Khmer: Languages of Southeast Asia

Toppixxmusic Says:

Oct 10, 2011 - I dont understand how vietnamese falls into mon-khmer or the austroasiatic group when khmer is non-tonal and viet is tonal. thai and laos is also tonal. Vietnamese should fall into tai-kadai or their own group. So ProfASar for your info khmer people do not understand vietnamese, thai or laos period. Even myself dont understand any of the three languages. thank you.

OMGBlackJesus Says:

Oct 21, 2011 - Yes it's true, Khmer is completely different. The Thai and Lao writing systems were derived from Khmer.

nneuhaus84 Says:

Nov 15, 2011 - What language did the french succeed with in vietnam? Vietnamese is a very varied language... 

nneuhaus84 Says:

Nov 15, 2011 - I honestly disagree with the contemporary belief that Vietnamese is more related to austroasiatic than sinotibetan languages. morphology, phonology, and phonetics might point to this "theory" however some times over analyzing can lead one astray. Although possibly due to sprachbund, vietnamese has as much as 60% sino based vocab as well as shared tones which sound closer to chinese tones. As a speaker of vietnamese and hearing a lot of chinese and khmer regularly... it cant be so

tofoodood Says:

Nov 16, 2011 - Viet Nam used to have its own writing and now it is using Latin alphabet.

MrTheara2010 Says:

Dec 10, 2011 - Hello, the 3 khmer languagges expert, don u feel and humiliated to post this lame video on youtube! Most of know so little about khmer language and its origin! Kmas ke klang nas!

nneuhaus84 Says:

Dec 27, 2011 - Vietnam actually did not have it's OWN writing before they used the latin script, to help you out here. What they used was called chu nom, which is a modified chinese script. It was modified for use with vietnamese, just like the latin alphabet was, neither being "their own".

khmerAZNet Says:

Dec 29, 2011 - I was surprise too that they classify Vietnamese in Monkhmer language group. anyways for me sometimes Khmer sound mostly like Thai but little sometime sound like viet. And Thai too in there music thier language sound so nice but Thai people at market talk like viet too . At the end of the day we Asian so of course our language is different but can sound similar too.

yueluo2000 Says:

Jan 4, 2012 - @khmerAZNet: I agree, there should be mistake, Vietnamese speak more like to Thai than Khmer, with more tonal language.

Rajasen06 Says:

Jan 15, 2012 - Alex you should do more research on Khmer race and language...!! I don't agree to with your view that the Khmer language belongs to Vietnamese language family. There are fewer words which share the same meaning but the same case of countries in the world who share borders. Khmer belongs to Mon-Khmer family. The Mon language must have been the dominant language of ancient Khmer tribal groups-The Montagnards. In all the Montagnards itself there tribes who share similar tribal traditions.

Rajasen06 Says:

Jan 15, 2012 - Continue... but the same bloodline. The Montagnards are the aboriginal of Cambodia, the Mons,Kuys, Samres, Stiengs, Sa'ohjs, Pnongs, Tumpoans etc. These tribes were the main tribal groups which later formed the Khmer Empire. When Indian scholars and traders arrived in Cambodia the new language and culture was formed- the amalgamation of the local tribe's cultures and languages to form the immaculate Khmer language and culture.

Rajasen06 Says:

Jan 15, 2012 - continue... There were phases of changes in Khmer Language from ancient Angkor to today. These evidence can be still studied and trace back to Khmer people who are still speaking Khmer in the former Khmer's provinces in Vietnam and Thailand. They still speak some traditional Khmer vocabularies and accent. But due to the introduction of some new vowels in modern Khmer language and consonants shift in some words, central Khmers sound slightly different to Northern Khmer.

Rajasen06 Says:

Jan 15, 2012 - Alexander..!! the two guys on your right are Chinese descendent And the guy in red on your left is pure Khmer. Cheers for your interests in Khmer language but there more researches for you and I to do...Lol.

nicnac209 Says:

Feb 1, 2012 - Vietnamese is more related to Chinese and should be classify in a different category than Mon- Khmer. Vietnamese should fall into tai- kadai or a different branch. You can ask all the Khmer that plus we don't understand a single word what Vietnamese people say. Listen to a Khmer news channel and compare it to Thai, Laos and Vietnamese nothing close.

