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Bru Tri Sketch

Eastern Bru Grammar Sketch Carolyn P Miller 2017 1. BACKGROUND

Eastern Bru (BRU) is an Austorasiatic of the Western sub-division of the Katuic Branch of Eastern Mon- . It is spoken mainly in the mountainous region of Quang Tri and Quang Binh of and in neighboring areas of Savannakhet in Laos. However, in 1968 several thousand Bru were resettled in Dac Lac province because of the war, and many of these people still live in the central highlands. Of an estimated population of around 100,000, 26,700 are living in Laos (2005 census) and 74,506 are living in Vietnam (2009 census). Because of the discrepancy in the way in which the group is calculated in Vietnam, the gives an estimate of 82,300 Eastern Bru speakers.

Although the term Bru is used by many languages of the Katuic subgroup of Mon-Khmer languages in Vietnam, Laos and , the variety described in this is the one referred to in the Ethnologue as “Eastern Bru.” The Eastern Bru are known in Laos as Bru Tri and in Vietnam as Bru Van Kieu. The term Van Kieu is an exoethnonym applied to a number of related groups, namely Tri, Khua, and Mangcong by the Vietnamese. (Ethnologue 2013) According to Gabor Vargyas, Hoang Van Ma and Ta Van Thong the term Van Kieu comes from old Vietnamese references to “Vien Kieu” or “Sakieu,” a mountain region or village. In some related languages, the term Bru means “mountain.” In the Bru Tri/Van Kieu language it simply means minority people or people of the mountains or jungle areas.

Traditionally the Bru have been rice swidden farmers, cutting and burning fields on mountainsides. In recent years government pressure against this type of agriculture as well as a large influx of lowlanders moving into their traditional areas have caused the Bru to diversify their agriculture and adapt to other ways of making a living.

The Bru have been primarily animists, and in some areas strongly maintain their animistic practices. However the upheaval of the war years and economic factors that have caused them to leave their traditional areas have led to many changes. Within the last two or three decades many have turned to Christianity, and Christian churches are found in most areas where the Bru live. The New Testament was printed in 1981 and went through several printings before it was revised and printed with the Psalms in 2009. A translation of the entire Bible was printed in 2014..

The Bru have had materials in their language in a modified Roman script since the 1960s as a result of the work of SIL, and some mother-tongue literacy efforts were begun in the 1970s, but these were interrupted during the war. Literacy among the Bru is less advanced on the Lao side. Writing Bru in has been investigated, but to date no materials have been distributed to teach Bru on the Lao side to read Bru in that script. Literacy efforts on both sides of the border have been in Roman script.

Descriptions of features of the Bru language were written during the 60s and 1970s by foreign researchers and by Vietnamese linguists during the 1980s. A listing of some of these is found in an appendix to this article.

1 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

2. PHONETICS/

2.1 Word/ structure Phonological words in Bru Tri as in other are either mono- or disyllabic. Because a word with two always has an unstressed first syllable and a dominant second syllable, these languages have sometimes been described as “sesqui-syllabic.”

Generally the pre-syllable consists of either a syllabic nasal which assimilates to the point of articulation of the initial consonant of the main syllable, or a consonant plus vowel, or consonant- vowel-consonant in which the vowel is usually a neutral mid-. Only in a very few words is the vowel of the pre-syllable differentiated to carry contrastive meaning. e.g. /kucit/ 'to die', /kacit 'to kill''. Rarely is a found initially in a pre-syllable, though a few examples exist. e.g. /blablɨəʔ/ 'flashing'. And consonants closing the pre-syllable are restricted to /m,n,ŋ,r,l/.

The main syllable of a word consists of an obligatory consonant (C1), an optional second consonant (C2), a vowel nucleus (V) and an optional final consonant (C3). If the initial consonant is a glottal stop, it is unwritten in roman script, but written in Lao script Bru. Eleven vowel nuclei can generally occur in one of two lengths and one of two registers. Ten off-glided may also occur in the vowel nucleus position.

The typical phonological word may be summarized as: (C V (C)) C(C) V (C)

2.2 inventory and phonotactics 2.2.1 Consonants Bru Tri consonants consist of the following:

Manner of Points of Articulation Articulation Bilabial Alveolar Alveolo Palatal Velar Glottal -palatal Stop [+asp.] **pʰ tʰ kʰ Stop [-vd] p t k ʔ Stop [+vd] b d [-vd] s h Affricate [-vd] c Nasal [+vd] m n ɲ ŋ Lateral [+vd] l Trill [+vd] r w* j [+vd]  The approximant /w/ is usually pronounced [v] when it is an initial consonant.  ** due to Vietamese and Lao influence the aspirated /pʰ/ is moving toward /f/. All consonants occur in the initial position of either syllable. Additionally the following consonant clusters occur syllable initially in the main syllable: /pl/, /pr/, /tr/, /thr/, /kl/, /kr/, /khr/, /bl/, /br/.

2 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

Consonants / pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, b, d, c, ɲ, s/ do not occur syllable finally. However, consonants /j/ and /w/ may occur with (or without) a glottal stop in final position of the main syllable e.g./sɜwʔ/ 'bad' or /bajʔ/ 'to bud'. Additionally found in this position is /jh/ which in some related languages patterns as a final /s/. e.g. /ʔajh/ 'swollen'.

2.2.2 Vowels Bru vowels consist in ten basic vowel positions. These occur in two constrastive lengths and two registers,, albeit with some areas of non-contrast (see below). Five glided nuclei occur in both registers, giving a total of forty one contrastive vowel nuclei. The basic positions for vowels are as follows: Front Central Back high i ɨ u mid e ə o mid-low ɛ ɜ ɔ low a ɒ Diphthongs iə ɨə uə ia ua The phonetic quality of these vowel nuclei has been described by Miller (1967), by Phillips, Miller and Miller (1976), as well as by Hoang Van Ma and Ta Van Thong (1998).

All of these occur in the V position of the main syllable. In the pre-syllable /a/ and /u/ occur, but these are often neutralized to /ə / in normal speech. Phonetic /i/ sometimes occurs following /c/ or /s/ but can also be neutralized to /ə/.

2.3 Suprasegmentals (tones, registers, ) The basic vowels may occur as either long or short and in one of two registers. The two registers (phonation types) are called in Bru /pre:ŋ/ ‘sound of a small ’ or /krɨ̤ ːm/ ‘sound of a large gong’. In other literature these are sometimes referred to as ‘light’ vs. ‘heavy’, ‘small ’ vs. ‘large voice’, ‘tense’ vs. ‘lax’, or ‘first ’ vs. ‘second register’. In Bru the registers may also be recognized in the high and mid vowels by lower tongue-height positions gliding to a slightly higher position for the tense vowels and in the low-mid and low vowels by slight on-gliding from a mid- central vowel at the onset of the lax vowel. The acoustic differences between the various vowel nuclei in Bru have been described in Miller (1967).

No register contrast has been noted for long /ɛ:/ in the studied by the author, but the contrast has been reported by Vuong Huu Le (1998:102) e.g. /lɛ:h/ ‘to untie’ vs. /lɛ̤ :h/ ‘slope’ /tɛ:h/ ‘stick of wood’ vs. /tɛ̤ :h/ ‘leech’

The short mid vowel has both /ə:/ and /ə̤ :/ counterparts. The mid-low vowel /ɜ/ is perceived as tense in nature and has only a second-register long counterpart /ɜ̤ ː/.

3 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

The five diphthongs occur in both registers are show below with examples..

