Kmhmu'
Khmu
Austroasiatic (Mon-Khmer, Khmuic)
Khmu (ISO 639-3: kjg), also written Kmhmu or Kammu, is a Khmuic language of the Austroasiatic family spoken by roughly 700,000 people, primarily in northern Laos and in neighboring Vietnam, Thailand, and southern China. It comprises a broad dialect continuum with no single standard variety. Eastern dialects preserve contrasts among voiced, voiceless, and aspirated initial consonants, whereas many western dialects replaced earlier voicing with clear-versus-breathy register or tones, making Khmu important in studies of tonogenesis. Khmu is highly isolating, lacks inflectional morphology, and has basic SVO order, while derivation and serial-verb constructions remain productive. It is written variously in Lao, Thai, and Latin-based orthographies, whose use differs by country and community.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Khmu
Water
ɔm
/ʔɔm/
Fire
ʔus
/ʔus/
Sun
maŋ
/maŋ/
Moon
kee
/keː/
Star
sənʔaang
/sənʔaːŋ/
Mother
mɔɔʔ
/mɔːʔ/
Father
ʔaaʔ
/ʔaːʔ/
I
oʔ
/ʔoʔ/
You
meʔ
/meʔ/
Name
hmɔh
/hmɔh/
Eye
ŋtaa
/ŋtaː/
Hand
tii
/tiː/
Heart
kruɛŋ
/kruɛŋ/
Love
kɔɔh
/kɔːh/
Tree
cmuul
/tʃmuːl/
House
kaaŋ
/kaːŋ/
Dog
cɔ
/tʃɔ/
Cat
meeo
/meːo/
Eat
caa
/tʃaː/
Drink
ɲɔɔp
/ɲɔːp/
One
muei
/muei/
Two
baar
/baːr/
Hello
lɔh
/lɔh/
Thank you
ɔrkun
/ʔɔrkun/
Good
gee
/ɡeː/
Words compared
Compared with related Austroasiatic (Mon-Khmer, Khmuic) languages
| Meaning | Khmu | Parauk Wa | Mlabri | Shwe Palaung | Northern Khmer | Wa | Eastern Bru |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ɔm /ʔɔm/ | tʃɔː /tʃɔː/ | om /om/ | ʔoːm /ʔoːm/ | ទឹក /tək/ | rom /rɔm/ | daak /daːk/ |
| Fire | ʔus /ʔus/ | miː /miː/ | ʔus /ʔus/ | ŋal /ŋal/ | ភ្លើង /pʰlɤːŋ/ | ngo /ŋo/ | oih /ʔoiʔ/ |
| Sun | maŋ /maŋ/ | waː /waː/ | ŋay /ŋai/ | saŋi /saŋi/ | ថ្ងៃ /tŋai/ | cangaiʔ /tʃaŋaiʔ/ | mat plei /mat plei/ |
| Moon | kee /keː/ | lɔː /lɔː/ | thel /tʰel/ | kɨr /kɨr/ | ខែ /kʰae/ | khaiʔ /kʰaiʔ/ | kasai /kasai/ |
| Star | sənʔaang /sənʔaːŋ/ | si-ngai /sŋaɪ/ | smaːŋ /smaːŋ/ | hərngɔ /hərŋɔ/ | ផ្កាយ /pkaːj/ | si-ngai /səŋaɪ/ | mansơ /mənsɤ/ |
