The Mon ( Mon : ဂကူမန် listen ; Thai Mon: ဂကူမည်; Burmese : မွန်လူမျိုး , pronounced [mʊ̀ɰ̃ lù mjó] ; Thai : มอญ , pronounced [mɔ̄ːn] listen ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar 's Mon State , Kayin State , Kayah State , Tanintharyi Region , Bago Region , the Irrawaddy Delta , and several areas in Thailand (mostly in Pathum Thani province , Phra Pradaeng and Nong Ya Plong ). The native language is Mon , which belongs to the Monic branch of the Austroasiatic language family and shares a common origin with the Nyah Kur language , which is spoken by the people of the same name that live in Northeastern Thailand . A number of languages in Mainland Southeast Asia are influenced by the Mon language, which is also in turn influenced by those languages.
111-516: Sbai ( Khmer : ស្បៃ [sɓaj] ; Lao : ສະໄບ [sā.bàj] ; Malay : Sebai ; Jawi : سباي ; Thai : สไบ , RTGS : sabai [sā.bāj] ) or phaa biang ( Lao : ຜ້າບ່ຽງ [pʰȁː bīaŋ] ; Thai : ผ้าเบี่ยง [pʰâː bìaŋ] ) is a shawl-like garment worn by women in Cambodia , Laos , and Thailand to cover the breasts, while in Sumatra , Borneo and
222-646: A minor (fully unstressed) syllable. Such words have been described as sesquisyllabic (i.e. as having one-and-a-half syllables). There are also some disyllabic words in which the first syllable does not behave as a minor syllable, but takes secondary stress . Most such words are compounds , but some are single morphemes (generally loanwords). An example is ភាសា ('language'), pronounced [ˌpʰiəˈsaː] . Words with three or more syllables, if they are not compounds, are mostly loanwords, usually derived from Pali, Sanskrit, or more recently, French. They are nonetheless adapted to Khmer stress patterns. Primary stress falls on
333-522: A minor syllable . The language has been written in the Khmer script , an abugida descended from the Brahmi script via the southern Indian Pallava script , since at least the 7th century. The script's form and use has evolved over the centuries; its modern features include subscripted versions of consonants used to write clusters and a division of consonants into two series with different inherent vowels . Khmer
444-652: A cease-fire and, in 1996, the Mon Unity League was founded. Nowadays, the Mon are a major ethnic group in Myanmar and a minor ethnic group in Thailand . The Mons from Myanmar are called Burmese Mon or Myanmar Mon. The Mons from Thailand are referred as Thai Raman or Thai Mon. A recent study shows that there is a close genetic relationship between central Thai and Mon people in Thailand, who migrated from southern Myanmar. Due to
555-469: A dialect. Western Khmer , also called Cardamom Khmer or Chanthaburi Khmer, is spoken by a very small, isolated population in the Cardamom mountain range extending from western Cambodia into eastern Central Thailand . Although little studied, this variety is unique in that it maintains a definite system of vocal register that has all but disappeared in other dialects of modern Khmer. Phnom Penh Khmer
666-654: A final consonant. All consonant sounds except /b/, /d/, /r/, /s/ and the aspirates can appear as the coda (although final /r/ is heard in some dialects, most notably in Northern Khmer ). A minor syllable (unstressed syllable preceding the main syllable of a word) has a structure of CV-, CrV-, CVN- or CrVN- (where C is a consonant, V a vowel, and N a nasal consonant). The vowels in such syllables are usually short; in conversation they may be reduced to [ə] , although in careful or formal speech, including on television and radio, they are clearly articulated. An example of such
777-417: A living in both places. The area is known for its high-quality clay and the Mon pottery, including containers and decorative items, is a symbol of their heritage and expertise. The pottery is made of porous earthenware in light orange to red color and features unique designs inspired by nature. Despite technological advancements, the Mon continue to preserve this traditional handicraft. Floral umbrellas have
888-583: A long history in Mon culture, dating back to ancient times. In fact, inscriptions have been discovered in northern Thailand that mention the use of umbrellas and palm-leaf manuscripts in Mon religious ceremonies during the Hariphunchai Kingdom , which lasted from the 7th to the 13th century. Today, floral umbrellas are still used in various ceremonies and festivals throughout Mon communities, such as weddings, ordinations, and temple fairs, and remain an important part of Mon cultural heritage. Mon literature
999-495: A long piece of silk, about a foot wide, that is draped diagonally over the chest covering one shoulder with one end dropping behind the back. In Malaysia, Sebai is a cloth wrapped around the neck to cover the shoulders with both ends hanging on the chest similar to a scarf hung over the shoulders. The ethnic Mon is also known to have similar tradition of wearing the shawl-like sabai called yat toot in Mon language, diagonally over
1110-505: A mythological water bird that is often illustrated as a swan. It is commonly known by its Burmese name, hintha ( Burmese : ဟင်္သာ , IPA: [hɪ́ɰ̃θà] ) or its Thai name: hong (หงส์). The hongsa is the state symbol of Myanmar's Bago Region and Mon State , two historical Mon strongholds. Also, the hongsa is the city symbol of Thailand's Pak Kret City , a historical Mon settlement area. Mon culture and traditional heritages includes spiritual dances, musical instruments such as
1221-492: A typical Khmer declarative phrase is a steady rise throughout followed by an abrupt drop on the last syllable. Other intonation contours signify a different type of phrase such as the "full doubt" interrogative, similar to yes–no questions in English. Full doubt interrogatives remain fairly even in tone throughout, but rise sharply towards the end. Exclamatory phrases follow the typical steadily rising pattern, but rise sharply on
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#17328488329761332-448: A word is មនុស្ស mɔnuh, mɔnɨh, mĕəʾnuh ('person'), pronounced [mɔˈnuh] , or more casually [məˈnuh] . Stress in Khmer falls on the final syllable of a word. Because of this predictable pattern, stress is non- phonemic in Khmer (it does not distinguish different meanings). Most Khmer words consist of either one or two syllables. In most native disyllabic words, the first syllable is
