Harman Patil (Editor)

Brao language

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Native to
  
Cambodia, Laos

Glottolog
  
lave1238

Native speakers
  
59,000 (2005–2008)

Brao language

Language family
  
Austroasiatic Bahnaric West Brao

ISO 639-3
  
Variously: brb – Lave krr – Krung krv – Kavet

Brao is a Mon–Khmer language of Cambodia and Laos.

Contents

Varieties

According to Ethnologue, there are four distinct but mutually intelligible varieties, sometimes considered separate languages: Lave (Brao proper), Kru’ng (Kreung), and Kavet (Kravet), the latter spoken by only a couple thousand.

Sidwell (2003) also lists four communities of speakers, three of which are in Cambodia.

  • Laveh (Lave, Rawe): spoken in Attapeu Province, Laos south of the capital city of Attapeu. Laveh is the official designation given by the Laotian government.
  • Krung (Krüng): spoken around Ban Lung in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
  • Kavet (Kravet): spoken in Voeun Sai District, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
  • Brao (Brou, Palaw, Preou): spoken in and around the town of Taveng in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia

    • Lun, spoken in Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, is related to Lave and Kavet (Philip Lambrecht 2012).

    Demographics

    Sidwell (2003) suggests the possibility of a total of 50,000 speakers, while Bradley (1994:161) gives an estimate of 35,000. All estimates below are drawn from Sidwell (2003:30).

  • Laos: The 1995 Laotian census places the Laveh population at 17,544.
  • Cambodia: The Asian Development Bank gave an estimate of 29,500 speakers as of the early 2000s.
  • Vietnam: About 300 Brau live in Đắc Mế village, Bờ Y commune, Ngọc Hồi district, Kon Tum province (Đặng, et al. 2010:112). Parkin (1991:81) also estimates several hundred Brao in Vietnam.
  • Thailand: Parkin (1991:81) estimates a Brao population of 2,500 in Thailand.

    • References

    Brao language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA