Austroasiatic

Also known as Austro-Asiatic languages, Austroasiatic languages

language family of Continental Southeast Asia

AI overview

Austroasiatic is a language family spoken across Continental Southeast Asia that includes languages like Khmer (spoken in Cambodia) and Vietnamese. It matters because it represents one of the major language groups in the region and helps linguists understand the historical connections and migrations of the millions of people who speak these languages today.

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Described at

Famille des langues austro-asiatiques - Sorosoro Sorosoro

Sorosoro est un programme qui contribue à la sauvegarde des langues en danger à travers le monde, le site propose des vidéos, des cartes et des informations écrites.

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Wikidata facts

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Commons category: Austro-Asiatic languages
described at URL: www.sorosoro.org/famille-des-langues-austro-asiatiques
number of speakers, writers, or signers: 90000000
exact match: data.linguistik.de/bll/bll-ontology#bll-133095495

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Article

The Austroasiatic languages (/ˌɒstroʊ.eɪʒiˈætɪk, ˌɔː-/ OSS-troh-ay-zhee-AT-ik, AWSS-) are a large language family spoken throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority populations scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China. Approximately 117 million people speak an Austroasiatic language, of which more than two-thirds are Vietnamese speakers. Among the Austroasiatic languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have lengthy, established presences in the written, historical record. Only two are presently considered to be the national languages of sovereign states: Vietnamese in Vietnam, and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand, while the Wa language is a "recognized national language" in the de facto autonomous Wa State within Myanmar. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The remainder of the family's languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status.

Ethnologue identifies 168 Austroasiatic languages. These form thirteen established families (plus perhaps Shompen, which is poorly attested, as a fourteenth) that have traditionally been grouped into two, as Mon–Khmer, and Munda. However, one recent classification posits three groups (Munda, Mon-Khmer, and Khasi–Khmuic), while another has abandoned Mon–Khmer as a taxon altogether, making it synonymous with the larger family.