Kri language

Kri
Krìì
Native to	Laos or Vietnam
Native speakers	250 (2009)
Language family	Austroasiatic Vietic Kri
Dialects	Kri Phóng Mlengbrou
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aem
Linguist list	pkt-kha
Glottolog	khap1242

Kri (Krìì) is a recently described Vietic language. Kri speakers live in the Upper Ñrong (Nam Noy) valley of Khammouane Province, Laos, as well as other locations within the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area. It is mutually intelligible with Pròòngq, which is spoken in several villages downstream from the Kri (Enfield & Diffloth 2009).

The Kri call themselves mleeng Kri, and their language meengq Kri. They are swidden cultivators who move every 2–3 years among pre-existing village sites (Chamberlain 1998). Houses are torn down after the death of a household member, and the housing materials are then used to construct a new house in a different location. Other than the Kri language, many adults, especially men, are also fluent in Vietnamese, Saek, Bru, and Lao.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonants in Kri are:

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop		[p]	[t]	[ʈʂ]	[c]	[k]	[ʔ]
	aspirated	[pʰ]	[tʰ]	[ʈʂʰ]		[kʰ]
	voiced	[ɓ]	[ɗ]		[ʄ ]
Fricative			[s]			[ɣ]	[h]
Nasal		[m]	[n]		[ɲ]	[ŋ]
Approximant		[w]	[l] , [r~ʐ]		[j~ʝ]

Finals

These are the consonants that may come at the end of a syllable in Kri:

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Checked	[pˀ]	[tˀ]		[kˀ]
Nasal	[m]	[n]	[ɲ]	[ŋ]
Oral	[w]	[l] , [r]	[j]	Vowel

Do note that they are all contrastive, and that vowels, nasal consonants, and oral consonants may have checked endings. The Oral endings also may become voiceless.

Morphology

Kri has a few morphological features, less than Khmu but more than Vietnamese.

Causative Infix

The -a- infix may be inserted into words with two initial consonants, between them. This infix turns intransitive verb into a transitive verb, adding an agent. It can also turn a noun into a verb. Here are some examples:

praang - to cross over
paraang - to take someone across.

slôôj- to be washed away by running water
salôôj- to discard into flowing water, to let something be washed away.

kleeh- to fall off
kaleeh- to pick off

blang- of the eyes, to become open (like a young dog's)
balang- to open one's eyes

ckaang- a hand span
cakaang- to measure something by hand spans

Nominalising Infix

The -rn- infix is placed after a single initial consonant. This infix makes a noun from a verb:

sat- to get one's foot stuck
srnat- a foothold

koq- to live
krnoq- a house

This shortens to -r- when between consonants:

kadôôlq- to rest the head on something
krdôôlq- a pillow

External links

• http://sealsxxii.vjf.cnrs.fr/Documents/Abstract-Enfield.pdf