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The Arem language (Cmbrau [cmrawˀ]) is an endangered language spoken by the Arem people in a small area on both sides of the Laos–Vietnam border. It belongs to the Vietic branch of the Austroasiatic language family. Specifically, it is a member of the Chut language group, which is one of the six Vietic languages. This language is considered critically endangered by UNESCO.[2] Like other Vietic languages, the Arem language makes use of a tonal or phonational system that is unique to Vietic languages. Like many southern Vietic Languages, the Arem language also makes use of pre-syllables or sesquisyllables within the language.[3]

Arem lacks the breathy phonation common to most Vietic languages, but does have glottalized final consonants.[4]

Names

Arem is an ethnographic term to describe a group of indigenous people that reside on the border of Southern Vietnam and Laos. The people prefer to call themselves Cmbrau [cmrawˀ].[3] However, because this is the only attested [cm-] sesquisyllabic structure in the language, it is theorized that this may also be an ethnographic term that was borrowed from another nearby language.[3]

Another name for the Arem is Umo, which literally means ‘cave’ or ‘grotto’.[5]

History and demographics

The Arem people were only known to exist by local populations of Vietnam until 1959, when they were discovered by the Vietnamese military.[3] Previously, the local authorities had thought them members of the local Bru khùa community. The Arem population was only 53 people in 1960: 30 men and 23 women.[6] The most recent survey of the area in 1999 indicated that there were 102 Arem people.[7] Of these 102 Arem people, only around 25% of the population was estimated to be using the Arem language on a consistent basis.[7] All speakers of the Arem language are bilingual speakers of Vietnamese and some are also fluent in Khùa and/or Lao as well.[8]

In Vietnam, Arem is spoken in Bản Ban and in Tân Trạch communities.[9] In Tân Trạch, Arem is spoken in village no. 39, which also has Ma[ng] Coong people, who are a Bru–Van Kieu subgroup. As a result, Ma Coong is the most widely spoken in the village. As of 2015, there were only about 20 speakers of Arem remaining.[5]

Phonology

Syllabic structure

The Arem language makes use of both monosyllabic words and sesquisyllabic words. It is estimated that 55–60% of the Arem language consists of sesquisyllabic words. This is much higher than the majority of other Vietic languages that typically utilize sesquisyllables in only 35-40% of their lexicon, if the particular language contains any sesquisyllables at all.[3]

Suprasegmentals

Arem’s vowel inventory is split into two series of voice-type registers. Series 2 is characterized by a low-breathy register phonation. In syllables ending in voiced finals (/∅, w j l m n ɲ ŋ/), this register involves a contrast between a low-breathy modal tone and a glottalized tone marked by a weak glottal stop. Syllables ending in /-h/ produce a tone corresponding to the Vietnamese huyền, while those checked by voiceless stops (/-p -t -c -k/) yield low-pitch outcomes corresponding to the tone nặng. This registral opposition is the result of vowel splitting in two series from a single proto-vowel.[10]

Series 1 is characterized by a high-clear register phonation. Within syllables containing voiced finals, this series maintains a contrast between a high, clear, unmarked tone and a high, glottalized, slightly raising tone. Clear vowels in syllables ending in /-h/ correspond to the Vietnamese tone hỏi. In checked syllables ending in voiceless stops, vowels of this series yield high-pitch outcomes corresponding to the Vietnamese tone sắc.[10]

The combination of the contrast between clear and breathy phonation with glottalization in unchecked syllables forms the four-tone system, per Ferlus (2014).

Tone mark Contour Context Example
a high, clear unchecked atʰiəl “fish scale”
aˀ slightly raising checked akiəlˀ “on side”
à low breathy unchecked cìəl “cast net”
àˀ low breathy glottalized checked patìəlˀ “middle”

Ta (2025) disputes Ferlus that Arem laryngeal finals have never been dropped which contra to real tonogenesis found in Ruc and Vietnamese. The f0 variations appear too shifting among speakers, indicating that the pitch contrast is phonetic (allophonic) rather than structurally phonemic (lexical), which in sum shows that Arem is a non-tonal, register language.

