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The Pearic languages (alternatively called the Chongic languages[1]) are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern Mon–Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by Pear people (the Por, the Samré, the Samray, the Suoy, and the Chong) living in western Cambodia and eastern Thailand.[2][3]
Pearic languages are remnants of the aboriginal languages of much of Cambodia, but have dwindled in numbers due to assimilation. "Pear" is a pejorative term meaning 'slave' or 'caste'.
Classification
Paul Sidwell proposed the following classification of the Pearic languages in Sidwell (2009:137), synthesizing analyses from Headley (1985), Choosri (2002), Martin (1974), and Peiros (2004)[4] He divides Pearic into two primary branches (Pear and Chong), with Chong being further divided into four groups.
Pearic lexical innovations include 'fish', 'moon', 'water leech', 'chicken', and 'fire'.[5]
Reconstruction
Headley (1985)
The Proto-Pearic language, the reconstructed ancestor of the Pearic languages, has been reconstructed by Robert Headley (1985).[6] The 149 Proto-Pearic forms below are from Headley (1985).
*peːm 'angry'
*pe(ː)ʔ 'three'
*taːɲ 'to weave'
*kam 'arrow'
*keːv 'to call'
*caː 'to eat'
*ciʔ 'louse'
*ʔic 'excrement'
*ʔan 'here'
*Pa(ː)ŋ 'flower'
*Poːt 'to cut, hack'
*Tɔːŋ 'to fear'
*Teːv 'right (dexter)'
*Cak 'to hunt'
*Ceːv 'to go'
*Kaːŋ 'month'
*Kɔːj 'long(time)'
*Kic 'small'
*buːl 'drunk'
*beːt(?) 'knife'
*baːŋ 'morning'
*dɔːn 'must'
*deːv 'to buy'
*daːk 'water'
*ɟuːm 'vine'
*ɟeːv 'soup'
*ɟɔːr 'sap'
*graːɲ 'alcohol'
*gɨl 'to sit'
*guːm 'to winnow'
*suk 'hair'
*saŋ 'to hear'
*sɔːŋ 'to dance'
*huːm 'to bathe'
*hɔː 'not'
*h(ɨː)r 'to fly'
*hjɔk 'breast'
*hmɔːk 'bat'
*hmaːr 'field'
*hnoːk 'to stretch oneself'
*hŋɔːn 'thatch'
*hrɔːk 'to hide'
*hlɔːŋ 'banana'
*hluk 'salt'
*v(ɛː)ŋ 'raw, uncooked'
*rəvaːj 'tiger'
*jaːv 'scorpion'
*j(i)p 'to come'
*m(a)t 'eye'
*nɔːŋ 'mountain'
*nɨm 'year'
*ŋ(əː)r 'red'
*reːs 'root'
*rɔːj 'fly'
*raːj 'ten'
*loːm 'to ask'
*laːc 'lightning'
*_liɲ 'elder sibling'
*Pac 'to break'
*hoːc 'dead'
*hoːc 'dead'
*pah 'to slap'
*c(u)h 'to spit'
*tak 'broken apart'
*lɨk 'bran'
*-haːm 'blood'
*tɨm 'to cook'
*k(eː)n 'child'
*kɨn 'female'
*hlɨŋ 'deep'
*ɟiɲ 'foot'
*ʔɔːɲ 'to keep, put'
*Təp 'to bury'
*h(ɔː)p 'to eat'
*veːt 'blue'
*klaːv 'skink'
*knaːj 'elephant'
*Tɔːj 'before'
*sɨl 'sharp-edged'
*taːl 'to stand'
*coːl 'to plant'
*meːl 'fish'
*Peːr 'water leech'
*Keːr 'to bark'
*h(oː)r 'to blow'
*Ceːs 'kind of deer'
*loːs 'kind of deer'
*coːs 'hundred'
*cɨs 'old'
*pa(ː)s 'tail'
*c(ɔ)ʔ 'dog'
*rəgiʔ 'thin'
*tŋiʔ 'day'
*poʔ 'dream'
*teˀ 'earth'
*(c)kaː 'mouth'
*(c)mɨː 'civet'
*(c)ŋ(ɨ)n 'wife'
*(c)rɛːŋ 'ring'
*ɟrəlaʔ 'thorn'
*kdɔːŋ 'six'
*kleˀ 'ashamed'
*klɔːŋ 'bone'
*kmaːs 'smoke'
*kmɔk 'cough'
*gmaʔ 'rain'
*knɔːk 'to flail'
*gnuːl 'seven'
*grɨk 'to awaken'
*ks(ɨ)m 'star'
*kvak 'to hook'
*kjoŋ 'kind of lizard'
*gjaːŋ 'turtle'
*ml(ɔː)ŋ 'eel'
*pliː 'fruit'
*bluː 'thigh'
*pnaːk 'basket'
*bnaːm 'ugly'
*(p)ŋaːm 'bee'
*brɔːŋ 'Khmer'
*braːj 'cotton thread'
*psiː 'snake'
*skɛːŋ 'wing'
*smaɲ 'cramp'
*snɛːŋ 'after'
*sŋal 'to know'
*sriː 'to ask'
*tmoˀ 'stone'
*tpɔʔ 'winnowing basket'
*trɔːj 'wild cow'
*ʔiːn 'to get'
*briː 'forest'
*kriɲ 'drum'
*ksuː 'red ant'
*bleːv 'fire'
*ləkheːt 'to slide'
*ʔoːc 'to take'
*Coːj 'sore, wound'
*Toːs 'head'
*koːj 'tooth'
*(m)oːt 'younger sibling'
*b(oː) 'you'
*koj 'kind of lizard'
*hlɛːk 'chicken'
*Tɛːŋ 'left'
*bɛːk 'to laugh'
*tɛ(h) 'lightning'
*gɔŋ 'long'
*tɔŋ 'house'
Sidwell & Rau (2015)
The following Proto-Pearic lexical proto-forms have been reconstructed by Sidwell & Rau (2015: 303, 340-363).[5]
^ abSidwell, Paul and Felix Rau (2015). "Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction: An Overview." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages. Leiden: Brill.
^Headley, Robert K. 1985. "Proto-Pearic and the classification of Pearic." In Suriya Ratanakult et al. (eds.), Southeast Asian Linguistic Studies Presented to Andre-G. Haudricourt. Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University. pp. 428-478.
^Sidwell, Paul. 2015. "Austroasiatic classification." In Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages. Leiden: Brill.
^Sidwell, Paul (2021). "Classification of MSEA Austroasiatic languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 179–206. doi:10.1515/9783110558142-011.
Further reading
Ferlus, Michel. 2009. "Toward Proto Pearic: Problems and Historical Implications". In Sophana Srichampa et al. (eds.), 38–51.