Kasong | |
---|---|
Chong of Trat | |
Native to | Thailand |
Region | Trat Province |
Native speakers | 50 (2008) [1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
none | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | None |
ELP | Kasong |
Kasong, also previously known as "Chong of Trat", is an endangered Pearic language of the Austroasiatic family spoken in Bo Rai District, [2] Trat Province of Thailand. [3] On the basis of lexical similarity determined with a relatively short word list, Kasong has been classified as a dialect of Central Chong. [4] However, further study and longer word lists point to Kasong being a separate language closely related to Chong and Samre. [3] [2] Kasong is nearly extinct; there are no monolinguals and all speakers use Thai as their primary language.
Of the vocabulary tested, a study found 55.38 percent of the language to consist of Thai loanwords. [3] These loanwords are grouped into two subtypes: direct from Thai or a Thai word added to an existing Kasong word. [3] This high percentage is indicative of the language's route to potential extinction as Thai displaces it.
More than 50 years ago,[ when?] all Kasong people were forbidden to use the Kasong language in their families and with others as a result of governors believing that speaking Kasong interfered with speaking Thai. [3] Thus, Kasong speakers taught their descendants Thai instead of Kasong. [3] Thai nationalism led to the Kasong people becoming ashamed of their language and not being concerned with its preservation. [3] The Kasong language and its people is representative of Thailand's many ethnolinguistic minorities. [5]