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Arem language

Arem
Cmbrau
Pronunciation[cmrawˀ]
Native toLaos, Vietnam
EthnicityArem
Native speakers
7 (2021)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3aem
Glottologarem1240
ELPArem
Arem is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Arem language (Cmbrau [cmrawˀ]) is an endangered language spoken by the Arem people in a small area on both sides of the Laos–Vietnam border. It belongs to the Vietic branch of the Austroasiatic language family. Specifically, it is a member of the Chut language group, which is one of the six Vietic languages. This language is considered critically endangered by UNESCO.[2] Like other Vietic languages, the Arem language makes use of a tonal or phonational system that is unique to Vietic languages. Like many southern Vietic Languages, the Arem language also makes use of pre-syllables or sesquisyllables within the language.[3]

Arem lacks the breathy phonation common to most Vietic languages, but does have glottalized final consonants.[4]

Names

Arem is an ethnographic term to describe a group of indigenous people that reside on the border of Southern Vietnam and Laos. The people prefer to call themselves Cmbrau [cmrawˀ].[3] However, because this is the only attested [cm-] sesquisyllabic structure in the language, it is theorized that this may also be an ethnographic term that was borrowed from another nearby language.[3]

Another name for the Arem is Umo, which literally means 'cave' or 'grotto'.[5]

History and demographics

The Arem people were only known to exist by local populations of Vietnam until 1959, when they were discovered by the Vietnamese military.[3] Previously, the local authorities had thought them members of the local Bru khùa community. The Arem population was only 53 people in 1960: 30 men and 23 women.[6] The most recent survey of the area in 1999 indicated that there were 102 Arem people.[7] Of these 102 Arem people, only around 25% of the population was estimated to be using the Arem language on a consistent basis.[7] All speakers of the Arem language are bilingual speakers of Vietnamese and some are also fluent in Khùa and/or Lao as well.[8]

In Vietnam, Arem is spoken in Bản Ban and in Tân Trạch communities.[9] In Tân Trạch, Arem is spoken in village no. 39, which also has Ma[ng] Coong people, who are a Bru–Van Kieu subgroup. As a result, Ma Coong is the most widely spoken in the village. As of 2015, there were only about 20 speakers of Arem remaining.[5]

Syllabic structure

The Arem language makes use of both monosyllabic words and sesquisyllabic words. It is estimated that 55-60% of the Arem language's consists of sesquisyllabic words. This is much higher than the majority of other Vietic languages that typically utilize sesquisyllables in only 35-40% of their lexicon, if the particular language contains any sesquisyllables at all.[3]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Ta, Tan (2023-05-04). Register and Tone Developments in Vietic Languages (Thesis). doi:10.20381/RUOR-29099.
  2. ^ "Arem". The World Atlas of Languages. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e FERLUS, Michel. 2014. Arem, a Vietic Language. Mon-Khmer Studies 43.1:1-15 (ICAAL5 special issue)
  4. ^ "The Vietic Branch". sealang.net. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  5. ^ a b Babaev, Kirill; Samarina, Irina (2021). Sidwell, Paul (ed.). A Grammar of May: An Austroasiatic Language of Vietnam. Brill. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-9-00446-108-6.
  6. ^ Vương Hoàng Tuyên. 1963. Các dân tộc nguồn gốc Nam-Á ở miền bắc Việt-Nam [Ethnic groups of Austro-Asiatic origin in North Vietnam]. Nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục, Hà-Nội. [Arem: vocabulary p. 71; Compare list of a hundred words in Viet-Muong languages, including Arem; see fold-out page V-VIII, end of the book]
  7. ^ a b Trần Trí Dõi. 1999. Nghiên cứu ngôn ngữ các dân tộc thiểu số Việt Nam [Study of languages of ethnic minorities in Vietnam]. Nhà xuất bản đại học quốc gia Hà-Nội. [Arem: demography p.110; vocabulary p. 16 and 37]
  8. ^ Trần Trí Dõi. 1995. Thực trạng kinh tế và văn hóa của ba nhóm tộc người đang có nguy cơ bị biến mất [Actual state of the economy and culture of three endangered ethnic groups]. Nhà xuất bản văn hóa dân tộc. [Arem: population pp. 71-76; no vocabulary]
  9. ^ Babaev, Kirill Vladimirovich [Бабаев, Кирилл Владимирович]; Samarina, Irina Vladimirovna [Самарина, Ирина Владимировна]. 2019. Язык май. Материалы Российско-вьетнамской лингвистической экспедиции / Jazyk maj. Materialy Rossijsko-vetnamskoj lingvisticheskoj ekspeditsii. Moscow: Издательский Дом ЯСК. ISBN 978-5-907117-34-1. (in Russian). p.16.

Bibliography

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