Mon-Khmern.adj.
/ˌməʊnˈkmɛː/, /ˌmɒnˈkmɛː/, /ˌməʊnkəˈmɛː/, /ˌmɒnkəˈmɛː/, U.S. /ˈmoʊnkəˈmɛ(ə)r/ A. n.
A group of Austro-Asiatic languages spoken in South-East Asia, of which the most important are Mon and Khmer.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Austric > [noun] > Austroasiatic > Mon-Khmer
Mon-Khmer1887
1887 Trans. Philol. Soc. 1885–6 428 The..Indo-Chinese division and its two branches Mōn-Khmer, and Taï-Shan.
1932 W. L. Graff Lang. & Langs. 417 Mon-Khmer comprises the three civilized languages Mon, Khmer, and Cham.
1964 S. Wavell Naga King's Daughter ii. 36 The Semelairs, whose unique language is Mon-Khmer, had lived on the lake as long as they could remember.
1977 C. F. Voegelin & F. M. Voegelin Classif. & Index World's Langs. 235 Mon-Khmer comprises seven branches and two ungrouped languages.
1999 Encycl. Brit. Online (Version 99.1) at Mon-Khmer languages There has been reluctance in the past in accepting Vietic, which includes Vietnamese, as a branch of Mon-Khmer.
B. adj.
1. Of, relating to, or designating this group of languages.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Austric > [adjective] > specific Austroasiatic
Annamitic1820
Annamite1843
Annamese1848
Santal1852
Munda1854
Khasi1855
Santalic1875
Mon-Khmer1887
Kol1903
Korku1906
Temiar1933
Mon1939
Vietnamese1947
1887 Trans. Philol. Soc. 1885–6 435 The numerals and many words belong to the Mōn-Khmer family.
1904 G. A. Grierson Ling. Surv. India II. 1 The Mōn-Khmēr languages are monosyllabic.
1936 Discovery July 205/2 The Mon-Khmer branch of the great linguistic family known as Austroasiatic.
1977 K. Katzner Langs. of World (U.K. ed.) iii. 344 There is one Mon-Khmer language in India—Khasi, with about 400,000 speakers.
1995 Guardian 28 Sept. i. 18/4 The Mon-Khmer family of languages was once spoken over a vast area of mainland South East Asia.
2. Of, relating to, or designating a people speaking a language of this group.
ΚΠ
1936 Discovery July 205/2 The Khasis and Syntengs are an isolated group of the great Mon-Khmer family.
1973 J. M. Maring & E. G. Maring Hist. Cultural Dict. Burma 147 Mon, a lowland Mon-Khmer ethnolinguistic group of Mongoloid racial stock.
1992 J. Silverberg & J. P. Gray Aggression & Peacefulness 225 Some of the ancestors of Malaysian Orang Asli were peasants cut off from their urban centers when the shadowy Mon-Khmer kingdom..fell to the..Thai armies.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1887