1443-429: Is a zero copula language, instead preferring predicative adjectives (and even predicative nouns) unless using a copula for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity in more complex sentences. Basic word order is subject–verb–object (SVO), although subjects are often dropped ; prepositions are used rather than postpositions. Topic-Comment constructions are common and the language is generally head-initial (modifiers follow
1554-632: Is a classification scheme showing the development of the modern Khmer dialects. Standard Khmer , or Central Khmer , the language as taught in Cambodian schools and used by the media, is based on the dialect spoken throughout the Central Plain , a region encompassed by the northwest and central provinces. Northern Khmer (called Khmer Surin in Khmer) refers to the dialects spoken by many in several border provinces of present-day northeast Thailand. After
1665-517: Is a member of the Austroasiatic language family, the autochthonous family in an area that stretches from the Malay Peninsula through Southeast Asia to East India. Austroasiatic, which also includes Mon , Vietnamese and Munda , has been studied since 1856 and was first proposed as a language family in 1907. Despite the amount of research, there is still doubt about the internal relationship of
1776-551: Is a rich collection of works created by the Mon people in Myanmar and Thailand, including chronicles, poems, songs, folktales, and religious texts. " Lik Smin Asah " is a legendary tale about the establishment of the city of Pegu, "Sangada" is a well-known Mon folktale that has been adapted into Thai and Laotian literature as "Sangsinchay", and "Rājādhirāj" or "Razadarit" is a chronicle of the Mon king translated into Burmese as " Razadarit Ayedawbon " and into Thai as "Rachathirat." Mon literature
1887-584: Is an Austroasiatic language spoken natively by the Khmer people . This language is an official language and national language of Cambodia . The language is also widely spoken by Khmer people in Eastern Thailand and Isan , Thailand , also in Southeast and Mekong Delta of Vietnam . Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali especially in the royal and religious registers , through Hinduism and Buddhism , due to Old Khmer being
1998-651: Is another traditional festival celebrated during the Mon New Year. It features boat races, music, dance, feasting, releasing lanterns, and gift exchanging. The festival brings the Mon community together to make offerings for peace and prosperity. The Hae Hang Hong Tong Ta Khab Festival, also known as the Tawai Tong Ta Khab Festival, is an important tradition of the Mon people in Thailand, primarily in Pathum Thani , Pak Kret , and Phra Pradaeng . The festival
2109-544: Is assumed to be the city of Tak or Nakhon Chai Si . Another historical figure, Phaya Kakabatr, is believed to have also come from Takkasila and established the Chula Sakarat era in 638 CE, which was used by the Siamese and Burmese until the 19th century. Phaya Kalavarnadishraj, the son of Phaya Kakabatr, founded Lavo a decade later. By the late 7th century, Lavo had expanded to the north. The legendary Queen Camadevi , who
2220-416: Is common, and the perceived social relation between participants determines which sets of vocabulary, such as pronouns and honorifics, are proper. Khmer differs from neighboring languages such as Burmese , Thai , Lao , and Vietnamese in that it is not a tonal language . Words are stressed on the final syllable, hence many words conform to the typical Mon–Khmer pattern of a stressed syllable preceded by
2331-665: Is considered important cultural heritage in Myanmar and Thailand. These works are highly valued for their cultural and historical significance. The Mon people have a mix of spiritual beliefs and Theravada Buddhism as their religion, with a majority of them practicing the mixture. Before Buddhism, three traditional beliefs were followed in the Mon Kingdom, including belief in Kalok (spirits), Isi (holy hermits), and Hinduism . The Mon people traditionally believed in various types of Kaloks (spirits), including family/clan kalok, guardian kalok of
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#17328488329762442-423: Is contrastive before a vowel. However, the aspirated sounds in that position may be analyzed as sequences of two phonemes : /ph/, /th/, /ch/, /kh/ . This analysis is supported by the fact that infixes can be inserted between the stop and the aspiration; for example [tʰom] ('big') becomes [tumhum] ('size') with a nominalizing infix. When one of these plosives occurs initially before another consonant, aspiration
2553-558: Is derived from the Indian sari , which may have been introduced to Southeast Asia through the Indianized Kingdoms along with other traditions and elements of Indian culture. There are related mythologies in Khmer culture concerning the history of sbai , which was likely introduced during the Funan era from India alongside chong kben in the first century AD. The sbai is mentioned in
2664-586: Is no longer contrastive and can be regarded as mere phonetic detail: slight aspiration is expected when the following consonant is not one of /ʔ/, /b/, /d/, /r/, /s/, /h/ (or /ŋ/ if the initial plosive is /k/ ). The voiced plosives are pronounced as implosives [ɓ, ɗ] by most speakers, but this feature is weak in educated speech, where they become [b, d] . In syllable-final position, /h/ and /ʋ/ approach [ç] and [w] respectively. The stops /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/ are unaspirated and have no audible release when occurring as syllable finals. In addition,
2775-460: Is primarily an analytic , isolating language . There are no inflections , conjugations or case endings. Instead, particles and auxiliary words are used to indicate grammatical relationships. General word order is subject–verb–object , and modifiers follow the word they modify. Classifiers appear after numbers when used to count nouns, though not always so consistently as in languages like Chinese . In spoken Khmer, topic-comment structure
2886-578: Is remembered for his generosity, having donated a significant amount of gold to the Shwedagon Pagoda, as well as for building important temples in the vicinity of Pegu, including the Shwegugyi Pagoda. In the early sixteenth century, the Bamar regained their momentum at Taungoo , leading to the fall of Hanthawaddy to King Tabinshwehti in 1539. This was after a devastating attack on Lower Burma, in which
