Pearic languages

The Pearic languages are a group of endangered languages of the Eastern Mon–Khmer branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken by Pear people living in western Cambodia and eastern Thailand.
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

proposed the following classification of the Pearic languages in Sidwell, synthesizing analyses from Headley, Choosri, Martin, and Peiros He divides Pearic into two primary branches, with Chong being further divided into four groups.

Pearic
*Pear of Kompong Thom
*Chong
**Southern
***Suoi of Kampong Speu
***Saoch, two dialects:
****Chung of Cambodia - Phum Veal Renh, Prey Nob District in Kampong Som,
****Chung of Thailand - Kanchanaburi
**Western
***Chong of Chantaburi
***
****Chong həəp
****Khlong Phlu Chong
***
****Chong lɔɔ
****Wang Kraphrae Chong
****Chong
**Central
***Samre of Pursat
***Samre
***Chong
***Kasong, historically called, Chong of Trat
**Northern
***Somray of Battambang
***Somre of Siem Reap

Pearic lexical innovations include 'fish', 'moon', 'water leech', 'chicken', and 'fire'.

Reconstruction

Headley (1985)

The Proto-Pearic language, the reconstructed ancestor of the Pearic languages, has been reconstructed by Robert Headley. The 149 Proto-Pearic forms below are from Headley.

*peːm 'angry'
*peʔ 'three'
*taːɲ 'to weave'
*kam 'arrow'
*keːv 'to call'
*caː 'to eat'
*ciʔ 'louse'
*ʔic 'excrement'
*ʔan 'here'
*Paŋ 'flower'
*Poːt 'to cut, hack'
*Tɔːŋ 'to fear'
*Teːv 'right '
*Cak 'to hunt'
*Ceːv 'to go'
*Kaːŋ 'month'
*Kɔːj 'long'
*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'
*hr 'to fly'
*hjɔk 'breast'
*hmɔːk 'bat'
*hmaːr 'field'
*hnoːk 'to stretch oneself'
*hŋɔːn 'thatch'
*hrɔːk 'to hide'
*hlɔːŋ 'banana'
*hluk 'salt'
*vŋ 'raw, uncooked'
*rəvaːj 'tiger'
*jaːv 'scorpion'
*jp 'to come'
*mt 'eye'
*nɔːŋ 'mountain'
*nɨm 'year'
*ŋr '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'
*ch 'to spit'
*tak 'broken apart'
*lɨk 'bran'
*-haːm 'blood'
*tɨm 'to cook'
*kn 'child'
*kɨn 'female'
*hlɨŋ 'deep'
*ɟiɲ 'foot'
*ʔɔːɲ 'to keep, put'
*Təp 'to bury'
*hp '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'
*hr 'to blow'
*Ceːs 'kind of deer'
*loːs 'kind of deer'
*coːs 'hundred'
*cɨs 'old'
*pas 'tail'
*cʔ 'dog'
*rəgiʔ 'thin'
*tŋiʔ 'day'
*poʔ 'dream'
*teˀ 'earth'
*kaː 'mouth'
*mɨː 'civet'
*ŋn 'wife'
*rɛːŋ 'ring'
*ɟrəlaʔ 'thorn'
*kdɔːŋ 'six'
*kleˀ 'ashamed'
*klɔːŋ 'bone'
*kmaːs 'smoke'
*kmɔk 'cough'
*gmaʔ 'rain'
*knɔːk 'to flail'
*gnuːl 'seven'
*grɨk 'to awaken'
*ksm 'star'
*kvak 'to hook'
*kjoŋ 'kind of lizard'
*gjaːŋ 'turtle'
*mlŋ 'eel'
*pliː 'fruit'
*bluː 'thigh'
*pnaːk 'basket'
*bnaːm 'ugly'
*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'
*oːt 'younger sibling'
*b 'you'
*koj 'kind of lizard'
*hlɛːk 'chicken'
*Tɛːŋ 'left'
*bɛːk 'to laugh'
*tɛ 'lightning'
*gɔŋ 'long'
*tɔŋ 'house'
Sidwell & Rau (2015)

The following Proto-Pearic lexical proto-forms have been reconstructed by Sidwell & Rau.

