Alternative names for Kri include Karii, K[a]ri-Phoong, Kha Phoong, Coi, and Salang.[4]
Distribution
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).
Kri is spoken in the following villages of Laos and Vietnam.[5]
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).[6] 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.
Kri has been studied by the Russian-Vietnamese Linguistic Expedition in 2012.[4]
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.
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
Verbal Morphology
There are three forms of negation: dêêh, laa, and cùù. There have distinct syntactic behavior. Cùù occurs before the subject (e.g. sentence initially). Both dêêh and laa can occur before the verb (after the subject). Dêêh is distinct from laa in that dêêh can occur in responsive ellipsis environments (i.e. as a stand alone word after a questions).[7]
There are a variety of TAM markers (which supply information about the tense, aspect, or mood) of predicates.[7]
Syntax
The basic word order of Kri is SVO, although argument ellipsis and fronting of constituents is common. Further, there is no case marking or cross-referencing agreement.[7]
Verbal Domain
Serial verb constructions have an explicit marker of subordination (kùù).[7]
Nominal Domain
Kri pronouns displays sensitivity to the three grammatical numbers in Kri (singular, dual and plural), as well inclusive/exclusive distinction, and (for the singular) a polite/bare distinctions. A gender distinction is made only in the third person polite forms. Polite forms are used when there is appropriate social distance (e.g. by age or kinship).
Personal Pronouns
singular
dual
plural
bare
polite
1st person
exclusive
teeq pàànq
koon
ñaar
caa
inclusive
saa
cawq
2nd person
cak
mii
maar
prii
3rd person
feminine
hanq
mooq
qaar
paa
masculine
qôông
Classifiers
The classifier longq can be (but need not be) used to express possession. There are also numeral classifier constructions. These can be ordered Number-Classifier-Noun or Noun-Number-Classifier.[7]
^ abBabaev, Kirill; Samarina, Irina (2021). Sidwell, Paul (ed.). A Grammar of May: An Austroasiatic Language of Vietnam. Brill. pp. 12–13. ISBN978-9-00446-108-6.
^Babaev, Kirill Vladimirovich [Бабаев, Кирилл Владимирович]; Samarina, Irina Vladimirovna [Самарина, Ирина Владимировна]. 2019. Язык май. Материалы Российско-вьетнамской лингвистической экспедиции / Jazyk maj. Materialy Rossijsko-vetnamskoj lingvisticheskoj ekspeditsii. Moscow: Издательский Дом ЯСК. ISBN978-5-907117-34-1. (in Russian). p.16.
^Chamberlain, J.R. 1998, "The origin of Sek: implications for Tai and Vietnamese history", in The International Conference on Tai Studies, ed. S. Burusphat, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 97-128. Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University.