2997-420: Is similar to sabai . Sabai ( Thai : สไบ , RTGS : sabai , pronounced [sābāj] ) or pha biang ( Thai : ผ้าเบี่ยง pronounced [pʰâː.bìaŋ] ) is shawl-like garment, or breast cloth. Sabais can be used by women or men. The sabai is also known as a long piece of silk, about a foot wide, draped diagonally around the chest by covering one shoulder which its end drops behind
3108-566: Is spoken in the Se San , Srepok and Sekong river valleys of Sesan and Siem Pang districts in Stung Treng Province . Following the decline of Angkor, the Khmer abandoned their northern territories, which the Lao then settled. In the 17th century, Chey Chetha XI led a Khmer force into Stung Treng to retake the area. The Khmer Khe living in this area of Stung Treng in modern times are presumed to be
3219-421: Is spoken in the capital and surrounding areas. This dialect is characterized by merging or complete elision of syllables, which speakers from other regions consider a "relaxed" pronunciation. For instance, "Phnom Penh" is sometimes shortened to "m'Penh". Another characteristic of Phnom Penh speech is observed in words with an "r" either as an initial consonant or as the second member of a consonant cluster (as in
3330-536: Is synonymous with the Burmese word for 'noble,' was likely derived from Old Mon "rmeñ" by way of Middle Mon "rman" (ရာမန်). The ethnonym "rmeñ" was first recorded in the Kyanzittha’s New Palace Inscription of AD 1102 in Myanmar. Derivatives of this ethnonym have been found in 6th to 10th-century Old Khmer and 11th-century Javanese inscriptions. The geographic term Rāmaññadesa , which now refers to
3441-474: Is the Luknoo Festival, which marks the end of the monsoon season and the beginning of the new year. It involves the launch of homemade rockets, food offerings to spirits, and cultural activities such as music, dance, and games. The festival is an important part of Mon culture and helps to connect with the community, preserve traditions, and bring good luck for the coming year. The Mon Floating Boat Festival
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3552-464: The Hariphunchai stupa In 1289, Mangrai also known as Mengrai was visited by merchants from the Mon kingdom of Haripunchai . Hearing of the wealth of that kingdom, he determined to conquer it, against the advice of his counselors. As it was thought impossible to take the city by force, Mangrai sent a merchant named Ai Fa as a mole to gain the confidence of its Phaya Yi Ba. In time, Ai Fa became
3663-537: The Khmer Empire . The Northern Khmer dialect is spoken by over a million Khmers in the southern regions of Northeast Thailand and is treated by some linguists as a separate language. Khmer Krom, or Southern Khmer, is the first language of the Khmer of Vietnam , while the Khmer living in the remote Cardamom Mountains speak a very conservative dialect that still displays features of the Middle Khmer language. Khmer
3774-663: The Malay Peninsula , the same term is used to describe a cloth hanging from the shoulders. The sbai was derived from the Indian sari , the end of which is worn over one shoulder. The term sbai is the contracted form of vowels which has its ultimately original roots from the Austronesian term *cahebay , which was diversified as the first exodus in Taiwan as the Formosan term *sapay from south China between 5,000–4,500 BCE, and
3885-561: The Netherlands . The Mon language is part of the Monic group of the Austroasiatic languages (also known as Mon–Khmer language family), closely related to the Nyah Kur language and more distantly related to Khmer and Vietnamese . The writing system is based on Indic scripts . The Mon language is one of the earliest documented vernacular languages of Mainland Southeast Asia. Many languages in
3996-604: The Pallava script , and the oldest form of the Mon script was discovered in a cave in modern-day Saraburi , dating back to around 550 CE. Although no remains have been found from the Thaton Kingdom, it is widely mentioned in Bamar and Lanna chronicles. According to the Northern Thai Chronicles, the city of Lavo (modern Lopburi) was founded by Phaya Kalavarnadishraj in 648 CE. He reportedly came from Takkasila, which
4107-747: The Thaton Kingdom of the Mon people in Lower Burma. The Mon culture and script had a significant influence on the Bamar , bringing the Mons under Bamar control for the first time. Despite this, the Mon remained a majority in Lower Burma. On one hand, the Hariphunchai Kingdom of the Mon prospered during the reign of King Aditayaraj in the early twelfth century. He is said to have fought wars with Suryavarman II of Angkor between 1113 and 1150 CE and constructed
4218-470: The [r] is dropped and the vowel begins by dipping much lower in tone than standard speech and then rises, effectively doubling its length. Another example is the word រៀន [riən] ('study'), which is pronounced [ʀiən] , with the uvular "r" and the same intonation described above. Khmer Krom or Southern Khmer is spoken by the indigenous Khmer population of the Mekong Delta , formerly controlled by
4329-421: The elision of /r/ . Intonation often conveys semantic context in Khmer, as in distinguishing declarative statements , questions and exclamations. The available grammatical means of making such distinctions are not always used, or may be ambiguous; for example, the final interrogative particle ទេ /teː/ can also serve as an emphasizing (or in some cases negating) particle. The intonation pattern of
4440-607: The kyam or "crocodile xylophone", the la gyan hsaing gong chime, the saung harp and a flat stringed instrument. Mon dances are usually played in a formal theater or sometimes in an informal district of any village. The dances are followed by background music using a circular set of tuned drums and claps, crocodile xylophone, gongs, flute, flat guitar, harp, violin, etc. The Mon people in Thailand have been producing pottery for over 200 years. Their ancestors settled in Koh Kret and Nakhon Sawan , using their pottery making skills to earn