Dipthongs High to mid High to Low

iə ia i̤ ə i̤ a ɨə ɨ̤ ə uə ua uə ua

/tiən/ ‘money’ /ti̤ ən/ ‘add to’ /tian/ ‘wrap tightly’ /ti̤ an/ ‘candle’

/cɨəŋ/ ‘well’ /cɨ̤ əŋ/ ‘give birth (pig)’

/cuəp/ ‘about to’ /c̤ uəp/ ‘around’

/tuaŋ/ ‘strike metal’ /tuaŋ/ ‘pipe stem’

2.4. and Word stress is always found on the final (main) syllable. Yes-no are often accompanied by rising intonation and use of the -final particle /tə:/. Other interrogatory sentences are marked by stress on the question marker.

2.5 and Rhyming Full-word reduplication is not common in Bru, though it is occasionally used for emphasis. E.g. /bi:ʔ-bi:ʔ/ ‘few’ or /kət-kət/ ‘small’ where reduplication of the word gives intensity.

A common feature of Mon-Khmer languages is the use of what has been variously termed expres- sives, ideophones, binomials, or double words (Watson 1980:76). In some cases these expressions have parts which are either rhyming or phonologically similar in some way. They may be very com- mon expressions or those which are created by the speaker.

Some of these expressions take a word which has meaning by itself and add a second word which has no meaning of its own simply to add fullness or weight to the expression. In many cases these show some form of reduplication or phonological similarity. For example, in the following list, the first word of the pair may be used on its own with the meaning indicated. The second word only oc- curs as an extension of the first.

4 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

/lə̤ :jʔ lə̤ :/ ‘play’ /raŋɨh rahə:/ ‘strength’ /krə̤ :ŋ krəw/ ‘possessions’ /hu:n hi:t/ ‘kiss’ (lit. ‘sniff’) /samɜ̤ :t samə̤ :j/ ‘certainly’

Others expressions take two words with similar meanings and put them together to strengthen or give emphasis to the whole. For example, both /kət/ and /kɨjʔ/ mean 'small'. Used together, they mean 'very small' or 'tiny'. The same is true of the other combinations given below. The use of two words which have the same general meaning either intensifies or makes the expression more complete.

/kət kɨjʔ/ 'tiny' /ʔiən kʰe:/ 'easy, peaceful' /rɜ̤ :p ri̤ əŋ/ 'appearance' /raŋɨh rahə:/ 'strength, labor' /pʰeʔ tʰu:/ 'deceive' /tah to̤ :jʔ/ 'discard' /bək cu:l/ 'injury, wound' /ŋi̤ :n kʰɔ:/ 'confess'

Some expressions convey a sense of picturesque speech, which in Bru is referred to as /patɔ:j səntɔ:jʔ/. It’s difficult to give a word for word translation for these, since some of the words do not have meaning of their own.

/kɨ pə:ʔ ceʔ cə:ŋ pə:ŋ taʔə:j, la̤ :t plaŋ baŋ kɔh./ I went everywhere buying and selling. /na̤ :w pə:ʔ tɜŋ kɔh tɜŋ ki̤ :ŋ They went all over the mountains. /ɲɛʔ tɨ:h kuaj pɨ̤ :n palɔ̤ :ŋ cutruʔ nɜj/ Everybody in the whole wide world /mah mu:n cin tapɨn ralua/ An expression for everything one owns. /bu:r ɲu:r bi̤ ər ɲi̤ ər/ Wet and untidy

3. WORD FORMATION

3.1 Compounding In some cases two items of a class are used to indicate the entire category or class (Anderson 1985:40). e.g. /do:j ravɛ:h/ rice + soup = 'food' /pria ʔacu:/ bushhook + knife = 'utensils' /ali̤ k tari̤ ak/ pig + buffalo = 'domestic animals' /doŋ su:/ house + shelter = 'family'

In other cases the joining of two items indicates place or purpose: /doŋ rahɜu/ house + medicine = ‘hospital’ /doŋ riən/ house + study = ‘school’

5 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

3.2 Derivational affixes 3.2.1 Deriving Though there are traces of derivational , these don't seem to be regular or predictable. Examples of these include /r/ or /r plus nasal/ changing a verb to a as in:

/pɛ:h/ ‘sweep’ and /parnɛ:h/ ‘broom’. /kuta:/ ‘vomit’ and /karta:/ ‘vomitus’ /pa:j/ ‘speak’ and /parna:j/ ‘speech, language’ /kajəm/ ‘wrap up’ and /karjəm/ ‘bundle’ /kla:j/ ‘wear loincloth’ and /sarla:j/ ‘loincloth’ /kahə:/ ‘breathe’ and /karhə:/ ‘breath’ /kacɔh/ ‘spit’ and /karcɔh/ ‘spittle’ /katɨp/ ‘close’ and /kartɨp/ ‘lid’ /tɜk/ ‘wear’ and /tampɜk/ ‘clothes’ /puə/ 'mix' and /tampuə/ 'mixture' /taʔ/ ‘do’ and /ranaʔ/ ‘work’ /ki̤ :/ ‘carry on back’ and /karni̤ :/ ‘back basket’

In other cases, a /ra/ changes a verb to a noun form.

/muat/ 'glean' and /ramuat/ 'gleanings' /clɔ/ 'to wedge' and /raclɔ/ 'a wedge' /mo̤ :t/ 'knead or squeeze' and /ramo̤ :t/ 'piece of something squeezed together' /bo:k/ 'grab with the hand' and /rabo:k/ 'a handful' /klɔ̤ :ŋ/ 'tunnel through' and /ralɔ̤ :ŋ/ 'hole or tunnel' /kla̤ :jh/ 'to lock' and /rala̤ :jh/ 'a lock'

Another common way of deriving nouns is through compounding. For example, the /ɒk/ is used to quanitfy small objects. E.g. /ɒc rahəu/ ‘Cl + medicine’ = ‘pill’. But when used with a stative verb it becomes a nominalizer.

/ranga̤ jʔ/ ‘wise’ / ʔɒc ranga̤ jʔ/ ‘wisdom’ /ʔɔ:/ ‘good’ / ʔɒc ʔɔ:/ ‘goodness’ /ʔajɔ̤ :ʔ/ ‘love (v)’ / ʔɒc ʔajɔ̤ :ʔ/ ‘love (n)’

For some objects the noun /krə:ŋ/ ‘thing’ is used with a verb to create a noun.

/ca:/ ‘eat’ /krə:ŋ ca:/ ‘food’

Or the noun /ramɨh/ ‘name’ may be used with a stative verb to produce a noun.

/ ramɨh ʔaʔi:/ ‘name + sick = illness’

3.2.2 Verb affixation Some verbs take a prefix /a/. These are often, but not always, verbs of motion, and in many cases change the verb from intransitive to transitive.

6 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

/co:n/ ‘go up’ /ʔaco:n/ ‘lift up (cause to go up)’ /sɛ:ŋ/ ‘go down’ /ʔasɛ:ŋ/ ‘let down (cause to go down)’ /lɒ̤ :h/ ‘go out’ /ʔalɒ̤ :h/ ‘take out (cause to go out)’ /mu:t/ ‘enter’ /ʔamu:t/ ‘put in (cause to enter)’

In some cases in addition to the prefix /a/, a change of register is noted: /ri̤ ən/ ‘study’ /ʔariən/ ‘teach (cause to study)’ /mo̤ jh/ 'rise up' /amojh/ 'raise up'

In other cases, causation is shown by the prefix /pa/ or /pu/ where the initial consonant is /p/.

/rɨ̤ əh/ 'choose' /parɨ̤ əh/ 'give a choice to' /sɜŋ/ 'hear' /pasɜŋ/ 'cause to hear' /siəl/ 'smooth' /pasiəl/ 'make smooth' /yu:r/ 'wet' /payu:r/ 'sprinkle' /yu:t/ 'late' /payu:t/ 'make late' /pɨt/ 'lost' /pupɨt/ 'wipe out' /pət/ 'go out (fire)' /pupət/ 'extinguish'

The infix /r/ or the prefix /ra/ is found with a fairly large number of verbs to give a sense of reciprocal or mutual activity.

