Nyah Kur is a member of the Monic branch of the Austroasiatic language family. It is spoken mainly in the west of Chaiyaphum Province (ชัยภูมิ ญัฮกุ้ร) in central northeastern Thailand, and also in the provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok. In 2006 there were about 1,500 speakers of Nyah Kur. Most speakers are adults, and few children speak the language, except in Chaiyaphum Province.
Nyah Kur is also known as Chao Dong, Chaodon, Lawa, Niakuol, Niakuoll, Nyakur, Chao-bon or Chaobon. Each province where Nyah kur is spoken has its own dialect. The dialects spoken in Phetchabun and Phitsanulok provinces are classified as northern dialects, while those spoken in Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces are classified as southern.
Nyah Kur is related to the Mon language, and the Nyah Kur people are descendents of Mon people who fled to what is now Thailand when the Mon empire was overrun by the Khmer in the 9th and 11th centuries. The name Nyah Kur means "people of the mountain".
Nyah Kur can be written with a version of the Thai alphabet devised in 2005. There some texts in the language, including a dictionary, grammar and translations from the Bible. Most Nyah Kur men and children are literate in Thai, however few people are literate in Nyah Kur.
Download an alphabet chart for Nyah Kur (Excel)
Information about Nyah Kur | Numbers
Information about the Nyah Kur language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyah_Kur_language
https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/ภาษาญัฮกุร
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/cbn
http://sealang.net/mk/monic.htm
http://ich.culture.go.th/index.php/en/ich/performing-arts/280-languages/305--m-s
Akha, Bisu, Isan, Kuy, Northern Khmer, Northern Pwo, Nyah Kur, Pāli, Sanskrit, Thai, Thai Song, Urak Lawoi’
Page created: 04.05.21. Last modified: 07.02.22
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