4551-511: The 17th century, the Bamar king Anaukpetlun launched a counter-attack against the Mon rebels and captured their stronghold at Syriam. Eventually, the Mon lands were retaken, and the capital was moved to Pegu. An unsuccessful Mon uprising occurred in Martaban in 1661, which led to the pursuit of fleeing Mon refugees into Ayutthaya via the Three Pagodas Pass . In the early eighteenth century,
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4662-451: The 9th century until the 13th century. The following centuries saw changes in morphology , phonology and lexicon . The language of this transition period, from about the 14th to 18th centuries, is referred to as Middle Khmer and saw borrowings from Thai in the literary register. Modern Khmer is dated from the 19th century to today. The following table shows the conventionally accepted historical stages of Khmer. Just as modern Khmer
4773-475: The Angkor period (802 AD-1431 AD) Nowadays, sbai , along with chang kben and sampot , are regarded as Cambodia's national costumes. Sbai most often used in traditional Khmer weddings with different type and decoration during the rite of Preah Thong Taong Sbai Neang Neak ( transl. Preah Thong holding on to the sbai of Neang Neak ) which represents the legend of the foundation of Funan and where
4884-460: The Burmese from Pegu, but a series of intra-Mon disputes allowed Tabinshwehti's general, Bayinnaung , to recapture the city. Despite Bayinnaung allowing the Mon people to rule over townships and villages and accept them into the military, he did not grant them the right of national self-determination , and therefore the Mon became subservient to the Bamar. Significant Mon uprisings took place during Bayinnaung's reign, including in 1551 and 1564 when
4995-550: The Chief Minister and managed to undermine the King's authority. In 1292, taking advantage of discontent among the people, Mangrai defeated the Mon kingdom of Haripunchai and added it to his kingdom . Phaya Yi Ba, the last king of Hariphunchai, was forced to flee south to Lampang . A few years later, Phaya Yi Ba's son, King Boek of Lampang , attacked Chiang Mai with a large army. King Mangrai and his second son, Prince Khram, led
5106-507: The English word "bread"). The "r", trilled or flapped in other dialects, is either pronounced as a uvular trill or not pronounced at all. This alters the quality of any preceding consonant, causing a harder, more emphasized pronunciation. Another unique result is that the syllable is spoken with a low-rising or "dipping" tone much like the "hỏi" tone in Vietnamese . For example, some people pronounce ត្រី [trəj] ('fish') as [tʰəj] :
5217-591: The Khmer Empire but part of Vietnam since 1698. Khmers are persecuted by the Vietnamese government for using their native language and, since the 1950s, have been forced to take Vietnamese names. Consequently, very little research has been published regarding this dialect. It has been generally influenced by Vietnamese for three centuries and accordingly displays a pronounced accent, tendency toward monosyllabic words and lexical differences from Standard Khmer. Khmer Khe
5328-727: The Mon alphabet, which the Tai developed into their own writing systems as the Tai Tham alphabet , for the Thai Yuan people in the northern Thailand. Although Thai adopted more features from the Old Khmer alphabet than from the Mon, plenty of vocabulary in Thai language today were derived from the Mon language. Burmese has derived and borrowed vocabulary from the Mon language, especially related to administration, architecture, cloth, cuisine and flowers. Nowadays,
5439-565: The Mon heartland on the Burmese coast, was coined by King Dhammazedi in 1479. The Mon of Myanmar are divided into three sub-groups based on their ancestral region in Lower Myanmar, including Mon Nya ( မန်ည ; /mòn ɲaˀ) from Pathein (the Irrawaddy Delta) in the west, Mon Tang ( မန်ဒိုင် ; /mòn tàŋ/ ) in Bago in the central region, and Mon Teh ( မန်ဒ ; /mòn tɛ̀ˀ/ ) at Mottama in
5550-597: The Mon language is recognised as an indigenous language in both Myanmar and Thailand . Due to the fall in number of Mon language speakers in the recent decades, Mon was classified as a "vulnerable" language in UNESCO 's 2010 Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger . The language has an estimated 800,000 Thousand - 1,000,000 Million speakers The symbol of the Mon people is the hongsa ( Mon : ဟံသာ , [hɔŋsa] ),
5661-423: The Mon people or Mon rulers. Nowadays, the Mon are a major ethnic group in Myanmar and a minor ethnic group in Thailand . The Mons from Myanmar are called Burmese Mon or Myanmar Mon. The Mons from Thailand are referred as Thai Raman or Thai Mon. The Mon dialects of Thailand and Myanmar are mutually intelligible . The Mon have been referred to by different names by different groups throughout history. During
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#17328488329765772-611: The Mon people to survive in Southern Burma. In 1947, Mon National Day was established to commemorate the founding of Hanthawady , the last Mon Kingdom which was centered in Pegu. The holiday is observed on the full moon of the 11th month of the Mon lunar calendar, except in Phrapadaeng , Thailand where it coincides with the Songkran festival. The Mon soon became anti-colonialists. Following
5883-526: The Mon people. Following Tabinshwehti's coronation in 1546, Ayutthaya launched several raids on Lower Burma, including the successful capture of Tavoy in 1548. With the Toungoo dynasty in disarray after Tabinshwehti's death in 1550, the Mon launched another bid for independence under the leadership of the legendary Mon rebel, the Smim Htaw . The Smim Htaw managed to capture the ancient settlement of Dagon and drive
5994-513: The Mon rebelled multiple times, including at Dagon during the reign of Hsinbyushin , resulting in the destruction of the city. In 1814, the Mon rebelled again, but were harshly put down yet again. These uprisings played a major role in the large wave of Mon migration from Burma to Siam. On the one hand in Siam side, after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, two descendants of Mon aristocrats who moved to Siam in 1584; Phraya Pichai and Phraya Chakri became
6105-719: The Prince Mongkut (later Rama IV) proceeded to welcome the Mon himself at the Siam-Burma border . The Mon in Thailand settled mainly in certain areas of Central Thailand , such as Pak Kret in Nonthaburi , Phra Pradaeng in Samut Prakan and Ban Pong , among other minor Mon settlements. Mon communities built their own Buddhist temples . Over time, the Mons were effectively integrated into Siamese society and culture, although maintaining some of their traditions and identity. Burma