| Mother | mɔɔʔ /mɔːʔ/ | maː /maː/ | mɛʔ /mɛʔ/ | mɛʔ /mɛʔ/ | ម៉ែ /maɛ/ | yaʔ /jaʔ/ | amey /amej/ |
| Father | ʔaaʔ /ʔaːʔ/ | pʰaː /pʰaː/ | paʔ /paʔ/ | paʔ /paʔ/ | ប៉ា /paː/ | paiʔ /paiʔ/ | amung /amuŋ/ |
| I | oʔ /ʔoʔ/ | ê /ʔɤʔ/ | oh /ʔoh/ | ʔɔ /ʔɔ/ | អញ /ʔaɲ/ | ex /ʔɤ/ | cứq /kɯʔ/ |
| You | meʔ /meʔ/ | mêh /mɤʔ/ | meh /meh/ | miʔ /miʔ/ | ឯង /ʔaeŋ/ | maix /maɯ/ | mới /mɤːj/ |
| Name | hmɔh /hmɔh/ | yaom /jɔm/ | cmɔh /cmɔːh/ | yum /jum/ | ឈ្មោះ /cmɔh/ | yum /jɔm/ | ramoh /rəmɔːh/ |
| Eye | ŋtaa /ŋtaː/ | miːn /miːn/ | mɔt /mɔt/ | ŋai /ŋai/ | ភ្នែក /pʰnɛːk/ | ngai /ŋai/ | mat /mat/ |
| Hand | tii /tiː/ | miːk /miːk/ | tiʔ /tiʔ/ | tiː /tiː/ | ដៃ /daj/ | tai /tai/ | ati /ati/ |
| Heart | kruɛŋ /kruɛŋ/ | sɛɛ /sɛɛ/ | kɛm /kɛm/ | rɔŋ /rɔŋ/ | ចិត្ត /tɕit/ | nuim /nuim/ | plong /ploŋ/ |
| Love | kɔɔh /kɔːh/ | rəŋ /rəŋ/ | kraʔ /kraʔ/ | ʔiŋ /ʔiŋ/ | ស្រឡាញ់ /sralaɲ/ | hak /hak/ | hong /hoŋ/ |
| Tree | cmuul /tʃmuːl/ | tʰɔː /tʰɔː/ | tɔn /tɔn/ | siʔ /siʔ/ | ដើមឈើ /daəm tʃʰəː/ | maiʔ /maiʔ/ | aleng /aleŋ/ |
| House | kaaŋ /kaːŋ/ | miː /miː/ | tu /tu/ | ɲɛh /ɲɛh/ | ផ្ទះ /ptʰeah/ | nyiex /ɲiɛʔ/ | dung /duŋ/ |
| Dog | cɔ /tʃɔ/ | kʰɔː /kʰɔː/ | cɛn /tɕɛn/ | so /so/ | ឆ្កែ /tʃʰkae/ | so /so/ | acho /atʃo/ |
| Cat | meeo /meːo/ | mɛː /mɛː/ | meo /meo/ | mioʔ /mioʔ/ | ឆ្មា /tʃʰmaː/ | meo /meo/ | miew /mieu/ |
| Eat | caa /tʃaː/ | sɛː /sɛː/ | ʔiʔ /ʔiʔ/ | cha /tʃa/ | ស៊ី /siː/ | cha /tʃa/ | cha /tʃa/ |
| Drink | ɲɔɔp /ɲɔːp/ | pə /pə/ | ʔaa /ʔaː/ | ʔoːk /ʔoːk/ | ផឹក /pʰək/ | ɔk /ɔk/ | ngoot /ŋoːt/ |
| One | muei /muei/ | tʃit /tʃit/ | mɔy /mɔi/ | mu /mu/ | មួយ /muːj/ | ti /ti/ | muoi /muoi/ |
| Two | baar /baːr/ | rao /ra̤ɯ/ | bɛr /bɛːr/ | ar /ʔar/ | ពីរ /piː/ | ra /raɯ/ | bar /ɓaːr/ |
| Hello | lɔh /lɔh/ | sawʔdiː /sawʔdiː/ | hahɔ /haho/ | vaː piə /vaː piə/ | សួស្តី /suːəsdəj/ | sao /sao/ | te /te/ |
| Thank you | ɔrkun /ʔɔrkun/ | tʰɔk /tʰɔk/ | knɔŋ /knoŋ/ | kun cɔm /kun tʃɔm/ | អរគុណ /ʔɔːkun/ | ban prix /ban priʔ/ | kuhng /kuhŋ/ |
| Good | gee /ɡeː/ | jɔː /jɔː/ | laʔ /laʔ/ | ʔɔm /ʔɔm/ | ល្អ /lʔɑː/ | dim /dim/ | huom /huom/ |
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