/kacih/ ‘kick’ /karcih/ ‘kick each other’ /kacaŋ/ ‘laugh /karcaŋ/ ‘laugh together /kacuk/ ‘incite’ /karcuk/ ‘stir up trouble’ /bu:j/ ‘happy’ /rabu:j/ ‘happy together’ /piən/ ‘change’ /rapiən/ ‘exchange’ /suən/ ‘deny’ /rasuən/ ‘argue’ /ɲi̤ əm/ ‘weep’ /raɲi̤ əm/ ‘weep together’ /cil/ ‘fight’ /racil/ ‘fight each other’ /taʔ/ 'harm' /rataʔ/ 'provoke each other /racil rataʔ/ 'do battle' /le̤ :ʔ/ 'change' /rale̤ :ʔ/ 'exchange' /cɛ:ʔ/ 'near' /racɛ:ʔ/ 'close to each other' /cɛ:ʔ racɛ:ʔ/ 'side by side' /ci:m/ 'test' /raci:m/ 'check each other out' /ke̤ :t/ 'hate' /rake̤ :t/ 'hate each other'

In other cases it carries a sense of multiple participants or multiple actions.

/cɔʔ/ 'put in place' /racɔʔ/ 'put together, assemble' /dɨ:ŋ/ 'bring, take' /radɨ:ŋ/ 'bring multiple people' /ʔək/ 'pull' /raʔək/ 'multiple people pull or pull in multiple directions' /kiaʔ/ 'keep watch' /rakiaʔ/ 'persistently go after' /kaci:t/ ‘fight’ /karchi:t/ ‘fight each other, fight among themselves’ /cuaj/ ‘help’ /racuai/ ‘help each other, or help on a continuing basis’

7 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

In some cases a prefixed /r/ carries a sense of a resulting state.

/taloh/ ‘destroy’ /raloh/ ‘ruined’ /pi̤ əjʔ/ ‘right’ /rapi̤ əjʔ/ ‘in accord with’ /bləh/ ‘ask’ /rabləh/ ‘interrogate, judge’ /tah/ ‘discard’ /ratah/ ‘separate’ /pial/ ‘twist’ /rapial/ ‘twisted’ /haʔ/ 'tear' /rahaʔ/ 'torn'

3.3 Reduplication Partial reduplication in some words signals ongoing, habitual, or repeated activity:

/pə:ʔ ‘go’ /pupə:ʔ/ ‘is going’ /taʔ/ ‘do, make /tutaʔ/ ‘is doing, making’ /ca:/ ‘eat’ /cica:/ ‘is eating’ /pɜn/ ‘shoot’ /pupɜn/ ‘go hunting’ /ca̤ :t/ 'stab' /cuca̤ :t/ 'plant by stabbing holes in the ground' /pɛ:h/ 'sweep' /pupɛ:h/ 'do the usual sweeping' /ʔən/ 'comand' /ʔuʔən/ 'customarily tell people what to do'

In other cases, reduplication indicates inappropriate or unsanctioned activity.

/la̤ :j/ 'talk' /lula̤ :j/ 'complain' /pa:j/ 'to speak' /pupa:j/ 'speak badly of' /pɜ̤ :jʔ/ 'to cut down' /pupɜ̤ :jʔ/ 'to cut down inappropriately' /pi:h/ 'to break' /pupi:h/ 'to break badly/ /plu:t/ 'to blow' /puplu:t/ 'blow inappropriately' /ba:p/ 'woe, misfortune' /puba:p/ 'to pronounce woe'

4. PHRASE AND CLAUSE STRUCTURE 4.1 Simple sentences 4.1.1 Declarative The common word order for the in Bru is Subject, generally filled by a , plus a Verb Complex which may include an Indirect and/or a Direct Object, depending on the verb. (See section 5.2)

Intransitive Clause ʔŋkiʔ ʔan cu: la̤ h pə: doŋ ʔan. thus 3SG return again DIR house 3SG ‘So he returned again to his home.’ cə: heʔ luh pə: vi̤ :l acɨm e:n then 1PL ran dir. village achum more ‘Then we ran to the village of Achum instead.’ kɨʔ beʔ tua tɜŋ taŋaj ki̤ I slept ill on day that ‘I slept because of sickness that day.’

8 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch palɔ̤ :ng mi̤ ə cɜ̤ :n lɨʔ sky rain heavy very ‘It rained heavily.’

Transitive Clause naa̤ : w ceʔ cə:ŋ hɨ:t salaj they buy sell tobacco ‘They buy & sell tobacco.ʼ mɜ̤ :m ki kɨʔ ramɔh mɒ:ʔ asuəm after that I met miss asuam ‘After that I met Miss Asuam.ʼ

Ditransitive Clause cə aləj yo:n kɨʔ rahɜw then they gave me medicine ‘Then they gave me medicine.’

Very few unambiguous ditransitive are found in the texts, and most of them involve the verb /jo:n/ ‘give’. More common are the benefactive uses of /jo:n/ or corresponding malefactive uses of /cɔʔ/. tabaj miʔ apɒŋ jo:n heʔ du: thɨ: rakaw plane US dropped for us every kind rice ‘The American planes dropped us all kinds of rice. ranaʔ ki̤ : la yiaŋ sɜwʔ sapah yo:n kɨʔ daŋ thing that COP spirit bad showed give me know ‘A bad spirit revealed that thing to me..’ na̤ :w pəh pʰi̤ :m yo:n heʔ ɲe̤ :ŋ they open film give us see ‘They showed us a film.’ kɨʔ yo:n ku:ʔ jiəm bləh amɒ:ʔ kət kəp dɒ:ʔ va̤ :n yo:n kɨʔ I give uncle yiem ask miss small and put brideprice for me ‘I requested Uncle Yiem to ask Miss Small and to deposit a brideprice for me.’ mɔ kəp pana̤ :h lɨʔ tə: te̤ :ʔ taʔ ntrəw cɔʔ heʔ shaman and spirits surely not able do anything toward us ‘Shamans and spirits surely cannot do anything to us’

4.1.2 sentences A declarative sentence can be made interrogative by the use of the negative marker at the end of the sentence. Or by adding the marker ‘or not‘. an bɨ:n kɔ:n tə: 3SG have child QUE ‘Does he have a child?’

9 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch məj sɜŋ ma: tə: bɨ:n you hear or not have ‘Do you hear or not?’

Question words introduce interrogative sentences. These also may function as indefinite adverbs as shown in section (5.3.2). These include:

/ntrəw/ What ntrəw ka: ʔnnɜ̤ :r tɜŋ sarɨŋ doŋ haj what REL making-noise in loft house our ‘What is that making noise in the loft of our house?’

/na̤ :w/ Who na̤ :w ma: pla: ki̤ : ə:jʔ who REL bad that EXCL ‘Who is it who is so bad?’

/nɒʔ/ Why, How nɒʔ nɜ:ŋ tə: yuah lɒ̤ :h sia te: ntoʔ ʔaki̤ : why still not yet come-out from place there ‘Why have you still not left that place?’ nɒʔ ma: daŋ seʔ taŋaj nɜj cə:… how REL know how-many days this already ‘How can we know how many days already…?’

/ʔnlɛʔ/ or /lɛʔ/ Where

ɲɛʔ kɔ:n ɲɛʔ ʔakan tɛ: nlɛʔ bɨ:n ʔali̤ :k, bɨ:n ʔasɛh, bɨ:n ʔntrɒ̤ :ʔ, bɨ:n ʔntruəj te: all males all females from where have pigs, have horses, have cows, have chickens from lɛʔ where ‘All the animals are from where? There are pigs, horses, cows, and chickens from where?’

