| Pacoh | |
| States: | Laos, Vietnam |
| Ethnicity: | Pacoh |
| Speakers: | 32,000 |
| Date: | 2002–2005 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Austro-Asiatic |
| Fam2: | Katuic |
| Iso3: | pac |
| Glotto: | paco1243 |
| Glottorefname: | Pacoh |
The Pacoh language is a member of the Katuic language group, a part of the Eastern https://web.archive.org/web/20080220003132/http://www.uiowa.edu/~linguist/faculty/beckman/lotw01/languages/austro-asiatic.html Mon–Khmer linguistic branch. Most Pacoh speakers live in central Laos and central Vietnam.[1] Pacoh is undergoing substantial change, influenced by the Vietnamese.[2]
Alternative names are Paco, Pokoh, Bo River Van Kieu. Its dialects are Pahi (Ba-Hi). They are officially classified by the Vietnamese government as Ta'Oi (Tà Ôi) people.
Vowels (Sidwell 2003):
Pacoh has six vowel qualities, all of which occur long and short, in modal and creaky voice. Creaky vowels are lowered compared to modally voiced vowels. There are three diphthongs which also occur modal and creaky. Unlike other languages in the area, vowel phonation does not seem to have originated in the phonation of preceding consonants.
| front | central | back | ||
| High modal | i iː | ɨ ɨː | u uː | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low modal | e eː | ə əː | o oː | |
| High creaky | ḛ ḛː | ə̰ ə̰ː | o̰ o̰ː | |
| Low creaky | ɛ̰ ɛ̰ː | a̰ a̰ː | ɔ̰ ɔ̰ː |
| front | central | back | ||
| Modal | iə | ɨə | uə | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creaky | ḛa | ə̰a | o̰a |