Stieng language explained

Stieng
Nativename:Xtiêng, ស្ទៀង
States:Vietnam, Cambodia, possibly also Laos
Ethnicity:Stieng people
Speakers:90,000 in Vietnam and Cambodia
Date:2008 & 2009 censuses
Ref:[1] [2]
Familycolor:Austroasiatic
Fam2:Bahnaric
Fam3:South Bahnaric
Lc1:sti
Ld1:Bulo Stieng
Lc2:stt
Ld2:Budeh Stieng
Iso3comment:See also Tariang
Glotto:stie1250
Glottorefname:Stieng
Elp:5422
Elpname:Bulo Stieng
Script:Khmer, Latin

Stieng (in Central Khmer pronounced as /stiə̯ŋ/, Vietnamese: Xtiêng, Khmer: Central Khmer: ស្ទៀង) is the language of the Stieng people of southern Vietnam and adjacent areas of Cambodia, and possibly Laos (under the name Tariang). Along with Chrau and Mnong, Stieng is classified as a language of the South Bahnaric grouping of the Mon–Khmer languages within the Austroasiatic language family. In the Austroasiatic scheme, the Bahnaric languages are often cited as being most closely related to the Khmer language.

There are noted dialects of Stieng, some of which may not be mutually intelligible. However, due to the lack of widely available research, this article will primarily describe the dialect known as Bulo Stieng spoken in the provinces of Bình Phước, Lâm Đồng, Tây Ninh in southwestern Vietnam and Kratié (Snuol District) and Mondulkiri provinces in adjacent areas of eastern Cambodia.[3] [4] Bulo Stieng is spoken in more remote areas of the mountains and jungles alongside its close relative, Mnong. Other dialects, including Bu Dek and Bu Biek, are spoken in the lowlands and exhibit more influence from Vietnamese.

Unlike many other Mon–Khmer languages, Stieng does not distinguish voice quality, nor is it a tonal language like Vietnamese. Words may be either monosyllabic or sesquisyllabic.

Phonology

Consonants

Haupers (1969) analyzes Stieng as having 25 consonant phonemes with three-way contrasts of voiced, unvoiced and pre-glottalized with aspiration described as a consonant cluster involving simple (i.e. not pre-glottalized) stops plus pronounced as //h//. Analyses which include the aspirated series as independent phonemes yield 33 consonants and a five-way contrast.

BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
PlosiveVoicelesspronounced as /p/pronounced as /t/pronounced as /c/pronounced as /k/pronounced as /ʔ/
Voiceless aspirated pronounced as /pʰ/pronounced as /tʰ/pronounced as /cʰ/pronounced as /kʰ/
Voicedpronounced as /b/pronounced as /d/pronounced as /ɟ/pronounced as /ɡ/
Voiced aspiratedpronounced as /bʱ/pronounced as /dʱ/pronounced as /ɟʱ/pronounced as /ɡʱ/
Pre-glottalizedpronounced as /ʔb/pronounced as /ʔd/
NasalVoicedpronounced as /m/pronounced as /n/pronounced as /ɲ/pronounced as /ŋ/
Preglottalizedpronounced as /ʔm/pronounced as /ʔn/
FricativeVoicelesspronounced as /s/(pronounced as /ç/)pronounced as /h/
ApproximantVoicedpronounced as /w/pronounced as /l/ pronounced as /r/ (pronounced as /ɾ/)pronounced as /j/
Preglottalizedpronounced as /ʔl/pronounced as /ʔj/
Consonants appearing in syllable coda are devoiced and unreleased. For the alveolar approximate, the trilled pronounced as /[r]/ is found in free variation with the flapped pronounced as /[ɾ]/. The voiceless palatal fricative pronounced as /[ç]/ appears only in syllable coda as a complementary allophone of pronounced as /[s]/.

Vowels

The Stieng vowel system consists of fifteen monophthongs and two diphthongs. In addition to vowel quality, quantitative length (duration) is also phonemic for vowels other than pronounced as /[ɛ] ([æ])/ in closed syllables. The vowel pronounced as /[ɛ] ([æ])/ is short before pronounced as /h/ and long elsewhere. This lack of minimal pairs for pronounced as /[ɛ] ([æ])/ and pronounced as /[ɛː] ([æː])/ suggests that pronounced as /[ɛ]/, pronounced as /[æ]/, pronounced as /[ɛː]/ and pronounced as /[æː]/ are all allophones.

FrontCentralBack
short long short long short long
Closepronounced as /i/pronounced as /iə̯/pronounced as /ɨ/pronounced as /ɨː/pronounced as /u/pronounced as /uː uə̯/
Close-midpronounced as /e (ɪ)/pronounced as /eː (ɪː)/pronounced as /oː/
Open-midpronounced as /ɛ (æ)/pronounced as /ɛː (æː)/pronounced as /ʌː/pronounced as /ɔː/
Openpronounced as /a/pronounced as /aː/pronounced as /ɑ/
Symbols in parentheses represent allophonic variations.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.gso.gov.vn/default_en.aspx?tabid=514&idmid=5 General Statistics Office of Vietnam 2009 Census
  2. http://celade.cepal.org/khmnis/census/khm2008/ Cambodian Government National Institute of Statistics 2008 Census
  3. Haupers, Ralph. "Stieng Phonemes." The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. 3. (1969): 131-137.
  4. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sti Ethnologue