/bɔ lɛʔ/ or /ho:j lɛʔ/ When ho:j lɛʔ məj rakɜ̤ :jʔ kəp ni̤ aŋ ʔ anɜj when you marry with girl this ‘When did you marry this girl?’

/…lɛ:ʔ/ Which kuaj ʔalɛʔ doʔ tɜ̤ :ʔ nik dɒʔ cə;ŋ krə̤ :ŋ te: məj nɜj person which usually come always put buy things from you here ‘Which person always comes here to buy things from you?’

10 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

4.1.3 Imperative sentences Imperative sentences frequently lack a subject, because the subject is understood to be the hearer. In most cases, however, they also include the modal auxiliary /kɔʔ/ ‘must’ or negative /co:j/ ‘don’t’. In some cases only the context and intonation indicate the statement is imperative. sɛʔ co:j taʔ ʔŋkiʔ please don’t do that ‘Please don’t do that!’ sanua məj taʔ doŋ saraj muəj naʔ məj now you make house field one person you ‘Now you work at home by yourself! kɔn ə:j, pə:ʔ, pə:ʔ tɜ̤ :p te: doŋ haj nɜj Child VOC go, go immediately from house us here ‘Go, child, go immediately from our house!’

ɜw! kʰɜn ʔŋkiʔ, ki̤ : kɔʔ ʔaɲi̤ a pə:ʔ ɲe̤ :ŋ ci̤ :m nə̤ : oh if thus, CJ must you go see try huh ‘Oh! If it’s like that, you must go and check, okay?’

ʔŋkiʔ ʔaɲi̤ a co:j krɒ̤ :ʔ ŋkɒh ntrəw thus you don’t worry fear anything ‘So then, don’t worry about anything.’ sanua ʔaɲi̤ a kɔʔ pə:ʔ la̤ ;h pə: ntoʔ pʰeːp ɲak ki̤ : da:jh! now 2PL must go again DIR place creature that EXCL ‘Now you must go back to the place of the Phep Nhac!’

4.1.4 Equational & Topic-Comment Sentences The word /la/ functions in multiple ways, but one of these is as a in equational sentences or to introduce the comment in topic-comment sentences. The word /kə:t/ ‘become’ sometimes also func- tions in this way heʔ la: kalə: 1PL COP friends ‘We are friends.’

ʔali̤ k heʔ cə:ŋ nɜj la: tɜ̤ :r lɨʔ pig 1PL buy this COP large very ‘This pig we bought is very big.’ heʔ la: kə:t ravɛ:h ʔaləj, deh ʔaɲi̤ a kə:t ravɛh ʔaləj te̤ :, kʰɜn ʔaləj bɨn we COP become food they, even you become food they also, if they have ‘We will become food for them, even you will become food for them too, if they get you.’

4.2 Complex sentences 4.2.1 Coordination In some cases, clauses or phrases are simply joined as a series without grammatical marking, though sometimes in these cases the preposition /kəp/ indicates the final item.

11 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch co:j ə:t tɜŋ ʔarɨ̤ :jh, sarɨŋ sɒk, plə:m ca:, mi̤ a puh, ʔaʔi takɔh, kɜp ŋua parŋɛh. don’t stay in jungle vegetation choke, leech eat, rain beat, sickness fever, and sad lonely. ‘Don’t stay in the jungle where the forest will choke you, leeches feed on you, rain beat on you, and you will have sickness and loneliness.’

The most frequently used , /kəp/ ‘and, with’, is used to join at all levels - word, phrase, clause and sentence. caran nɜj bɨ:n ramɨh ʔnnɛʔ: pajuəl kɜp taju: animals these have names thus: payuol &tayu ‘The animals had these names: Payuol and Tayu.’

ʔŋkiʔ bɨ:n saʔɨj lɨʔ ti̤ aw kala:ŋ klɔ:k nɜj bək cu:l kɜp kuci:t thus have many very eagles this hurt injured and die ‘So there were many eagles injured and dead.’ pi̤ əjʔ lɨʔ la ʔaləj kɔʔ bi: kəp kɔʔ ʔaləj kuci:t, ma: nɜ̤ :ŋ kə:t tamɔ̤ :ŋ ɲɛ:ʔ la̤ :h correct very COP they must hurt and must they die, but still become live all again ‘Really they should be hurt and they must die, but still all of them come to life again’

ʔŋkiʔ ta̤ :w tɜ̤ :ʔ tɜŋ taŋaj nɜj taju: lɨʔ ʔɒʔ nɜ̤ :ŋ li̤ əjh ʔan. kəp pajuəl la: lɨʔ tə: bɨ:n so until arrive in day this tayu INT 3SG lack tongue 3SG. And payuol COP INT not have bɨ:n nɜ̤ :ŋ kanɛ:ŋ ʔan have still teeth 3SG ‘So until today Tayu (flying fox) has no tongue. And Payuol (anteater) has no teeth.’

Other prepositions show contrastive coordination /ma:/, optional coordination /tə: la:/, and inclusion /deh/. ntrəw ʔaɲi̤ a e: bɨ:n la te̤ :ʔ ʔaɲi̤ a pa:i, bi:ʔ tə: la saʔɨ:j ʔaɲi̤ a e: bɨ:n, ki̤ : ʔɜw what 2PL FUT have COP can 2PL say, little or much 2PL FUT have, JCT EXCL ʔaɲi̤ a tiŋ pa:j 2PL say ‘Whatever you want you can say, however little or much you want, Oh! You simply say it.’ heʔ sɜŋ cə: mah parna:j ʔaɲi̤ a ʔatə:ŋ heʔ ʔaʔɛ:m nɜj, ma: heʔ se:ʔ saʔə:n ʔaɲi̤ a 1PL hear already PL word 2PL tell 1PL yng-sib this but 1PL request thank 2PL lɨʔ saʔɨ:j INT much ‘We heard what you told us (younger sibling), but we want to thank you very much.’ ʔŋkiʔ ʔaləj ceʔ ntɜŋ lɨʔ, deh praʔ ye:ŋ, deh tari̤ ak e:n hə:. so 3PL sell heavy INT including silver gold, including buffalo addition also ‘So they sell very expensively things such as silver and gold and buffalos also.

4.2.2 Relative Clauses Relative clauses in Bru are usually marked by /ka:/ or /ma:/. The former is by far the most frequent.

12 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch ma: ta̤ :w tɜ̤ :ʔ doŋ ka: ɘ:t tɜŋ ʔarɨ̤ :jh rɨŋ sarɨŋ... but until arrive house REL be in jungle... ‘But until he came to the house which was in the jungle....’

ʔan ka: lɨʔ pla: hə:n nɜj tɜ̤ :ʔ tɜŋ kruaŋ haj. 3SG REL INT wicked more this arrive in country 2PL ‘This one who is more wicked arrived in our country.’ lɨʔ tə: bɨ:n te: kɨʔ ma: ən ʔaləj taʔ ʔŋkiʔ cɔʔ ʔaɲi̤ a. INT not have from me REL order 3PL do this against you. ‘Surely it was not I who told them to do this to you.’

4.2.3 Complement clauses Verbs such as ‘see’, ‘know’, ‘hear’, ‘say’, or ‘be possible’ may take complement clauses. These do not take any overt grammatical marker. cə: tasuə nɜj hɨ:m nɜ̤ :ŋ la̤ :h muəj tʰro:ʔ ŋha:ŋ sɜŋ. then tasuo this saw still again one number bone only ‘Then Tasuo saw that there were still only a few bones.’

ʔŋkiʔ to:p ti̤ aw kala:ŋ klɔ:k nɜj cancəm pa:j la ʔan ʔa:j, ma: lɨʔ ʔan la to: taŋu:. thus group eagles this think say COP 3SG old-sib, but INT 3SG COP body Tangu ‘So the group of eagles thought that he was the older sibling, but really he was Tangu himself.’

