Khmer, Northern

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A language of Thailand

ISO 639-3
kxm
Alternate Names
Khmer Lue, Thailand Khmer
Population

1,400,000 (2006 Mahidol University), decreasing. Very few monolingual.

Location

Northeast, mainly Surin, Sisaket, Buriram, and Khorat provinces.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Austro-Asiatic, Mon-Khmer, Eastern Mon-Khmer, Khmer
Dialects

Buriram, Sisaket, Surin. Different from Central Khmer [khm]. Dialects mutually intelligible. Many local varieties.

Typology

SVO; prepositions; genitives, modifiers, relatives after noun heads; 1 prefix; CV, CVC, CCV; nontonal

Language Use

Vigorous in towns; replaced by Isan [tts] and Thai in cities. A few Chinese shopkeepers speak it. Education, media, religious services, commerce. Positive attitudes. Also use Central Thai [tha], Isan (a dialect of Northeastern Thai [tts]), or some Central Khmer [khm].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. 1,000 can read Northern Khmer, 100 can write it. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. 1,000 can read Northern Khmer, 100 can write it. Bible: 2003.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Khmer, Northern
Writing
Thai script.
Other Comments

Buddhist, Christian.