Mon-Khmer
Mon-Khmer refers to a family of languages predominantly spoken in mainland Southeast Asia, including languages such as Mon, Khmer, Muong, Khasi, Wa, and Vietnamese. These languages belong to the larger Austroasiatic language family and are associated with the Mon-Khmer people, who are believed to have migrated into Southeast Asia from regions like southwest China or the Khasi Hills in India around 2000 BCE. The Mon people, one of the primary groups, settled along the Salween River in Myanmar and were among the first in the region to adopt Buddhism, establishing ancient Buddhist kingdoms known as Dvaravati by the 6th century BCE.
The Khmer, another significant subgroup, migrated eastward into modern-day Cambodia and were influential in establishing early kingdoms such as Funan and Chenla. While both Mon and Khmer cultures were shaped by Indian influence, the Khmer society initially leaned more towards Hinduism. By the 3rd century CE, the Khmer developed a writing system based on Mon-Khmer, which influenced the scripts of Cambodian, Thai, and Lao languages. The rise of the Angkor civilization in the 9th century under King Jayavarman II marked a significant period in Khmer history, characterized by impressive architectural achievements and cultural richness. Understanding the Mon-Khmer languages and cultures offers insight into the historical and cultural developments of Southeast Asia.
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Mon-Khmer
Date: c. 2000 b.c.e.-800 c.e.
Locale: Mainland Southeast Asia, primarily modern Myanmar and Cambodia
Mon-Khmer
The term “Mon-Khmer” (mahn-kuh-MEHR) is usually used to refer to a family of languages spoken primarily in mainland Southeast Asia. These languages include Mon (primarily concentrated in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma), Khmer (also known as Cambodian), Muong, Khasi, Wa, and Vietnamese. Speakers of Mon-Khmer languages intermarried with speakers of other language groups in Southeast Asia, and languages spread across national and tribal groups, so it is difficult to trace the extent to which Mon-Khmer speakers have actually been cultural or genetic descendants of the ancient Mon-Khmer.
The Mon-Khmer people are believed to have migrated into Southeast Asia from southwest China or from the Khasi Hills in northwest India as early as 2000 b.c.e. The Mon, one of the primary subgroups of the Mon-Khmer, followed the Salween River in what is now Myanmar. Among Mon-Khmer groups, the Mon are generally believed to have retained the greatest cultural continuity with the ancient Mon-Khmer. The subgroup that became known as the Khmer migrated farther east into what is now Cambodia (also known as Kampuchea).
The Mon became the first people in Southeast Asia to take up the Buddhist religion. Beginning about the sixth century b.c.e., they created Buddhist kingdoms stretching throughout contemporary southeastern Myanmar and into contemporary Thailand. This early Buddhist civilization is known as Dvaravati. The people of the Dvaravati civilization maintained contact with India and played a critical part in transmitting Indian culture and religion to other civilizations in Southeast Asia. The Thai, Lao, Khmer, and Burmese languages all use variations of a Mon-Khmer writing system derived from the writing of India.
People thought to have been speakers of the Khmer branch of Mon-Khmer founded the early kingdoms of Funan and Chenla in what is now Cambodia in the first centuries of the common era. Like the Mon, the Khmer were heavily influenced by India, although early Khmer society drew more heavily on Hinduism than on Buddhism. About the third century c.e., the Khmer developed a version of Mon-Khmer writing that became the basis of the Cambodian, Thai, and Lao writing systems. About 790 c.e., a prince of a small Khmer kingdom, who claimed descent from the kings of Funan, took the name Jayavarman II and extended his power over a large part of Cambodia. This was the basis of the influential Angkor civilization, named after the huge temple complex built by the successors of Jayavarman II.
Bibliography
Brown, Robert L. The Dvaravati Wheels of the Law and the Indianization of Southeast Asia. New York: E. J. Brill, 1996.
Coedès, George. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1971.
Dumarçay, Jacques, and Michael Smithies. Cultural Sites of Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.