Kasong language

Kasong
Native to Thailand
Region Trat Province
Austroasiatic
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog None

Kasong, also previously known as "Chong of Trat", is an endangered Pearic language of the Austroasiatic family spoken in Bo Rai District,[1] Trat Province of Thailand.[2] On the basis of lexical similarity determined with a relatively short word list, Kasong has been variously identified as a dialect of either Samre or Chong.[3] However, further study and longer word lists point to Kasong being a separate language closely related to Chong and Samre.[2][4] Kasong is nearly extinct; there are no monolinguals and all speakers use Thai as their primary language.

Of the vocabulary tested, 55.38 percent of the language is Thai loanwords.[5]n These loanwords are grouped into two subtypes: direct from Thai or a Thai word added to an existing Kasong word. [2]This high percentage is indicative of the language's route to potential extinction as Thai overtakes it and engulfs it.

More than 50 years ago, all Kasong people were forbidden to use the Kasong language in their families and with others as a result of governors believing that speaking Kasong interfered with speaking Thai. [2] Thus, Kasong speakers taught their descendants Thai instead of Kasong. [2]Thai nationalism led to the Kasong people becoming ashamed of their language and not being concerned with its preservation. [2] The Kasong language and its people is representative of Thailand's many ethnolinguistic minorities [6]

References

  1. ↑ http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/sunee2003syntactic.pdf
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Noppawan Thongkham (2003). The phonology of Kasong at Khlong Saeng Village, Danchumphon Sub-District, Bo Rai District, Trat Province. MA Thesis, Mahidol University, Thailand.
  3. ↑ Sidwell, Paul (2009). Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 76. Munich: Lincom Europa.
  4. ↑ Sunee, Kamnuansin (2003). "Syntactic characteristics of Kasong: An endangered language of Thailand" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies Journal 33. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Thongkham, Noppawan. "The Phonology of Kasong at Khlong Saeng Village, Danchumphon Sub-district, Bo Rai District, Trat Province" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Joll, Chris. "Language loyalty and loss in Malay South Thailand - From Ethno-religious rebellion to ethno-linguistic angst?" (PDF).


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