6216-614: The Standard Khmer system and that of the Battambang dialect on which the standard is based. In addition, some diphthongs and triphthongs are analyzed as a vowel nucleus plus a semivowel ( /j/ or /w/ ) coda because they cannot be followed by a final consonant. These include: (with short monophthongs) /ɨw/ , /əw/ , /aj/ , /aw/ , /uj/ ; (with long monophthongs) /əːj/ , /aːj/ ; (with long diphthongs) /iəj/ , /iəw/ , /ɨəj/ , /aoj/ , /aəj/ and /uəj/ . The independent vowels are
6327-492: The back. Sabais could be worn around the naked chest or on top of another cloth. The practice of wearing Sabai along with Victorian cloth was a common practice during the reign of King Chulalongkorn and lasted until the reign of King Vajiravudh when Westernized clothing became more fashionable. [REDACTED] Media related to Sbai at Wikimedia Commons Khmer language Khmer ( / k ə ˈ m ɛər / kə- MAIR ; ខ្មែរ , UNGEGN : Khmêr [kʰmae] )
6438-435: The bas-reliefs of Bayon , Preah Khan , and other Angkorian temples depict women wearing a shawl-like sbai while religious male figures are adorned with stylized sbai . At Angkor Wat , there are depictions of topless Apsaras holding sbai connected to their sampot , while the northern wall of Angkor Wat depicts a group of ladies wearing long sbai holding various offerings. Bas-reliefs of Khmer women wearing sbai during
6549-512: The capital to Pegu . His Hanthawaddy Kingdom , which existed from 1287 to 1539, was a period of prosperity and power for the Mon. In the mid-14th century, King Binnya U ruled over the Mon kingdom and successfully defended against an invasion by Lan Na. Despite losing control over the Tenasserim region , he was able to re-establish his capital at Pegu. After his death in 1384, King Razadarit , Binnya U's son, took over and formed an alliance with
6660-494: The chest covering one shoulder with one end dropping behind the back like that worn by Lao women. This tradition distinguished them from other ethnic groups in Myanmar. The Mon people of Myanmar and Thailand today were the descendants of various Indianized polities, notably Dvaravati . Artifacts from Dvaravati sites in what is now Thailand depicted a group of ladies wearing what is similar to sabai . Artifacts found in ethnic Mon Dvaravati sites depict group of ladies wearing what
6771-414: The clusters consisting of a plosive followed by /ʔ/, /b/, /d/ , in those beginning /ʔ/, /m/, /l/ , and in the cluster /kŋ-/ . After the initial consonant or consonant cluster comes the syllabic nucleus , which is one of the vowels listed above. This vowel may end the syllable or may be followed by a coda , which is a single consonant. If the syllable is stressed and the vowel is short, there must be
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#17328488329766882-527: The consonants /ɡ/ , /f/ , /ʃ/ and /z/ occur occasionally in recent loan words in the speech of Cambodians familiar with French and other languages. Various authors have proposed slightly different analyses of the Khmer vowel system. This may be in part because of the wide degree of variation in pronunciation between individual speakers, even within a dialectal region. The description below follows Huffman (1970). The number of vowel nuclei and their values vary between dialects; differences exist even between
6993-500: The court and exercised considerable influence. Meanwhile, back in Burma, the fall of Martaban in 1541 was accompanied by massacre and pillage on a large scale, as was the capture of the old Pyu capital of Prome the following year. This marked the first time, since before the Mongol invasions, that most of Lower and Central Burma was under the control of a Bamar monarch. King Tabinshwehti, founder of
7104-511: The defence against the Lampang army. Prince Khram defeated King Boek in personal combat on elephant-back at Khua Mung, a village near Lamphun. King Boek fled by way of the Doi Khun Tan mountain range between Lamphun and Lampang, but he was caught and executed. King Mangrai's troops occupied the city of Lampang, and Phaya Yi Ba was made to flee further south, this time to Phitsanulok . The Mon culture
7215-463: The descendants of this group. Their dialect is thought to resemble that of pre-modern Siem Reap. Linguistic study of the Khmer language divides its history into four periods one of which, the Old Khmer period, is subdivided into pre-Angkorian and Angkorian. Pre-Angkorian Khmer is the Old Khmer language from 600 CE through 800. Angkorian Khmer is the language as it was spoken in the Khmer Empire from
7326-651: The earliest civilizations in the region, including Dvaravati in Central Thailand, which spread its culture into Northeastern Thailand, Sri Gotapura in Central Laos (modern Sikhottabong, Vientiane Prefecture), the Hariphunchai Kingdom in Northern Thailand, and the Thaton Kingdom in Lower Myanmar. The Mon were the first to receive Theravada Buddhist missionaries from Sri Lanka , in contrast to their Hindu contemporaries such as Cham peoples. They adopted
7437-481: The earliest to reside in Southeast Asia , and were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Mainland Southeast Asia . The civilizations founded by the Mon were some of the earliest in Thailand as well as Myanmar and Laos . The Mon are regarded as a large exporter of Southeast Asian culture. Historically, many cities in Myanmar , Thailand , and Laos today, including Yangon , Pathum Thani , Lamphun , Lampang and Vientiane were founded either by
7548-508: The eponymous song genre in the Mahagita , the corpus of Burmese classical songs. The etymology of Talaing is debated; it may be derived from Mon, or is a reference to Telinga or Kalinga , a geographic region in southeast India. During the 12th century, the term acquired a derogatory connotation within the Mon community, when it became used by the Mon as a disparaging epithet for the mixed offspring of Mon women and foreign men. The term "Mon" (spelt မန် in Mon and မွန် in Burmese), which
