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Concept
Nguồn language
Summary
Nguồn (also Năm Nguyên) is a Vietic language spoken by the Nguồn people in the Trường Sơn mountains in Vietnam's North Central Coast region as well as in nearby regions of Laos.
Most Nguồn speakers in Vietnam live in the secluded Minh Hóa district of Quảng Bình Province, with others in the area around Đồng Lê, the seat of Tuyên Hoá District, approximately from the National Highway 1.
The Nguồn language has been variously described as a dialect of Vietnamese or as the southernmost dialect of Mường. Some researchers who consider it more closely related to Mường find that those who connect it more closely with Vietnamese are more influenced by ethnographic and/or political concerns than linguistic evidence. Chamberlain (2003) and Sidwell (2009) count it as a third Viet–Muong language.
Most Nguồn live in Tuyên Hóa District (alongside the neighboring Sách people, a subgroup of the Chứt people who also speak a Vietic language) and in Minh Hoá District (living with the neighboring Việt peoples).
There are also Nguồn living in Laos, but with conflicting reports as to their exact location. According to Chamberlain (1998), there is a Nguồn village in central Laos known as Ban Pak Phanang in Boualapha District, Khammouane Province.
Chéon (1907), Maspéro (1912), and Cuisinier (1948) considered Nguồn to be more closely related to Mường while Mạc (1964), Nguyễn Đ. B. (1975), and Phạm (1975) connected it with Vietnamese.
Later linguistic comparison by Nguyễn V. T. (1975) and Nguyễn Ph. Ph. (1996) suggest a closer link with the Mường dialects, and this is echoed by Barker (1993) (and others).
Jerold A. Edmondson, Kenneth J. Gregerson, and Nguyen Van Loi mention that this language is of "great interest to those studying the history of Vietic languages" due to its distinct historical developments.
Nguyễn V. T. (1975) notes that Nguồn speakers can communicate with Mường speakers with each speaking their own language, but Vietnamese speakers who do not know Mường cannot understand Nguồn.
Official source
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