Vowels

Breathy

Breathy vowels[11]
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close ì (ìː) ɨ̀ ɨ̀ː ù ùː
Mid è (èː) (ə̀) ə̀ː ò òː
Near-open ɐ̀ ɐ̀ː
Diphthongs [ìe] [ɨ̀ə] [ùo]

Clear

Clear vowels[11]
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i (iː) ɨ ɨː u uː
Near-close ɪ ɪː ʉ ʉː ʊ ʊː
Mid (e) eː ə əː o oː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ʌ ʌː ɔ ɔː
Near-open æ æː (ɐ) ɐː
Open a aː ɑ ɑː
Diphthongs [ie] [ɨə] [uo]

Consonants

Initials

Initial consonants[12]
Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t t͡ʃ c k ʔ
prenasalized ᵐp ⁿt ⁿt͡ʃ ᶮc ᵑk ᵑʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
prenasalized ⁿtʰ
implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ
prenasalized ᵐɓ ⁿɗ ᶮʄ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ h
voiced v (z) (ʒ) (ʑ)
prenasalized ⁿv ᵑh
Lateral l
Trill r (ⁿr)
Approximant j (ᶮj)

Codas

Codas[12]
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m(ˀ) n(ˀ) ɲ(ˀ) ŋ(ˀ)
Plosive p t c k Ø(ˀ)
Fricative h
Lateral l(ˀ)
Approximant w(ˀ) j(ˀ)

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Ta, Tan (2023-05-04). Register and Tone Developments in Vietic Languages (Thesis). doi:10.20381/RUOR-29099.
  2. ^ “Arem”. The World Atlas of Languages. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e FERLUS, Michel. 2014. Arem, a Vietic Language. Mon-Khmer Studies 43.1:1-15 (ICAAL5 special issue)
  4. ^ “The Vietic Branch”. sealang.net. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  5. ^ a b Babaev, Kirill; Samarina, Irina (2021). Sidwell, Paul (ed.). A Grammar of May: An Austroasiatic Language of Vietnam. Brill. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-9-00446-108-6.
  6. ^ Vương Hoàng Tuyên. 1963. Các dân tộc nguồn gốc Nam-Á ở miền bắc Việt-Nam [Ethnic groups of Austro-Asiatic origin in North Vietnam]. Nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục, Hà-Nội. [Arem: vocabulary p. 71; Compare list of a hundred words in Viet-Muong languages, including Arem; see fold-out page V-VIII, end of the book]
  7. ^ a b Trần Trí Dõi. 1999. Nghiên cứu ngôn ngữ các dân tộc thiểu số Việt Nam [Study of languages of ethnic minorities in Vietnam]. Nhà xuất bản đại học quốc gia Hà-Nội. [Arem: demography p.110; vocabulary p. 16 and 37]
  8. ^ Trần Trí Dõi. 1995. Thực trạng kinh tế và văn hóa của ba nhóm tộc người đang có nguy cơ bị biến mất [Actual state of the economy and culture of three endangered ethnic groups]. Nhà xuất bản văn hóa dân tộc. [Arem: population pp. 71-76; no vocabulary]
  9. ^ Babaev, Kirill Vladimirovich [Бабаев, Кирилл Владимирович]; Samarina, Irina Vladimirovna [Самарина, Ирина Владимировна]. 2019. Язык май. Материалы Российско-вьетнамской лингвистической экспедиции / Jazyk maj. Materialy Rossijsko-vetnamskoj lingvisticheskoj ekspeditsii. Moscow: Издательский Дом ЯСК. ISBN 978-5-907117-34-1. (in Russian). p.16.
  10. ^ a b Ferlus 2014, p. 3.
  11. ^ a b Ferlus 2014, p. 5.
  12. ^ a b Ferlus 2014, p. 4.

Bibliography