7659-408: The fall of the Khmer Empire in the early 15th century, the Dongrek Mountains served as a natural border leaving the Khmer north of the mountains under the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Lan Xang . The conquests of Cambodia by Naresuan the Great for Ayutthaya furthered their political and economic isolation from Cambodia proper, leading to a dialect that developed relatively independently from
7770-511: The family. Khmer is spoken by some 13 million people in Cambodia , where it is the official language. It is also a second language for most of the minority groups and indigenous hill tribes there. Additionally there are a million speakers of Khmer native to southern Vietnam (1999 census) and 1.4 million in northeast Thailand (2006). Khmer dialects , although mutually intelligible, are sometimes quite marked. Notable variations are found in speakers from Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital city),
7881-528: The festival is still observed in some Mon communities in Lamphun Province , it is now referred to as "Jong Gring", which is derived from other Mon cultural practices and means "Loi Krathong". However, the Jong Gring tradition of Mon people in Lamphun is different from the general Loi Krathong festival, as it resembles the ancient "Loi Hamod" tradition of Mon people in Hariphunchai, which involves offering food, both fresh and dried, and lighting some lanterns and small krathongs. Another traditional Mon festival
7992-400: The final syllable, with secondary stress on every second syllable from the end. Thus in a three-syllable word, the first syllable has secondary stress; in a four-syllable word, the second syllable has secondary stress; in a five-syllable word, the first and third syllables have secondary stress, and so on. Long polysyllables are not often used in conversation. Compounds, however, preserve
8103-404: The government sponsored Cultural Committee to define and standardize the modern language, they championed Khmerization, purging of foreign elements, reviving affixation, and the use of Old Khmer roots and historical Pali and Sanskrit to coin new words for modern ideas. Opponents, led by Keng Vannsak , who embraced "total Khmerization" by denouncing the reversion to classical languages and favoring
8214-674: The grant of independence to Burma in 1948, they sought self-determination. U Nu , the first Prime Minister of Burma refused the Mon self-determination. Mon separatist groups have risen in revolt against the central Burmese government on a number of occasions, initially under the Mon People's Front and from 1962 through the New Mon State Party (NMSP). The BSSP -led government established a partially autonomous Mon State in 1974 out of portions of Tenasserim and Pegu regions. Resistance continued until 1995 when NMSP and ruling SLORC agreed
8325-420: The groom holds on to the bride's sbai as they go to their room. The groom also wears a sbai . For men, especially Brahmin and Buddhist monk, the sbai called sbong sbai trai chivor , and is considered the robe of Hindu and Buddhist monks. For women, sbai can be freely used and in different ways such as to wrapping it around the body, covering the shoulder, and commonly covering the breast and stomach over
8436-596: The house, town, village, farms, forest, and mountain. Kalok is considered to be a spirit, demon, or immaterial being that can take on a visible form. Festivals celebrating Mon culture are an important part of the Mon community in Myanmar and Thailand. One such festival is the Loi Hamod Festival, which has its roots in the Hariphunchai era and is believed to be the precursor to the Loi Krathong Festival. While
8547-554: The kingdom of Arakan . King Razadarit was known for his administration skills and successfully repelling invasions from the Ava Kingdom during his reign. He made significant contributions to the Shwedagon Pagoda and is considered one of the most celebrated Mon kings in history, with his reign lasting from 1384 to 1421. After King Razadarit's death, there were brief disputes over the succession in Pegu. Eventually, King Razadarit
8658-484: The kingdom, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Mon civilians, including learned Mon monks , pregnant women, and children. The victorious Bamar soldiers massacred over 3,000 Mon monks in the capital city alone. During the Konbaung dynasty of Burma, the Mon people experienced harsh rule and massacres that led to a significant migration to Siam and Lanna. In addition to facing widespread violence and persecution,
8769-465: The language of higher education and the intellectual class. By 1907, the French had wrested over half of modern-day Cambodia, including the north and northwest where Thai had been the prestige language, back from Thai control and reintegrated it into the country. Many native scholars in the early 20th century, led by a monk named Chuon Nath , resisted the French and Thai influences on their language. Forming
8880-813: The language of the historical empires of Chenla and Angkor . The vast majority of Khmer speakers speak Central Khmer , the dialect of the central plain where the Khmer are most heavily concentrated. Within Cambodia, regional accents exist in remote areas but these are regarded as varieties of Central Khmer. Two exceptions are the speech of the capital, Phnom Penh , and that of the Khmer Khe in Stung Treng province , both of which differ sufficiently enough from Central Khmer to be considered separate dialects of Khmer. Outside of Cambodia, three distinct dialects are spoken by ethnic Khmers native to areas that were historically part of
8991-554: The languages of Austroasiatic. Diffloth places Khmer in an eastern branch of the Mon-Khmer languages . In these classification schemes Khmer's closest genetic relatives are the Bahnaric and Pearic languages . More recent classifications doubt the validity of the Mon-Khmer sub-grouping and place the Khmer language as its own branch of Austroasiatic equidistant from the other 12 branches of
9102-511: The last syllable instead of falling. Khmer is primarily an analytic language with no inflection . Syntactic relations are mainly determined by word order. Old and Middle Khmer used particles to mark grammatical categories and many of these have survived in Modern Khmer but are used sparingly, mostly in literary or formal language. Khmer makes extensive use of auxiliary verbs , "directionals" and serial verb construction . Colloquial Khmer
