system

Mường had no written form until Western academics in the 20th century developed a provisional alphabet based on a modified Vietnamese alphabet, including additional consonants like w and allowing different consonant pairs and final consonants than Vietnamese.{{sfn|Hà Quang Phùng|2012|page=1}}

In September 2016, the People's Committee of Hòa Bình Province adopted resolution 2295/QĐ-UBND, specifying a new Mường alphabet to be used in instruction within the province. The alphabet consists of 28 letters and four tone marks.{{cite web|title=Quyết định về việc phê chuẩn bộ chữ dân tộc Mường tỉnh Hòa Bình|trans-title=Resolution adopting an alphabet for the Mường people of Hòa Bình Province (2295/QĐ-UBND)|publisher=People's Committee of Hòa Bình Province|location=Hòa Bình|date=8 September 2016|access-date=26 March 2019|url=https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Van-hoa-Xa-hoi/Quyet-dinh-2295-QD-UBND-phe-chuan-Bo-chu-dan-toc-Muong-Hoa-Binh-2016-345030.aspx|language=vi|via=Thư viện Pháp luật}} The provincial Communist Party of Vietnam newspaper, Hòa Bình điện tử ({{langx|mtq|Wa̒ Bi̒nh diê̠n tứ}}) began publishing its electronic edition in Mường in addition to Vietnamese and English, surprising some readers with the unusual orthography.{{cite news|title=Sự thật về 'bảng chữ cái' mới trên báo điện tử Hòa Bình|trans-title=Facts about the Hòa Bình online newspaper's new 'alphabet'|author=Tử Hưng|work=Công Luận|publisher=Viet Nam Journalists Association|date=17 February 2018|access-date=26 March 2019|url=https://congluan.vn/su-that-ve-bang-chu-cai-moi-tren-bao-dien-tu-hoa-binh-post33780.html|language=vi}}

The alphabet is as follows:

A, Ă, Â, B, C, D, Đ, E, Ê, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, Ô, Ơ, P, Q, R, T, U, Ư, V, W, X, Y

The letters F, J, S, and Z are only used in loanwords.

Phonology

=Consonant inventory=

The following table details the consonants of those dialects that show a full voiced-voiceless distinction in the stops (being Mường Bi, Mường Thành, Mường Động, and Ba Trại). The spelling is given in italics.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
colspan = "2" \| ! Bilabial ! Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal
colspan = "2" \| Nasal \| m {{IPA\|/m/}} \| n {{IPA\|/n/}} \| nh {{IPA\|/ɲ/}} \| ng {{IPA\|/ŋ/}} \|
rowspan = "3" \| Stop ! voiceless \| p {{IPA\|/p/}} \| t {{IPA\|/t/}} \| ch {{IPA\|/c/}} \| c {{IPA\|/k/}} \|
aspirated \| ph {{IPA\|/pʰ/}} \| th {{IPA\|/tʰ/}} \| \| kh {{IPA\|/kʰ/}} \|
voiced \| b {{IPA\|/b/}} \| đ {{IPA\|/d/}} \| \| g {{IPA\|/ɡ ~ ɣ/}} \|
rowspan = "2" \| Fricative ! voiceless \| \| x {{IPA\|/s/}} \| \| \| h {{IPA\|/h/}}
voiced \| v/w/o/u {{IPA\|/β/}} \| d/gi/i/y {{IPA\|/z ~ j/}} \| \| \|
colspan = "2" \| Lateral \| \| l, tl {{IPA\|/l, tl ~ kl/}} \| \| \|

