View source for Bahnar language

{{short description|Austroasiatic language spoken in Vietnam}}
{{Infobox language
|name          = Bahnar
|nativename    = ''Bana''
|states        = [[Vietnam]]
|region        =
|ethnicity     = [[Bahnar people]]
|speakers      = {{sigfig|158,000|2}} in Viet Nam 
|date          = 1999 census
|ref           = e18
|familycolor   = Austro-Asiatic
|fam2          = [[Bahnaric languages|Bahnaric]]
|fam3          = [[North Bahnaric languages|North]]
|iso3          = bdq
|glotto=bahn1262
|glottorefname=Bahnar
|script        = [[Latin script|Latin]] <br>(adapted [[Vietnamese alphabet|Vietnamese]])
}}

The '''Bahnar language''' is a Central [[Bahnaric languages|Bahnaric language]]. It has nine [[vowel quality|vowel qualities]] and phonemic [[vowel length]].

==Subdivisions==
Đào (1998)<ref>Đào Huy Quyền. 1998. ''Nhạc khí dân tộc Jrai và Bahnar [Musical instruments of the Jrai and Bahnar]''. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản trẻ.</ref> lists the following subgroups of Bahnar and their respective locations.
*'''Bahnar [[Kon Tum Province|Kon Tum]]''': [[Kon Tum]] area
*'''Bahnar Jơlong''': northeastern [[Kon Tum Province]]
*'''Bahnar Golar''': northern [[Pleiku]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Tosung''': [[Mang Yang District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Konkođe''': [[An Khê District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Alatang''': [[An Khê District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Alakông''': [[K'Bang District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Tolo''': [[Kông Chro District]] and southern [[An Khê District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Bơnâm''': eastern [[An Khê District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Roh''': scattered areas in [[An Khê District]] and [[K'Bang District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Bahnar Krem''': [[Vĩnh Thạnh District, Bình Định|Vĩnh Thạnh District]] and [[An Lão District, Bình Định|An Lão District]] ([[Bình Định Province]])
*'''Bahnar Chăm''': [[Vân Canh District]] ([[Bình Định Province]])
*'''Bahnar But''': forest areas; little communication with outsiders

Bùi (2011:5-6)<ref>Bùi Minh Đạo. 2011. ''The Bahnar people in Viet Nam''. Hanoi: Thế Giới Publishers. {{ISBN|978-604-77-0319-7}}</ref> lists the following subgroups of Bahnar and their respective locations.
*'''Tơ Lô''': in Sơ Ró, Đắc Song, Chơ Loong, Yang Nam, and Đắc Tơ communes, which are in [[Kông Chro District]] and part of [[An Khê District]] ([[Gia Lai Province]])
*'''Krem''': in [[Vĩnh Thạnh District, Bình Định|Vĩnh Thạnh District]], as well as some in [[An Lão District, Bình Định|An Lão District]], [[Hoài Ân District]], and [[Tây Sơn District]] in [[Bình Định Province]]; some in Sơn Lang Commune, [[K'Bang District]], [[Gia Lai Province]]
*'''Vân Canh''': mostly in Canh Liên, Canh Thuận, and Canh Hòa communes of [[Vân Canh District]], [[Bình Định Province]]
*'''Thồ Lồ''': mostly in the upper part of [[Đồng Xuân District]], [[Phú Yên Province]]. Scattered in 9 communes throughout [[Đồng Xuân District]], [[Sơn Hòa District]], and [[Sông Hinh District]]. Descended from Tơ Lô people who were [[Tây Sơn dynasty|Tây Sơn]] soldiers fleeing from the [[Nguyễn dynasty]] 200 years ago. They fled southeast to Thồ Lồ, [[Phú Yên Province]]. The
*'''Gơ Lar''': mostly in [[Mang Yang District]], [[Đắk Đoa District]], and [[Chư Sê District]] of [[Gia Lai Province]], and some living around [[Kon Tum]] town. There is also a subgroup called '''Bahnar Châng H'drung''' who live at the foot of Hàm Rồng Mountain.
*'''Kon Tum''': in 4 precincts and 9 communes of [[Kon Tum]] town
*'''Jơ Lơng''': in [[Kon Tum]] town, and Đắc Tơ Re, Đắc Ruồng, and Đắc Pne communes of [[Kon Rẫy District]], [[Kon Tum Province]]
*'''Rơ Ngao''' ([[Rengao language|Rengao]]): in 29 villages. They live with the Kon Tum people in 5 communes of [[Kon Tum]]; with the Bahnar and Sedang peoples in 2 communes of [[Đắk Hà District]]; and with the [[Sedang people]] in Pô Cô Commune, [[Đắk Tô]] District, [[Kon Tum Province]]

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align="center"
! rowspan="3" |[[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
!<small>[[voiceless]]</small>
|p
|t
|c
|k
|ʔ
|-
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|b
|d
|ɟ
|ɡ
|
|-
!<small>[[Preglottalization|preglottal]]</small>
|ʔb
|ʔd
|ʔɟ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
!<small>plain</small>
|m
|n
|ɲ
|ŋ
|
|-
!<small>[[Preglottalization|preglottal]]</small>
|ʔm
|ʔn
|ʔɲ
|ʔŋ
|
|- align="center"
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
|s
|
|
|h
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|r
|
|
|
|- align="center"
! rowspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
!<small>plain</small>
|w
|l
|j
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Preglottalization|preglottal]]</small>
|ʔw
|ʔl
|ʔj
|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final consonants
!
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
|p
|t
|c
|k
|ʔ
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|n
|ɲ
|ŋ
|
|-
![[Aspirated consonant|Aspirate]]
|
|
|jh*
|
|h
|-
![[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|r
|
|
|
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|w
|l
|j
|
|jˀ
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>-In the final sequence /jh/, /h/ is not pronounced and /j/ is pronounced phonetically as a short vowel /i/.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Banker|first=John & Elizabeth|title=Bahnar Dictionary, Plei Bong-Mang Yang Dialect|last2=Mo'|first2=Siu|publisher=Huntingdon Beach, Summer Institute of Linguistics|year=1979|pages=vi-xii}}</ref>

*

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|- align="center"
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|i iː
|ɨː
|u uː
|- align="center"
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|eː
|ə əː
|oː
|- align="center"
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|ɛ ɛː
|a aː
|ɔ ɔː
|}

*

==Also used in Vietnam==

Other minor groups include the '''Kon Kđe''', '''Bơ Nơm''', and '''A Roh''' subgroups in [[Kông Chro District]] and [[K'Bang District]] of [[Gia Lai Province]] (Bùi 2011:6).

''[[Ethnologue]]'' lists the following dialects of Bahnar.
*Tolo
*Golar
*Alakong (A-La Cong)
*Jolong (Gio-Lang, Y-Lang)
*Bahnar Bonom (Bomam)
*Kontum
*Krem

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://dominicweb.eu/en/endictionaries/exotic-languages-prayers?bdq Database of audio recordings in Bahnar - basic Catholic prayers]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Austro-Asiatic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bahnaric languages]]


{{AustroAsiatic-lang-stub}}