9213-457: The left and right-hand man of King Taksin of Thonburi, and they largely helped Taksin's campaigns in the liberation of Siam from Burmese occupation and reuniting Siam. King Taksin himself also was a Sino -Mon descent and his maternal grandmother was a sister to chief of Siam's Mon community. After the collapse of Taksin's Thonburi Kingdom , Phraya Chakri founded the Chakri dynasty and ascended
9324-444: The left shoulder. Different styles of sbai are used by Cambodian women based on their preferences and traditions. In Laos, this garment is known as phaa biang or sabai. It is common for Lao women to wear sabai as it is considered traditional clothing. A sabai can also be worn by men in weddings or when attending religious ceremonies. The type of sabai typically worn by Lao men often has checkered patterns. Sabai can also be
9435-611: The legends of Preah Thong and Neang Neak . In one scene, Preah Thong clings to a piece of cloth worn on the Nagini in order to make the journey to the Nāga 's kingdom; that piece of cloth is a sbai . In that tale, the sbai is symbolic of the tail of Neang Neak, the Nāga princess. In the Angkorian period , although it was common for men and women to be topless; however, clothes for the upper body were worn:
9546-558: The midpoint of the Middle Khmer period. This has resulted in a distinct accent influenced by the surrounding tonal languages Lao and Thai , lexical differences, and phonemic differences in both vowels and distribution of consonants. Syllable-final /r/ , which has become silent in other dialects of Khmer, is still pronounced in Northern Khmer. Some linguists classify Northern Khmer as a separate but closely related language rather than
9657-491: The modern Khmer language dictionary that is still in use today, helping preserve Khmer during the French colonial period. The phonological system described here is the inventory of sounds of the standard spoken language, represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The voiceless plosives /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/ may occur with or without aspiration (as [p] vs. [pʰ] , etc.); this difference
9768-454: The new Toungoo dynasty, celebrated by decorating the Shwedagon and other pagodas with huge amounts of plundered gold. Although Tabinshwehti's made efforts to win over the Mon people, the Bamar monarch consistently emphasized his claim to Bamar nationality and sovereignty. Nevertheless, Tabinshwehti was relatively more tolerant than later Toungoo kings who outlawed the Mon language and persecuted
9879-601: The north and Khmer invasions from the east. Many Dvaravati Mons fled to join other Mon civilizations in the present-day Lower Myanmar, while their descendants, the Nyah Kur people , still reside in Northeastern Thailand. Despite the pressure from the Northern Thai people , the Hariphunchai kingdom managed to survive as a Mon outpost in Northern Thailand. In 1057 CE, King Anawrahta of the Pagan Kingdom conquered
9990-458: The northern army overran the Irrawaddy Delta and captured Pegu. The siege of Pegu lasted four years and involved Portuguese mercenaries fighting on both sides. The History of Kings attributes Tabinshwehti's success, in part, to the decadence of the Mon king, Dhammazedi's heir. As a result of the fall of Pegu, large numbers of Mon refugees fled to Ayutthaya , where the Mon aristocracy joined
10101-710: The post-independence internal conflict in Myanmar , many ethnic Mon from conflict zones have migrated to the First World countries via the refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar borders and in Malaysia. The Myanmar Mon refugee communities can be found in the United States (the largest community being in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the second largest being Akron, Ohio ), Australia , Canada , Norway , Denmark , Finland , Sweden , and
10212-564: The power of the Bamar declined rapidly. The Mon rebels joined forces with the Gwe Shan to restore their former Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and in 1740, a monk with Taungoo royal lineage was made king of Pegu. Binnya Dala succeeded him in 1747, and with French support, the Mon established an independent kingdom called the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom . However, the kingdom fell to Bamar King Alaungpaya in 1757, who invaded and devastated
10323-458: The practice of riverine agriculture, including the cultivation of wet rice . Modern linguistic research by Sidwell (2021) suggests that the locus of Proto-Austroasiatic people was in the Red River Delta area of Northern Vietnam , around 4,000-4,500 years before present. The Mon are believed to have been one of the earliest peoples of Mainland Southeast Asia . They established some of
10434-491: The pre-colonial era, the Burmese called them Talaing (တလိုင်း), which was adopted by the British during the colonial era. The term "Peguan" was also used by Europeans when Pegu was the capital of Lower Myanmar . The use of "Talaing" has been found on inscriptions dating back to the 11th century, but it is now considered a pejorative term and is no longer widely used, except in the context of specific historical terms, such as
10545-405: The region have been influenced by the Mon language. Tai Tham alphabet and Burmese alphabet are adaptations of the Mon script . Tai Tham alphabet is primarily used for Northern Thai language , Tai Lue language , Khün language and Lao Tham language. The Burmese alphabet is used for Burmese language , Shan language , S'gaw Karen language and other languages. Historically, the Tai adopted
10656-418: The royal palace at Pegu was destroyed. Following the death of King Bayinnaung, his successor King Nanda instituted oppressive policies against the Mon people, leading to the Mon chiefs Phaya Kiat and Phaya Ram attempting to assassinate Naresuan of Phitsanulok in 1584. However, they learned that Naresuan was not responsible for the policies and instead joined his campaigns against the Toungoo court. In
10767-514: The rural Battambang area, the areas of Northeast Thailand adjacent to Cambodia such as Surin province , the Cardamom Mountains , and southern Vietnam. The dialects form a continuum running roughly north to south. Standard Cambodian Khmer is mutually intelligible with the others but a Khmer Krom speaker from Vietnam, for instance, may have great difficulty communicating with a Khmer native of Sisaket Province in Thailand. The following
