Bahnar language

Bahnar
Bana, Ba-Na
A road sign in Bahnar, located in Kon Tum, Quảng Ngãi province.
Pronunciation[ˈbəˌnaː]
Native toVietnam
EthnicityBahnar people
Native speakers
(160,000 in Viet Nam cited 1999 census)
Latin
(adapted Vietnamese alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3bdq
Glottologbahn1262

The Bahnar language or Ba-Na language (Bahnar pronunciation: [ˈbəˌnaː]) is a Central Bahnaric language. It has nine vowel qualities and phonemic vowel length.

Subdivisions

Đào (1998) lists the following subgroups of Bahnar and their respective locations.

Bùi (2011:5-6) lists the following subgroups of Bahnar and their respective locations.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t tɕ k ʔ
voiced b d dʑ ɡ
preglottal ʔb ʔd ʔdʑ
Nasal plain m n ɲ ŋ
preglottal ʔm ʔn ʔɲ ʔŋ
Fricative s h
Rhotic r
Approximant plain w l j
preglottal ʔw ʔl ʔj
Final consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p t tɕ k ʔ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Aspirate jh1 h
Rhotic r
Approximant w l j jˀ

Notes:

  1. In the final sequence /jh/, /h/ is not pronounced and /j/ is pronounced phonetically as a short vowel /i/.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i iː ɨː u uː
Mid eː ə əː oː
Open ɛ ɛː a aː ɔ ɔː

Also used in Vietnam

Other minor groups include the Kon Kđe, Bơ Nơm, and A Roh subgroups in Kông Chro District and K'Bang District of Gia Lai Province (Bùi 2011:6).

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Bahnar.

References

  1. ↑ Bahnar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Đào Huy Quyền. 1998. Nhạc khí dân tộc Jrai và Bahnar [Musical instruments of the Jrai and Bahnar]. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản trẻ.
  3. ↑ Bùi Minh Đạo. 2011. The Bahnar people in Viet Nam. Hanoi: Thế Giới Publishers. ISBN 978-604-77-0319-7
  4. ↑ Banker, John & Elizabeth; Mo', Siu (1979). Bahnar Dictionary, Plei Bong-Mang Yang Dialect. Huntingdon Beach, Summer Institute of Linguistics. pp. vi–xii.