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

colspan = "2" |

! Bilabial

! Alveolar

! Palatal

! Velar

! Glottal

colspan = "2" | Nasal

| m {{IPA|/m/}}

| n {{IPA|/n/}}

| nh {{IPA|/ɲ/}}

| ng {{IPA|/ŋ/}}

rowspan = "3" | Stop

! voiceless

| p {{IPA|/p/}}

| t {{IPA|/t/}}

| ch {{IPA|/c/}}

| c {{IPA|/k/}}

aspirated

| ph {{IPA|/pʰ/}}

| th {{IPA|/tʰ/}}

| kh {{IPA|/kʰ/}}

voiced

| b {{IPA|/b/}}

| đ {{IPA|/d/}}

| g {{IPA|/ɡ ~ ɣ/}}

rowspan = "2" | Fricative

! voiceless

| x {{IPA|/s/}}

| h {{IPA|/h/}}

voiced

| v/w/o/u {{IPA|/β/}}

| d/gi/i/y {{IPA|/z ~ j/}}

colspan = "2" | Lateral

| l, tl {{IPA|/l, tl ~ kl/}}

The Mường Vang dialect completely lacks the distinction between the voiced and unvoiced stop pairs {{IPA|/p b/}}, {{IPA|/t d/}}, {{IPA|/k ɡ/}}, having only the voiceless one of each pair. The Mường Khói and Mường Ống dialects have the full voiceless series, but lack {{IPA|/ɡ/}} among the voiced stops. The Thạch Sơn dialect on the other hand lacks {{IPA|/p/}}.

Furthermore, the Mường Khói dialect lacks the aspirated alveolar {{IPA|/tʰ/}}, but has a {{IPA|/hr/}} instead. This dialect is also described as having the labio-velars {{IPA|/kʷ/}} and {{IPA|/kʷʰ/}}.

All of these consonants can appear syllable-initially. At the end of syllables only the nasals {{IPA|/m n ɲ ŋ/}}, the voiceless stops {{IPA|/p t c k/}}, the lateral {{IPA|/l/}}, and the glides {{IPA|/j w/}} occur.{{harvnb|Nguyễn Văn Tài|1982|loc = II.3.3.2}} Of these phonemes, the palatals {{IPA|/c ɲ/}} have been analysed as glide + velar {{IPA|/ʲk ʲŋ/}}.{{harvnb|Nguyễn Văn Tài|1982|loc = II.3.3.1}} Furthermore, the distribution of syllable-final {{IPA|/c ɲ l/}} seems to be more restricted than the distribution of the other final consonants.{{harvnb|Nguyễn Văn Tài|1982|loc = II.3.3.3}}

=Vowel inventory=

The vowel inventory is given in the following table. It appears to be quite uniform among the different dialects.{{harvnb|Nguyễn Văn Tài|1982|loc = I.2}} Two of the vowels ({{IPA|/ɤ/}} and {{IPA|/a/}}) can be long or short.

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
rowspan = "2" \| ! rowspan = "2" \| Front ! colspan = "2" \| Back
unrounded ! rounded
Close \| i {{IPA\|/i/}} \| ư {{IPA\|/ɯ/}} \| u {{IPA\|/u/}}
Mid \| ê {{IPA\|/e/}} \| ơ, â {{IPA\|/ɤː, ɤ/}} \| ô {{IPA\|/o/}}
Open \| e {{IPA\|/ɛ/}} \| a, ă {{IPA\|/aː, a/}} \| o {{IPA\|/ɔ/}}

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

rowspan = "2" |

! rowspan = "2" | Front

! colspan = "2" | Back

unrounded

! rounded

| i {{IPA|/i/}}

| ư {{IPA|/ɯ/}}

| u {{IPA|/u/}}

Mid

| ê {{IPA|/e/}}

| ơ, â {{IPA|/ɤː, ɤ/}}

| ô {{IPA|/o/}}

Open

| e {{IPA|/ɛ/}}

| a, ă {{IPA|/aː, a/}}

| o {{IPA|/ɔ/}}

Apart from these monophthongs, there are also three diphthongs {{IPA|/iə, ɯə, uə/}}.