10878-577: The second exodus to the Philippines , Indonesia , and others occurred around 3,000–2,000 BCE. Its vowel sequence was contracted from south China to the first exodus: *cahebay → *cahbay → *cahpay → *sapay (meaning: 'to hang'). According to the Proto-Austronesian Phonology of Cornell University Southeast Asia Program (SEAP), there is the diversity of the term *cahebay or *sapay into subgroups of other languages families as follows: Sbai
10989-576: The southeast. The Mon people, who descended from Proto-Austroasiatic people, are believed to have migrated from the Yangtze Kiang valley in Southern China to Southeast Asia between 3,000 and 2,000 BCE, along the Mekong , Salween , Sittaung , Irrawaddy , Ping and Chao Phaya rivers. They eventually settled in locations including as far south as Malaya . Along the way, they brought with them
11100-417: The start of a syllable are /str/, /skr/ , and (with aspirated consonants analyzed as two-consonant sequences) /sth/, /lkh/ . There are 85 possible two-consonant clusters (including [pʰ] etc. analyzed as /ph/ etc.). All the clusters are shown in the following table, phonetically, i.e. superscript ʰ can mark either contrastive or non-contrastive aspiration (see above ). Slight vowel epenthesis occurs in
11211-628: The stress patterns of the constituent words. Thus សំបុកចាប , the name of a kind of cookie (literally 'bird's nest'), is pronounced [sɑmˌbok ˈcaːp] , with secondary stress on the second rather than the first syllable, because it is composed of the words [sɑmˈbok] ('nest') and [caːp] ('bird'). Khmer once had a phonation distinction in its vowels, but this now survives only in the most archaic dialect ( Western Khmer ). The distinction arose historically when vowels after Old Khmer voiced consonants became breathy voiced and diphthongized; for example *kaa, *ɡaa became *kaa, *ɡe̤a . When consonant voicing
11322-483: The throne in 1782 as Rama I. Rama I was born to Thongdi, a leading Mon nobleman serving the royal court in Ayutthaya in 1737. Rama I's queen consort Amarindra was born to a wealthy Mon family who migrated to Siam in the earlier times. Rama I founded Bangkok City and moved the capital from Thonburi to Bangkok. When a huge wave of Mon migrations from Burma (now Myanmar) to Siam (now Thailand) happened in 1814, his grandson,
11433-463: The use of contemporary colloquial Khmer for neologisms, and Ieu Koeus , who favored borrowing from Thai, were also influential. Koeus later joined the Cultural Committee and supported Nath. Nath's views and prolific work won out and he is credited with cultivating modern Khmer-language identity and culture, overseeing the translation of the entire Pali Buddhist canon into Khmer. He also created
11544-470: The vowels that can exist without a preceding or trailing consonant. The independent vowels may be used as monosyllabic words, or as the initial syllables in longer words. Khmer words never begin with regular vowels; they can, however, begin with independent vowels. Example: ឰដ៏, ឧទាហរណ៍, ឧត្តម, ឱកាស...។ A Khmer syllable begins with a single consonant, or else with a cluster of two, or rarely three, consonants. The only possible clusters of three consonants at
11655-419: The words they modify). Some grammatical processes are still not fully understood by western scholars. For example, it is not clear if certain features of Khmer grammar, such as actor nominalization , should be treated as a morphological process or a purely syntactic device, and some derivational morphology seems "purely decorative" and performs no known syntactic work. Mon people The Mon were one of
11766-594: Was conquered by the British in a series of wars. After the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, the Mon territories in Burma were completely under the control of the British. The British aided the Mons to free themselves from the rule of the Bamar monarchy. Under Bamar rule, the Mon people had been massacred after they lost their kingdom and many sought asylum in the Thai Kingdom. The British conquest of Burma allowed
11877-438: Was emerging from the transitional period represented by Middle Khmer, Cambodia fell under the influence of French colonialism . Thailand, which had for centuries claimed suzerainty over Cambodia and controlled succession to the Cambodian throne, began losing its influence on the language. In 1887 Cambodia was fully integrated into French Indochina , which brought in a French -speaking aristocracy. This led to French becoming
11988-606: Was integrated into Lan Na culture . The Lan Na adopted the Mon script and religion. In 1287, the collapse of the Pagan Kingdom created a power vacuum. Wareru , who was born to a Mon mother and a Tai father in Donwun Village in the Thaton District, went to Sukhothai for trade and later eloped with the daughter of the king. He established himself as king of the Mon in Martaban (present-day Mottama ), and later moved
12099-407: Was lost, the distinction was maintained by the vowel ( *kaa, *ke̤a ); later the phonation disappeared as well ( [kaː], [kiə] ). These processes explain the origin of what are now called a-series and o-series consonants in the Khmer script . Although most Cambodian dialects are not tonal , the colloquial Phnom Penh dialect has developed a tonal contrast (level versus peaking tone) as a by-product of
12210-587: Was said to be a daughter of a Lavo king, according to the Northern Thai Chronicle Cāmadevivaṃsa , came to rule as the first queen of Hariphunchai (modern Lamphun) around 750-800 CE. A few years later, her son Prince Anantayot founded Khelang Nakhon (modern Lampang ), playing a significant role in the history of the Hariphunchai Kingdom. After the year 1000 CE, the Dvaravati Mon people faced constant pressure from Tai migrations from
12321-501: Was succeeded by his daughter, Queen Shin Sawbu , in 1453. Queen Shin Sawbu, was a skilled politician and maintained harmony between rival kingdoms. She is remembered for her good nature, renovation of the Shwedagon Pagoda, and construction of important monasteries, such as the Kyaikmaraw near Moulmein . King Dhammazedi , who succeeded Queen Shin Sawbu in 1470, was a just and wise ruler. He
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