Bruu
Eastern Bru
Austroasiatic
Eastern Bru (autonymously Bruu) is a Katuic language of the Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic) family, spoken by around 135,000 people in the Trường Sơn (Annamite) highlands along the Vietnam-Laos border. The Bru are an upland indigenous people who have inhabited the central Vietnamese-Lao highlands for centuries, with substantial cultural continuity despite political division between the Vietnamese and Lao Bru populations after the 1954 Geneva Accords. Linguistically, Bru is part of the Katuic branch of Mon-Khmer alongside Pacoh, Katu, and other related languages. The Bru community was significantly affected by the Vietnam War (the Trường Sơn highlands hosted the Ho Chi Minh Trail), and many Bru villages were displaced. The post-war era has seen revitalization efforts via SIL biblical translation and Vietnam/Laos government primary education programs.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Eastern Bru
Water
daak
/daːk/
Fire
oih
/ʔoiʔ/
Sun
mat plei
/mat plei/
Moon
kasai
/kasai/
Star
mansơ
/mənsɤ/
Mother
amey
/amej/
Father
amung
/amuŋ/
I
cứq
/kɯʔ/
You
mới
/mɤːj/
Name
ramoh
/rəmɔːh/
Eye
mat
/mat/
Hand
ati
/ati/
Heart
plong
/ploŋ/
Love
hong
/hoŋ/
Tree
aleng
/aleŋ/
House
dung
/duŋ/
Dog
acho
/atʃo/
Cat
miew
/mieu/
Eat
cha
/tʃa/
Drink
ngoot
/ŋoːt/
One
muoi
/muoi/
Two
bar
/ɓaːr/
Hello
te
/te/
Thank you
kuhng
/kuhŋ/
Good
huom
/huom/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Austroasiatic languages
| Meaning | Eastern Bru | Bahnar | Shwe Palaung | Khmu | Mường | Old Mon | Eastern Lawa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | daak /daːk/ | dak /dak/ | ʔoːm /ʔoːm/ | ɔm /ʔɔm/ | đác /ɗaːk/ | ဍာက် /ɗaːk/ | lo /lo/ |
| Fire | oih /ʔoiʔ/ | unh /uɲ/ | ŋal /ŋal/ | ʔus /ʔus/ | lửa /lɨə/ | ပ်ၟ /pmaʔ/ | nem /nem/ |
| Sun | mat plei /mat plei/ | mat trơ /mat trə/ | saŋi /saŋi/ | maŋ /maŋ/ | mặt côi /mət koːi/ | တ္ၚဲ /tŋai/ | vüa /vɨa/ |
| Moon | kasai /kasai/ | khe /kʰe/ | kɨr /kɨr/ | kee /keː/ | rằng /raŋ/ | ဂျိုၚ် /klɔŋ/ | mëi /məi/ |
| Star | mansơ /mənsɤ/ | hmang /hmaːŋ/ | hərngɔ /hərŋɔ/ | sənʔaang /sənʔaːŋ/ | sao /saːw/ | ကၟာဲ /həmoa/ | sngaɰ /sŋaɰ/ |
| Mother | amey /amej/ | mei /mei/ | mɛʔ /mɛʔ/ | mɔɔʔ /mɔːʔ/ | mệ /meː/ | မိ /mi/ | ame /ame/ |
| Father | amung /amuŋ/ | bă /bə/ | paʔ /paʔ/ | ʔaaʔ /ʔaːʔ/ | bố /bo/ | ဖ /pʰɛʔ/ | apa /apa/ |
| I | cứq /kɯʔ/ | inh /iɲ/ | ʔɔ /ʔɔ/ | oʔ /ʔoʔ/ | tôi /toj/ | အဲ /ʔua/ | ʔoʔ /ʔoʔ/ |
| You | mới /mɤːj/ | ih /ʔih/ | miʔ /miʔ/ | meʔ /meʔ/ | mầy /məj/ | ဗှ်ေ /peh/ | maiʔ /maɪʔ/ |
| Name | ramoh /rəmɔːh/ | anĕ /anɛ/ | yum /jum/ | hmɔh /hmɔh/ | tên /ten/ | ယု /jəmu/ | yum /jɔm/ |
| Eye | mat /mat/ | mat /mat/ | ŋai /ŋai/ | ŋtaa /ŋtaː/ | mặt /mət/ | မတ် /mat/ | mat /mat/ |
| Hand | ati /ati/ | ti /ti/ | tiː /tiː/ | tii /tiː/ | thay /tʰaːi/ | တၟုိ /toi/ | miŋ /miŋ/ |
| Heart | plong /ploŋ/ | blei /blei/ | rɔŋ /rɔŋ/ | kruɛŋ /kruɛŋ/ | tlái côi /tlaːi koːi/ | စိုတ် /cət/ | kavüa /kavɨa/ |
| Love | hong /hoŋ/ | rơngư /rəŋɨ/ | ʔiŋ /ʔiŋ/ | kɔɔh /kɔːh/ | thương /tʰɨəŋ/ | ဆာန် /cʰan/ | kruŋ /kɾuŋ/ |
| Tree | aleng /aleŋ/ | lông /loŋ/ | siʔ /siʔ/ | cmuul /tʃmuːl/ | cẳl /kal/ | ဆု /tɕu/ | ŋoŋ /ŋoŋ/ |
| House | dung /duŋ/ | hnam /hnam/ | ɲɛh /ɲɛh/ | kaaŋ /kaːŋ/ | nhà /ɲaː/ | သ္ၚိ /sŋiʔ/ | nyëa /ɲəa/ |
| Dog | acho /atʃo/ | cho /tʃo/ | so /so/ | cɔ /tʃɔ/ | chó /tʃɔ/ | ခၠဵု /kʰlou/ | ke /ke/ |
| Cat | miew /mieu/ | miao /miao/ | mioʔ /mioʔ/ | meeo /meːo/ | meo /meo/ | ဂျိ /kluj/ | mai /mai/ |
| Eat | cha /tʃa/ | sa /sa/ | cha /tʃa/ | caa /tʃaː/ | ăn /an/ | စိ /tɕiʔ/ | ngui /ŋui/ |
| Drink | ngoot /ŋoːt/ | ngoah /ŋoah/ | ʔoːk /ʔoːk/ | ɲɔɔp /ɲɔːp/ | uống /uəŋ/ | သုက် /sok/ | ndüet /ndɨət/ |
| One | muoi /muoi/ | minh /miɲ/ | mu /mu/ | muei /muei/ | mộch /moːtʃ/ | မွဲ /mwɛ/ | mvüa /mvɨa/ |
| Two | bar /ɓaːr/ | bar /ɓaːr/ | ar /ʔar/ | baar /baːr/ | hal /haːl/ | ၜါ /ɓa/ | lʔua /lʔua/ |
| Hello | te /te/ | ô /o/ | vaː piə /vaː piə/ | lɔh /lɔh/ | đám rộ /ɗaːm roː/ | — /—/ | lavüa /lavɨa/ |
| Thank you | kuhng /kuhŋ/ | kơbi /kəbi/ | kun cɔm /kun tʃɔm/ | ɔrkun /ʔɔrkun/ | cám ơn /kaːm ɤn/ | — /—/ | kop khun /kop kʰun/ |
| Good | huom /huom/ | ling /liŋ/ | ʔɔm /ʔɔm/ | gee /ɡeː/ | lành /laːɲ/ | ခိုဟ် /kʰɔh/ | hua /hua/ |
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