ʔŋkiʔ tɨ: ni̤ aŋ nɜj sɜŋ lɨʔ to:p ti̤ aw kala:ŋ klɔ:k nɜj lɨʔ ʔe: kaci:t ciʔ kaja:k ʔan... thus when girls this heard INT group eagles this INT want kill IMP husband 3SG ‘So when the girl heard that surely these eagles really wanted to kill her husband...’

ʔŋkiʔ ʔaləj daŋ ʔaɲa: tɜŋ vi̤ :l cicuaʔ kuaj ka kʰɔjʔ kaci:t kəp pʰɛp ɲa:k ki̤ :. thus 3PL know anha in village look-for person REL PST kill with creature that ‘So they knew that Anha in the village was looking for the person who fought with those creatures.’

4.2.4 Adverbial Clauses 4.2.4.1 Time Time in Bru is frequently indicated by a typically at the start of a sentence, and is generally introduced by one of the following:

/mɜ̤ :m/ ‘finished’ /bɔ:/ ‘when, while’ /ʔŋ̹ keʔ/ ‘shortly’ /nə: ra/ ‘in the future’ /te: ʔm̹ bɒʔ/. ‘long ago’ /du:n/ ‘for a long time’ /ɲuaŋ/ ‘before’ /ʔn̹ tun/ ‘after’ /ʔm̹ bə:jʔ/ ‘just recently’ /ho:j/ ‘when’ /tɜ̤ :ʔ/ ‘when’

13 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

The main clause may then be preceded by either /ki̤ :/ or /ʔŋkiʔ/. ho:j cɛ:ʔ e: di: dɜw lɨʔ cə̤ :… when near FUT midnight INT already ‘When it was nearly midnight already…’ tɨ: mɜ̤ ːm tasuə, a:j taŋu: nɜj. taʔ ciʔ ba:r lam caran nɜj chə:, when finish tasuo old-sib tangu this do IMP two CL animal this already,

ʔŋkiʔ ʔan par ʔaco:n tapu:n la̤ :h ʔaʔɛ:m ʔan la: taŋu:. thus 3SG fly raise follow again yng-sib 3SG COP Tangu. ‘When Tasuo, Tangu’s older brother, finished off the two animals, he flew up following his younger brother Tangu.’

An ongoing action is sometimes signalled by the pre-verb /ʔnto̤ :m/

/ʔnto̤ :m ca:/ ‘is currently eating’ /ʔnto̤ :m beʔ/ ‘is currently sleeping’ /nto̤ :m na̤ :u pro:m pra̤ :j ba:w ki̤ :/ ‘they are currently gathering the citizens’

4.2.4.2 Condition Conditional clauses usually start with the preposition /kʰɜn/ ‘if’. Very often /ki̤ :/ or /ʔŋkiʔ/ marks the beginning of the result clause kʰɜn ho:j lɛʔ ʔa:i hɨ̤ :m pi̤ ar pə: məj nɜj ŋo̤ :t, if whenever old-sib see flower DIR 2SG this wilt,

ki̤: kɨʔ ʔaʔɛ:m kʰɔjʔ bɨ:n ramɨh tuh ka̤ :t cə:. that yng-sib PST have name difficult already… ‘If ever you (older brother) see this flower that is in your possession wilt, then I (younger brother) am in trouble.’ khɜn na̤ :w daŋ haj kʰɔjʔ kə:t lakuəj kaja:k cə:, if 3IND know 1PL PST become wife husband already

ʔŋkiʔ haj ba:r naʔ nɜj la ʔaləj kaci:t ɲɛ:ʔ lɜ̤ :ŋ. thus 1PL two CL this COP 3PL kill completely ‘If they know that we are married, they will kill both of us.’ kʰɜn jɔ:k ʔe: tamɔ̤ :ŋ, ki̤: la:ŋ ʔasɛ:ŋ dajh te: ntoʔ ʔanɜj də: if want FUT live, CNJ go-down down EXCL from place here EMPH ‘If you want to live, get down immediately from here.’

4.2.4.3 Purpose A purpose clause generally follows the main clause, and is marked by /dɒ:ʔ/ ‘put’ or /jo:n/ ‘give’ or a combination of these to mean ‘in order that’.

…ma: ʔan tɔ̤ :ʔ ʔmpe:r ki̤ : tɜ̤ :p dɒ:ʔ tutuajʔ te: doŋ cu: saraj …but 3SG hid around that IMMED PURP spy about house DIR field ‘...but he hid close by in order to spy out the house in the field.’

14 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

haj bɨ:n doŋ su: la dɒ:ʔ jo:n yəw baj clah clə̤ ː ʔəjʔ. we have house-shelter COP PURP give friend visit ESCL ‘We have a home so that our friends can come and visit!’

4.2.4.4 Concession Two markers are generally used with concessive clauses. These are /lɨʔ pa:j/ or /ta:m/ to mean ‘al- though’. Very often the main clause is then preceded by /ma/ or /la/.

ʔŋkiʔ tɜŋ muəj sadɜw ki, lɨʔ pa:j ʔan sɜŋ nɜ̤ :r saʔɨ̤ :j tro:, la: ʔan tə: bɨ:n taʔ bo:ʔ nɜ̤ :ŋ. Thus in one night that, although 3SG hear noise many tie, COP 3SG NEG do mouth still. ‘So during that night, although he heard a noise many time, he didn’t say anything.’

lɨʔ pa:j heʔ tə: bɨ:n ə:t ʔndoŋ, la: tə: bɨ:n ntrəw ka: taʔ kalə: ə̤ :j. although 1PL NEG at home, COP NEG anything REL do friend VOC ‘Even though we are not at home, it doesn’t matter at all, friend.’

ʔŋkiʔ te̤ :ʔ ʔaɲi̤ a ʔi:t da:w nɜj dɨ:ŋ ʔacu:, ta:m ʔaɲi̤ a ʔe: taʔ. thus also 2PL take sword this bring back, whatever 2PL want do. ‘So you can take this sword and bring it home, whatever you want to do.’

4.3 Deixis Bru has a well developed series of deictics which play an important role in the grammar of the lan- guage. They distinguish three levels of distance and in a more abstract way, they may refer to a situ- ation or to a speech act. The table below gives the more common deictics:

The following table shows the deictic markers used in a Bru text.

Near Far Farther Deictic nɜj ‘this’ ki̤ : ‘that’ tih ‘that over there’ ʔanɜi ‘this one’ ʔaki̤ : ‘that one’ ʔatih ‘that one over there’ Locative ʔnnɜj ‘here’ ʔŋki̤ : ‘there’ Abstract ʔnnɛ:ʔ ‘like this’ ʔŋki̤ :ʔ ‘thus’

In addition to the usual meaning of ‘this’ and ‘that,’/nɜj/ and /ki̤ :/ have discourse functions on a num- ber of levels as discussed in (Miller 2001:19). With some other words also the location marker /tɜŋ/ can be shortened to a prefix. (e.g. ʔndoŋ/ ‘at home’. /ʔnɛ:ʔ/ is commonly used to in- troduce lists or to introduce direct quotation. /ʔŋki̤ ʔ/ is frequently used clause initially to mean ‘so’ or ‘therefore’.

4.4 Noun phrases In a 1961 article, C. Miller describes the fully expanded Noun Phrase as , Classifier, Noun Head, Modifier, Demonstrative, Possessor, Location. She notes that the fully expanded phrase rarely occurs in text, but is more commonly broken into two phrases or clauses. The only required item is the Noun Head, which is omitted only if it is understood from the context. The Noun Head may be a classifiable or non-classifiable noun or (5.1.1,2, or 3).