=Tone=

All Mường dialects are tonal. The Kim Thương dialect (Phú Thọ province) has been the object of an experimental phonetic study.{{cite thesis | type= Ph.D. | last = Nguyễn T. Minh Châu | title = Glottalization, tonal contrasts and intonation : an experimental study of the Kim Thuong dialect of Muong | language = en | date = 2021 |url=https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03652510}}

Vocabulary

class="wikitable"

!English

!Mường

!Vietnamese

!Proto-Vietic

!Other languages

!Khmer

!Proto-Mon-Khmer

!Other languages

zero

|không

|from Middle Chinese 空

|sony សូន្យ

|from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “zero”)

one

|mốch, môch

|một

|*moːc

|muŏy មួយ

|*muuj ~ *muəj ~ *muuɲ

two

|hal

|hai

|*haːr

|pir ពីរ

|*ɓaar

three

|pa

|ba

|*pa

|bĕi បី

|*piʔ

four

|pổn

|bốn

|*poːnʔ

|buŏn បួន

|*punʔ

five

|đằm, đăm

|năm

|*ɗam

|pram ប្រាំ

|*pɗam

six

|khảu

|sáu

|*p-ruːʔ

|prămmuŏy ប្រាំមួយ

seven

|páy

|bảy

|*pəs

|prămpir ប្រាំពីរ

eight

|thảm

|tám

|*saːmʔ

|prămbĕi ប្រាំបី

nine

|chỉn

|chín

|*ciːnʔ

|prămbuŏn ប្រាំបួន

ten

|mườl

|mười

|*maːl

|dáb ដប់

|from Old Chinese 十 (*di̯əp)

hundred

|tlăm

|trăm

|*k-lam

|muŏy rôy មួយរយ

|from Thai, ร้อย (roi)

water

|đác

|nước (dialects include nác)

|*ɗaːk

|tɨk ទឹក

|*ɗaːk

language

|thiểng

|tiếng

|from Old Chinese 聲

|phiəsaa ភាសា

|from Sanskrit भाषा (bhāṣā)

river

|không

|sông

|*k-roːŋ

|tŭənlei ទន្លេ (kŭənlɔɔng គន្លង)

|*d(n)liʔ

sky

|tlời

|trời (Middle Vietnamese: blời)

|*b-ləːj

|meik មេឃ

|From Sanskrit मेघ (megha, “cloud”)

moon

|tlăng

|trăng (Middle Vietnamese: blăng)

|*b-laŋ

|look khae លោកខែ

|From Sanskrit लोक (loka, “world”) and Proto-Mon-Khmer *khəjʔ (“moon; month”)

bird

|chim

|*-ciːm

|baksəy បក្សី

|From Sanskrit पक्षि (pakṣi)

forest

|rầng

|rừng

|*k-rəŋ

|prɨy ព្រៃ

|*briiʔ

Note two different romanisations are used to show Khmer here. (UNGEGN and Wiktionary Transcription)

= Comparison of Mường and Vietnamese sentences =

class="wikitable"

!Mường

!Vietnamese

Cải tlỗng chăng bong, lòng chăng yểng.

|Cái bụng không vâng, lòng không theo.

Nả tang chái tlốc.

|Nó đang chải đầu.

Tlước ăn chay khau ăn nhúc.

|Trước ăn chay sau ăn thịt.

Ho là thôn mễ Tử.

|Tôi là cháu bà Tự.

"Cải tlỗng chăng bong, lòng chăng yểng." - Mường uses chăng for 'no', it is cognate with Vietnamese chăng and chẳng (extant and widely understood as a negation word in Vietnamese, but rarely used except in poetic contexts).
"Nả tang chái tlốc." - Mường uses tlốc for 'head', it is cognate with Vietnamese trốc, it was formerly the primary word for head, but has been displaced with đầu (頭).
"Tlước ăn chay khau ăn nhúc." - Mường uses nhúc (肉) for 'meat', Vietnamese uses a native word for 'meat', thịt. It is cognate with Mường thit 'uncommon word for meat'.
"Ho là thôn mễ Tử." - Mường uses thôn (孫) for 'grandchild', Vietnamese uses a native word for 'grandchild', cháu. It is cognate with Mường chảu 'son-in-law'.

References

External links

[http://baohoabinh.com.vn/mu/ {{lang|mtq|Wa̒ Bi̒nh diê̠n tứ}}]{{snd}} online newspaper in Mường {{in lang|mtq}}

Category:Vietic languages

Category:Languages of Vietnam