*ʔɨːs 'all'
*bɔh 'ashes'
*ker 'to bark'
*tkɔːˀ 'bark '
*guŋ 'belly'
*tak 'big'
*ciːˀm 'bird'
*tap 'to bite'
*caˀŋ 'black'
*pNhaːm 'blood'
*klɔːŋ 'bone'
*j̊ɔk, *tuh 'breast'
*pɔːs, *tuːt 'to burn '
*ktraːˀs 'claw/nail'
*juːr 'cloud'
*saˀc 'cold'
*jip 'to come/arrive'
*hoːc 'die '
*cɔː 'dog'
*taːˀl 'to drink '
*bah, *jeːˀs 'dry '
*prlaːŋ 'ear'
*teːˀ 'earth/soil'
*caː 'to eat'
*tuŋ 'egg'
*mat 'eye'
*pɨːs 'fat/grease/oil'
*suk 'feather'
*pliːw 'fire'
*meːˀl 'fish '
*hɨːr 'fly '
*ɟɨŋ 'foot'
*briː 'forest'
*bɔːŋ 'full '
*ʔɨs 'give'
*ceːw 'to go'
toːˀn 'good'
*weːt 'green'
*suk 'hair '
*tiː 'hand'
*saŋ 'to hear/listen'
*soːc, *sroːc 'horn'
*ʔiɲ 'I'
*pNhoːc 'to kill'
*-nuːl, *mkuːr 'knee'
*kah 'know'
*-laːˀ 'leaf'
*bic 'to lie '
*lɔːm 'liver'
*goŋ 'long'
*ciː 'louse '
*lɔːŋ 'man/husband'
*lɔː 'many'
*pɔːm, *ɟuːc 'meat/flesh'
*kaːŋ 'moon'
*nɔːŋ 'mountain/hill'
*kaː 'mouth'
*kɔːk 'neck'
*blaː 'new'
*klɛːˀŋ 'night'
*-toːt, *mus 'nose'
*ʔih 'not'
*moːˀj 'one'
*kɟɨm 'person/human'
*kɔːˀn 'rat'
*gmaːˀ 'rain'
*ŋar 'red'
*ɟar 'resin'
*kraː 'road, path'
*reːs 'root '
*moːl 'round '
*laːŋ 'sand'
*daŋ 'see'
*kɨl 'sit'
*-loːˀ 'skin'
*bic 'sleep'
*kic 'small'
*kmaː⁽ˀ⁾s 'smoke '
*ɲaːj 'to speak, say'
*taːl 'to stand'
*ksɨm 'star'
*tmoːˀ 'stone'
*ŋiːˀ 'sun'
*heːl 'to swim'
*paːs 'tail'
*dan 'that '
*ʔan 'this '
*boː 'thou/you'
*ɟrlaʔ 'thorn'
*ktaːˀk 'tongue'
*koːj 'tooth'
*neːˀm 'tree'
*baːˀr 'two'
*ceːw 'to walk, go'
*tuːˀ 'warm/hot'
*daːk 'water'
*hɛːŋ 'we '
*taːɲ 'to weave'
*cmpiːˀj 'what?'
*broːŋ, *pruːs 'white'
*ʔmih 'who?'
*kɨn 'woman/wife'
*joːˀs 'yellow'
Lexical innovations

lists the following Pearic lexical innovations that had replaced original Proto-Austroasiatic forms.

Gloss	Proto-Pearic	Proto-Austroasiatic
fish	*meːˀl	*kaʔ
fire	*pliːw	*ʔus
bone	*klɔːŋ	*cʔaːŋ
chicken	*hlɛːk	*ʔiər

Sidwell subsequently revised the list of Pearic lexical innovations as follows.

Gloss	Proto-Austroasiatic	Proto-Pearic	Kasong	Chong	Samre	Pear of Kompong Thom
‘fish’	*kaʔ	*meːˀw	me̤ː⁴⁵³	me̤ːˀw	miːɹ	miəl
‘fire’	*ʔuːs	*pleːw	ple̤ːw²¹	ple̤ːw	pliːw	phlou
‘bone’	*cʔaːŋ	*klɔːŋ	klɔːŋ³³	klɑːŋ	kluəŋ	–
‘chicken’	*ʔiər	*hlɛːk	lɛːk⁴⁵	læːk	liək	lék
‘banana’	–	*hlɔːŋ	lɔːŋ³³	lɑːŋ	luəŋ	lâng

Pearic languages

Classification

Reconstruction

Headley (1985)

Sidwell & Rau (2015)

Lexical innovations