15 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

ɲɛ:ʔ tapɜ̤ :t tapu:l lam ʔali̤ :k all six seven CL pig All six or seven pigs

ɲɛ:ʔ ʔaləj ki̤ : all 3PL there All of them mah kuaj… PL person People

ɲɛ:ʔ naʔ heʔ all CL 1PL We all

The modifier position may be filled by one or more /stative verbs, a dependent verb phrase describing state, location, time, or instrument, or by a modifier plus relative phrase or clause. Deic- tics & location markers also occur in this position. The possessor may be given by a noun or pronoun with or without the overt possessor marker /khɔŋ/. A personal pronoun or name as the noưn head cannot be possessed. doŋ tɜ̤ :r kʰɔŋ kɨʔ… House big POSS 1SG ‘My big house…’

ɲɛ:ʔ tapɜ̤ :t tapu:l ʔali̤ :k kuci:t ki… all six seven pigs dead those… ‘All six or seven of those dead pigs…’ mah ʔali̤ :k ʔmpi̤ : kɨʔ si̤ əm ki̤ :... PL pigs mother 1SG feed those ‘Those pigs my mother is feeding there…’

5. WORD CLASSES In his 1964 article, J. Miller gives 27 different word classes in Bru. He defines these primarily by co-occurrence possibilities and describes the major classes of Nouns, Verbs and Modifiers. He groups others words into categories of Adverbials, Nominal Subordinates, and Connectives and presents some particles and interjections.

5.1 Nouns Nouns are further subdivided as those which can be classified or not. Those not able to occur with a classifier include countable and non-countable nouns.

5.1.1 Classifiable nouns Nouns which may occur with a classifier are a very large class. These tend to be discrete in nature. E.g /ahɔ:/ ‘bamboo’, /cɜ̤ :jʔ/ ‘paper’, /kuaj/ ‘person’, /ayə:/ ‘blanket’, etc.

16 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

5.1.2 Non-classifiable nouns Non-classifiable nouns include those which are non-discrete or non-segmentable. Some can be counted, such as /kumɔ:/ ‘year’ or /ʔaca̤ :ŋ/ ‘armspan’, and some, such as /də:ʔ/ ‘water’, or /pʰiak/ ‘smoke’ cannot. Words of measure and quantity fit in this category.

5.1.3 Common Bru pronouns are given in the chart below. Since there is no passive verb form in Bru, the 3ʳᵈ person plural indefinite form of the pronoun functions in cases where an actor is unspecified or unknown.

Singular Plural 1st kɨʔ hɛʔ (exclusive) hai (inclusive) 2nd məj ʔanhia 3ʳᵈ ʔan ʔaləi (definite) na̤ :w (indefinite)

5.1.3.1 Indefinite Pronouns Miller (1988) lists a group of words which can be used either as indefinite pronouns or as . Examples of these are the words /n̜ trəw/ ‘what’, /lɛʔ/ ‘where’, /na̤ :w/ ‘who’. E.g ʔn̜ trəw məj taʔ ‘What are you doing?’ kɨʔ tə: bɨn taʔ ʔn̜ trəw ‘I am not doing anything.’ pə: lɛʔ məj pə:ʔ ‘Where are you going? kɨʔ tə: bɨn pə:ʔ pə: lɛʔ ‘I am not going anywhere.’

5.1.4 Names and Terms of Address Bru names generally reflect the status of a person. Children are given a name which is often preceded by /ʔa:j/ if it is a boy and /ʔamɒʔ/ if it is a girl. For a young man newly married, the term of address is /kʰə:j/ often followed by the name of the village where he took a wife. The term of address for the young woman is/kan tamaj/. When the couple has a child, their names change to /ʔmpa̤ :ʔ/ ‘father’ and /ʔmpi̤ :ʔ/ ‘mother’ followed by the name of their child. Similarly with the first grandchild, the names become /ʔacuajh/ ‘grandfather’ and /ʔaya̤ :ʔ/ ‘grandmother’ followed by the name of the child. Still later, if they live long enough, they may become /ʔace̤ :h/ ‘great-grandfather’ and /ʔaje̤ :/ ‘great-grandmother’ of their first great-grandchild.

Parents-in-law are not addressed by the singular pronouns used to address other people. Plural pronouns are used for oneself and the parent-in-law. Older people say this is true of very respected figures of authority, such as the king, but since there is very little chance now of addressing such a personage in Bru, this is known only through folk stories.

The chart below shows Bru address terms from most respectful to most common: More formal/polite Less formal/polite 1ST SG ʔabɒh hɛʔ hɛʔ kinship term kɨʔ 2ND SG/ PL na̤ :w karsa:j na̤ :w ʔan ʔaɲi̤ a kin term (+) məj 3rd SG

17 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

5.1.5 Kinship terms

J. Miller (1964) described in some detail the kinship system of Bru. Following are some of the more common kinship terms used in Bru as they relate to a male ego /kɨʔ/:

Grandfather ʔacuajh Grandmother ʔaja̤ :ʔ Mother ʔmpi̤ :ʔ Father ʔmpa̤ :ʔ Older brother/older male cousin ʔa:j Older sister/older female cousin ʔə:j Younger brother or sister ʔaʔe:m Wife lakuəj Wife’s mother jaka:n Wife’s father jaku:n Child kɔ:n Daughter-in-law kumɜn Son-in-law parti̤ am Grandchild cɜw Niece/nephew ramɔ:n

5.2 Verbs 5.2.1 Intransitive verbs (See 4.1.1) Intransitive verbs are those which cannot take an object such as: /taku:/ ‘sit’ /tajɨŋ/ ‘stand’ /ɲiam/ ‘cry’, etc. Included in this category are directional verbs such as: /pə:ʔ/ ‘go’ /luh/ ‘run’ /ʔə:t/ ‘stay’

5.2.2 Transitive verbs (See 4.1.1) Transitive verbs are those which may take an object such as: /hɨ:m/ ‘see’ /taʔ/ ‘make’ /tɜ̤ :n/ ‘hit’ /uat/ ‘sing’.

5.2.3 Ditransitive verbs Ditransitive verbs are those which can take an indirect object as well as a direct object. Examples of this are: /jo:n/ ‘give’ /na̤ :p/ ‘count, consider’ /tah/ ‘discard’.

18 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

As noted earlier, most of the verbs that are semantically ditransitive involve the use of the verb /jo:n/ ‘give’ to mark the beneficiary, such as: /taq jo:n/ ‘do for’ /apah jo:n/ ‘show for’

5.2.4 Existential verbs The most common existential verb in Bru is /bɨ:n/ ‘have, be’. Also functioning in this capacity is the verb /kə:t/ ‘become’.

5.3 Adverbials Adverbials consist of words that modify in some way the verb or verb phrase. These include time, manner, negativity, frequency, etc.

5.3.1 Time Time is often indicated by markers within the main action clauses of the text. The following chart notes some of these and examples are given below. The relative frequency of their use in one text is shown below. (Miller 2001)

Perfective action NP VP cəə̤ : 662 occurrences Future action NP ʔe: VP 138 occurrences cṳ: ma̤ :t NP VP 1 occurrence Completed action NP kʰɔjʔ VP 136 occurrences Unrealized action NP (tə:) juahVP 22 occurrences NP VP (tə:) juah 16 Immediate action NP VP tɜ̤ :p 40 occurrences Preliminary action NP VP va̤ :j 27 occurrences Accompanying action ʔntə̤ :n NP…ʔntə̤ :n NP 5 occurrences Imminent future ʔŋkeʔ NP VP 5 occurrences ʔnto̤ :m NP e: VP 5 occurrences NP cɛ: ʔe: VP 4 occurrences Consecutive action ʔntṳ:n NP VP 5 occurrences vət NP VP 2 occurrences NP ta̤ :w tɜ̤ :ʔ VP 7 occurrences

Very frequently the marker for completed action and the marker for perfective action occur together as: /kʰɔjʔ VP cəə̤ :/. The future marker /ʔe:/ often has an intentional or desiderative meaning (‘want to’), which is made explicit in 60 of the 138 occurrences noted above by an accompanying /jɔ:k/ ‘want’

Times relative to the present are expressed by a word which follows the word /taŋaj/ ‘day’.