NoelleMuch Says:

Feb 13, 2012 - This is often not mentioned when one speak about the Khmer language, is the use of social registers. Like for the word 'to eat' there are at least 6 different varieties from being rude, speaking among commoners, friends, elderly, royal, and religious person, 'trasj" would be rude, "yam" would be common, "pisa" would be for the upper class, "chan" would be for monks, etc. This evolved from the Hindu class system when ancient Khmers followed Hinduism.

Toppixxmusic Says:

Feb 25, 2012 - wtf is your point? I know vietnamese is more related to chinese that is what i was trying to say. The point is vietnamese shouldn't fall into the mon khmer branch. Do you understand any khmer? I dont think so, does it sound like vietnamese? not to me. It is hard for me to understand chinese or vietnamese. I don't think vietnamese is nearly related to khmer period but maybe some words but not in a conversation.

nneuhaus84 Says:

Feb 25, 2012 - That was a comment that meant i agree with what you said. If you weren't able to catch that then i don't know what else to tell you.

Sortsdam Says:

Mar 5, 2012 - You need to understand the difference between "related" and "sprachbund". Khmer and Vietnamese are both Austro-Asiatic languages; they are derived from the same parent language. Vietnamese is not related to Chinese, but a lot of Viet vocabulary comes from Chinese. Most Khmer words are either of Mon-Khmer and Austro-Asiatic stock, or are borrowings from Sanskrit and Pali. This doesn't mean Khmer is related to Sankrit or Pali; similarly, Viet is not related to Chinese.

Sortsdam Says:

Mar 5, 2012 - Vietnamese is not Mon-Khmer. Khmer and Vietnamese are both austro-asiatic. Vietnamese is not "more related" to Chinese; in fact, they are unrelated. The only "relation" is that Vietnamese contains many Chinese loan words. Khmer words are often from the same sources as Thai and Lao. This does not mean that Khmer is related to Thai and Lao. For example, Japanese contains many loanwords from English, but that does not mean that they are related languages.

Sortsdam Says:

Mar 5, 2012 - I would just like to point out that Arguelles never said that Vietnamese is a Mon-Khmer language; he said that Vietnames and Khmer are both Austro-Asiatic languages. The Mon-Khmer languages are a sub-family of the Austro-Asiatic languages. Vietnamese contains many words in common with Chinese, but they are borrowings: the languages are NOT relatives. Similarly, Khmer contains many loanwords from Pali and Sanskrit, but this does not mean that Khmer is related to Pali and Sanskrit.

Toppixxmusic Says:

Mar 6, 2012 - I know that what you are saying. I do understand that Viet is from the same family group but IMO since I speak Khmer to my ears their totally different and I'm sure most Khmer people agree. Khmer living in phnom penh might sound more Viet because most are mixed breed and most try to expell the (r) sound making it sound Viet. Just because an american or whoever scholar or professor put it under Mon Khmer, doesn't mean it should be in the same family group.

Toppixxmusic Says:

Mar 6, 2012 - I want to put out that Khmer and Viet should not be in the same group. We need more Khmer scholars to write put where we think our language fits in. I mean if Viet is a Mon Khmer branchWouldn't you think the dialact and tone are the same? Khmer is non-tonal Viet is tonal that's tell it all. Even in the ancient times Viet is Viet, Khmer is Khmer until they borrow eachother overtime. I'm talking pure ancient Khmer language. IMO Viet shouldnt be in same branch. Listen 2 Khmer news and songs.

Toppixxmusic Says:

Mar 6, 2012 - Look at the two guys to the left their facial features don't look anything Khmer only the Guy to the right. The two guys on the left look like foreigners from China,Vietnam,Thai or Laos.

kvenart Says:

May 19, 2012 - Your point is? My uncle looks like the 2nd guy from the left. Full blood Cambodian. I don't understand why people always assume that Cambodians are all brown skin. I'm lighter then the Vietnamese kids at school. Heck even the Korean foreign exchange student is darker then me, and im only 25% chinese.

kyo717 Says:

May 22, 2012 - In a lot of asian cultures, part of the look someone has acquired sometimes have to do with their social status or family background. Farm workers get tanned from being in the sun everyday while rich people stay in the shade and keep their paleness.