Language Families
Austroasiatic
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A family of roughly 117 million speakers across Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, of which Vietnamese and Khmer, its only two national languages, together account for more than two thirds. Scholars place the proto-language's homeland around the Red River Delta or elsewhere in Mainland Southeast Asia or southern China, roughly 3000-2000 BCE. Proto-Mon-Khmer, the family's best-studied branch, has been reconstructed in detail, most fully in Harry L. Shorto's comparative dictionary, with Paul Sidwell's later work reconstructing the wider proto-consonant inventory including implosive consonants.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusProto-Mon-Khmer, the family's largest branch, is reconstructed in detail; a single Proto-Austroasiatic uniting all branches is less securely established. 1 The wider Austric hypothesis linking Austroasiatic to Austronesian, and possibly Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien, remains a minority position most specialists do not accept. RegionMainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Nepal; proposed homeland near the Red River Delta. 1 Speaker Count Cross-Tradition Connections
Held Differently
Austronesian, Language Families Why this is disputed. The Austric hypothesis proposes a common ancestor for Austroasiatic and Austronesian, and possibly Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien; most specialists do not accept it as proven.
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