/taŋaj nɜj/ ‘today’ /taŋaj parnəː/ ‘tomorrow’ /taŋaj praː/ ‘day after tomorrow’ /taŋaj praːj/ ‘three days from now’ /taŋaj prɛh/ ‘four days from now’ /taŋaj prɨt/ ‘five days from now’ /taŋaj pruat/ ‘six days from now’

19 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

/taŋaj mahaj/ ‘yesterday’ /taŋaj ʔntri̤ a/ ‘day before yesterday’ /taŋaj ʔntraːj/ ‘two days ago’ /taŋaj ʔntre̤ ːh/ ‘three days ago’ /taŋaj ʔntro̤ ːn/ ‘four days ago’

Within the day, time is marked by the position of the /manda:ŋ/ ‘sun’.

/mandaːŋ rə:ʔ/ ´first light /mandaːŋ lɒ̤ ːh/ ‘sunrise’ /mandaːŋ coːn/ ‘early morning’ /mandaːŋ cah (kɛː)/ ‘mid-morning /maːndaːŋ kuːvəː tɜ̤ ːŋ/ ‘nearly noon’ /maːndaːŋ tɜ̤ ːŋ/ ‘noon’ /maːndaːŋ vi̤ ːh tɜ̤ ːŋ/ ‘early afternoon’ /maːndaːŋ pri̤ aŋ/ ‘mid afternoon’ /maːndaːŋ raːlɔh/ ‘late afternoon’ /maːndaːŋ taːhoːr/ ‘almost sunset’ /maːndaːŋ ŋe̤ ːt/ ‘sun going down’ /maːndaːŋ pɜt/ ‘sunset complete’

More general expressions for time are: /tarɨp/ ‘morning’ /tabɨʔ/ ‘ afternoon, evening’ /sadɜw/ ‘night’ /didɜw/ ‘midnight’

5.3.2 Indefinite adverbs The interrogative use of these adverbs was shown in Section 4.1.2. But they also function as idefinite adverbs as shown below.

/nɒʔ/ ‘how,why’ ma heʔ təː daŋ nɒʔ eː taʔ but we not know how want do 'But we don't know what to do.'

/malɛʔ/ or /mah lɛʔ/ ‘how much’

ŋkiʔ aləj təː bɨːn ŋkɒh malɛʔ nɜ̤ ːŋ so they not have fear much still 'So they were not much afraid any longer.'

/naa̤ : w/ ‘who’ cə̤ ː na̤ ːw tɔː la̤ ːh samɨ ki then they add again string that 'Then they stretched out again that string.'

20 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

5.3.2 Preverbs (including negatives) Preverbs include the negative imperative /co:j/ ‘don’t’ and the negative /tə:/ or /tə: bɨ:n/ ‘not’. Other preverbs /e:ʔ/ ‘want to’ and / kə̤ :j/’usually’ can also occur following the negative and preceding the verb.

/tə:/ or / tə: bɨ:n/ ‘not’ (before a Verb) /tə: kə:n/ ‘isn’t’ (before a Noun) /tə: juah/ ‘not yet’ /co:j/ ‘don’t’ /kɔʔ/ ‘must’ /e: or e:ʔ/ ‘want to, going to’ /kə̤ :j/ ‘usually’ /doʔ/ ‘frequently’ /lə:ʔ/ ‘seldom’ /lə:/ ‘accidentally’

Time markers for completed action /kʰɔ:iʔ/, continuing action /ʔnto̤ :m/. and simultaneous action /ʔntə:n…ʔntə:n/ also occur in preverb position.

5.3.4 Postverbs A number of time words occur in post verb position. These include the following: /klajh/ ‘early’ /saliaʔ/ ‘late’ /chə̤ :/ ‘already’ /tʰaŋ/ ‘completely’ /te̤ :/ ‘also’ /ʔe:n/ ‘in addition’

In a category by itself is the intensive word /lɨʔ/. It can occur after the verb to mean ‘very’. It can occur before the very to mean ‘truly’. It can have a carry a future sense in a discourse with the meaning of ‘will surely’.

/kadi:t lɨʔ/ ‘very poor’ /kʰɜm lɨʔ/ ‘very tightly’ /lɨʔ pə:ʔ/ ‘really went’

ʔan ka: lɨʔ ?acuajh 3S REL INT grandfather ‘The one who was really the grandfather…’ kʰɜn ʔaɲi̤ a sɛ:ʔ, lɨʔ ʔan jo:n if 2P ask, INT 3S give ‘If you ask him, surely he will give it.’

5.4 Prepositions Words which are used to introduce phrases and clauses include the following: /kəp/ ‘and, with’ /nɨŋ/ ‘with’ /jo:n/ ‘for’ /cɔʔ/ ‘toward’

21 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

/te:/ ‘from’ /tɜ̤ :ʔ/ ‘toward’ /pə:/ ‘to’ /na/ ‘through’ /ɲəə̤ :/ ‘because of, thanks to’ /juaʔ/ ‘because of (neutral)’ /ko: ti̤ an/ ‘because of (negative)’ /tɜŋ/ ‘in’

Those which indicate position or place include: /ɲɨ̤ :p/ ‘underneath’ /pə:ŋ/ ‘above’ /pɨ̤ :n/ ‘under’ /ka̤ :h/ ‘beside’ /kli:/ ‘behind’ /kloŋ/ ‘inside’ /ʔmpɨŋ/ ‘in the middle of’ /ti̤ ah/ ‘outside’

Some can indicate either time or position, such as: /ʔntu:n/ ‘after’ /ɲuaŋ/ ‘before’ /cɛ:ʔ/ ‘close to/nearly’

5.5 Classifiers J. Miller (1964:52-55) gives thirty-six different classifiers in Bru. Some of the more common of these are: /lam/ ‘for the widest variety of things’ /naʔ/ ‘for people’ /ʔɒk/ ‘for small objects’ /pla̤ :h/ ‘for blankets or clothing’ /kʰle:k/ ‘for paper, boards, or sheets of things’ /to:p/ ‘for groups’

5.6 Quantifiers Quantifiers include numerals such as: /muəi/ ‘one’ /ba:r/ ‘two’ /paj/ ‘three’ /po:n/ ‘four’ /sə:ŋ/ ‘five’ /tapɜ̤ :t/ ‘six’ /tapu:l/ ‘seven’ /takual/ ‘eight’ /take̤ :h ‘nine’ /muəi cit/ ‘ten’ /kulam/ ‘hundred’ /ŋi̤ :n/ ‘thousand’ /tri:w/ ‘million’

22 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

More general quantifiers include: /ɲɛ:ʔ/ ‘all’ /du:/ ‘enough’ /ku:/ ‘every’ /klɨŋ/ ‘many (people)’ /saʔɨ:j/ ‘many (general)’ /bi:ʔ/ ‘few’ /biaʔ/ ‘few’ / kʰam/ ‘sufficient’ /pɛʔ/ ‘enough’ /kalɨ̤ :j/ ‘more than enough’ /ʔoŋ/ ‘only’

5.7 Particles 5.7.1 Vocatives Shown below are Bru vocative expressions arranged along more formal/polite to less formal/polite continuum. More Less formal/polite formal/polite ʔə̤ :j ʔə:jh ʔə: ɜw ʔo̤ :

5.7.2 Particles eliciting response. Some particles are used at the end of a sentence to request verification or agreement. These are shown below along more formal/polite to less formal/polite continuum. More Less formal/polite formal/polite nə̤ ː nuː nɜŋ bə̤ ː də̤ ː baː

5.7.3 Exclamations Some of the sentence final exclamations found in Bru texts are: /ʔə:jʔ/ showing strong feeling /ʔɜm/ showing sarcasm /mɒ/ giving emphasis /dajh/ showing surprise

Other exclamations are sentence initial or stand alone. /ʔɜw/ Oh! /ʔə:ʔ showing agreement /pi̤ əjʔ/ Right! /tʰo:j/ Whatever!

