Chru language


Chru is a Chamic language of Vietnam spoken by the Chru people in southern Lâm Đồng Province and in Bình Thuận Province.
Like the other Chamic languages spoken in Vietnam, use of Chru is declining as native speakers are generally bilingual in Vietnamese, which is used for most official or public settings, like schools.

Phonology

Consonant inventory

The following table lists the consonants of Chru.
There exist post-aspirated consonants,,, but these behave as sequences of stop plus. For example, from the word the nominal can be derived by infixation of -n-.

Vowel inventory

The vowel inventory is given in the following table. All vowels but exist in nasalized form.

Phonotactics

Words consist of up to two pre-syllables, and a main syllable. A full example is . The vowels in the pre-syllables are always after a consonant and otherwise.

Grammar

Syntax

Like many other languages of Southeast Asia, including Vietnamese, Chru is an analytic language without morphological marking of case, gender, number, or tense. In its typological profile it reflects extensive language contact effects, as it more closely resembles a Mon-Khmer language with monosyllabic roots and impoverished morphology rather than a canonical Austronesian language with bisyllabic roots and derivational morphology. It has subject-verb-object word order.

Negation

Chru uses a pre-verbal negative particle, 'buh /ʔbuh/ as a simple negative in declarative sentences:
kơu 'buh mưnhũm alak
1Sg NEG drink wine
'I don't drink wine.'
An optional clause-final negative particle, ou, may also be used, particularly in negative questions and negative responses to questions:
Du phơn ni nhũ làn lam ia 'buh ơu?
But thing this will melt in water NEG
'But this thing will melt in water, right?'
Lăm klơu Aràng hu Aràng sêi prong rơlau rêi?
In the godhead is there one person bigger than another?
'Bu ơu: Klơu Aràng ring gơu.
No: The godhead is equal to each other.