7. Appendix 1: SAMPLE GLOSSED TEXT 8. Appendix 2: SHORT 9. Appendix 3: RESOURCES ON BRU TRI LANGUAGE

23 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hoang Van Ma & Ta Van Thong 1998Tieng Bru-Van Kieu, Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi, Ha Noi. Miller, Carolyn 1964 The substantive phrase in Brou. Mon-Khmer Studies 1.63-80. Miller, John 1964 Word classes in Brou. Mon-Khmer Studies 1.41-62. _____1967 An acoustical study of Brou vowels. Phonetica 17:149-177. _____1972 Bru kinship. : An International Quarterly 2:1.62-70. _____1993 Evaluation of the Wordlist Used in a Mon-Khmer Research Project in Northeast Thailand.Mon-Khmer Studies 23.67-81. Miller, John & Carolyn 2001 The Tiger Mother’s Child and the Cow Mother’s Child: A Preliminary Look at a Bru Epic, in Collected papers on Southeast Asian and Pacific languages, ed. R.S. Bauer, pp. 111-139. Australian National Univ., Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Vuong Huu Le 1999 A New Interpretation of the Bru Van Kieu Vowel System, Mon-Khmer Studies 29.97-106. Watson, Richard 1980, A grammar of Two Pacoh texts. Arlington: The University of Texas at Arlington.

24 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

Appendix 1: Grasshopper & Mantis Written by M. Ayooq around 1985

Bai Nsuar tẽ Lam láq-cáq cơp Lam Ralôi baːj ʔnsuar teː laːm laʔcaʔ kəp laːm ralo̤ j story about Grasshopper and Mantis 'The story of the Grasshopper and the Mantis'

Lam láq-cáq atỡng cunâi, pai: laːm laʔcaʔ ʔatəːŋ kunaj paːj Grasshopper tell rat say 'Grasshopper said to the rat:

"Alooq bĩng-bũang mới chỗi mut nơ, nâi ơi, nhi nâi. ʔalɔːʔ biːŋ-buaŋ məj coːj muːt nə̤ ː nɜj ə̤ ːj ɳi nɜj baboo tube cut on the slant you don't enter, okay rat, uncle rat 'If you see a bamboo tube cut on the slant, don't enter it, okay uncle rat.

Aluang cooc mới chỗi doiq nơ, nâi ơi, nhi nâi. ʔaluaŋ kɔ̤ ːk məj coːj dɔːjʔ nð̤ ː nɜj ə̤ ːj ɳi nɜj tree crooked you don't climb, okay rat, uncle rat If you see a crooked branch, don't climb it, okay uncle rat.

Toiq mới chỗi yễl nơ, nâi ơi, nhi nâi." tɔjʔ məj coːj jeːl nə̤ ː nɜj ə̤ ːj ɳi nɜj garlic you don't lick, okay rat, uncle rat If you see garlic, don't lick it, okay uncle rat.

Ngkíq cunâi ki sâng croŏq láq-cáq atỡng án ŏ́ c nâi. ʔŋkiʔ kunɜj ki̤ː sɜŋ krɔ̤ ːʔ laʔcaʔ ʔatəːŋ ʔan ʔɒk nɜj so rat that feel fear hear grasshopper tell him thing that So the rat felt afraid hearing the grasshopper tell him that.

Chơ cunâi ki tapáh láq cáq tâng rêng báng. cə̤ ː kunɜj ki̟ː tapah laʔcaʔ tɜŋ re̤ ːŋ baŋ then rat that strike grasshopper on cheek Then the rat struck the grasshopper on his cheek.

25 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

Ngkíq lam láq-cáq nâi cỡt dang chíq tỗ án toau sanua. ʔŋkiʔ laːm laʔcaʔ nɜj kəːt daːŋ ciʔ toː ʔan ta̤ ːw sanua So grasshopper became narrow immediately body his until now So the grasshopper has a pinched face until now.

Chơ ntun ki lam ralôi ễn atỡng cunâi pai: cə̤ ː ʔntuːn ki laːm ralo̤ ːj ʔeːn ʔatəːŋ kunɜj paːj then after that mantis in addition say to rat Then later the mantis told the rat:

"Alooq bĩng-bũang ki mới mut nơ, nâi ơi, nhi nâi. ʔalɔːʔ biːŋ-buaŋ ki̤ː məj muːt nə̤ ː nɜj ə̤ ːj ɳi nɜj baboo tube cut on the slant you enter, okay rat, uncle rat 'If you see a bamboo tube cut on the slant, you enter it, okay uncle rat.

Aluang cooc mới doiq nơ, nâi ơi, nhi nâi. ʔaluaŋ kɔ̤ ːk məj dɔːjʔ nð̤ ː nɜj ə̤ ːj ɳi nɜj tree crooked you climb, okay rat, uncle rat If you see a crooked branch, you climb it, okay uncle rat.

Toiq mới yễl nơ, nâi ơi, nhi nâi." tɔjʔ məj jeːl nə̤ ː nɜj ə̤ ːj ɳi nɜj garlic you lick, okay rat, uncle rat If you see garlic, you lick it, okay uncle rat.

Ngkíq cunâi ki sâng bui lam ralôi atỡng án ŏ́ c nâi. ʔŋkiʔ kunɜj ki̤ː sɜŋ buːj laːm ralo̤ ːj ʔatəːŋ ʔan ɒk nɜj so rat that feel happy mantis tell him thing this So the rat felt happy that the mantis told hm this.

Chơ cunâi nâi ỡt apir níc-níc mieiq lam ralôi ki. cə̤ ː kunɜj nɜj əːt ʔapi̤ːr nik-nik mi̤əjʔ laːm ralo̤ ːj ki̤ː then rat this stroke always face mantis that The the rat kept stroking the face of the mantis.

Mieiq lam ralôi nâi cỡt siel bráh o lứq toau sanua. mi̤əjʔ laːm ralo̤ ːj nɜj kəːt si̤ːəl brah ʔɔː ta̤ ːw sanua face mantis this become smooth clean good very until now The mantis's face became smooth and beautiful until now.

26 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

Ngkíq cunâi nâi sâng bui lứq tâng mứt pahỡm án tễ ŏ́ c ki. ʔŋkiʔ kunɜj nɜj sɜŋ buːj lɨʔ tɜŋ mɨt pahəːm ʔan teː ɒk ki̤ː So rat this feel happy very in heart his about thing this So the rat felt very happy about this.

Chơ ntun ki cunâi nâi pỡq chuaq cha pỡ arưih ki. cə̤ ː ʔntuːn ki̤ː kunɜj nɜj pəːʔ cuaʔ caː pəː ʔarɨ̤ ːjh ki̤ː then after that rat this go look for food in forest that Then the rat went to look for food in the forest.

Án ramóh crơng sana noau prán chóq dŏq tâng cutŏ́ ng ki tỡ la tâng acáp nâi. ʔan ramɔh krə̤ ːŋ sanaː na̤ ːw pran cɔʔ dɒːʔ tɜŋ kutɒŋ ki̤ː təː laː tɜŋ ʔakap nɜj. he found food they bait put in that deadfall or in trap this He found some food someone had put as bait in a deadfall or trap there.

Ngkíq án mut cha crơng sana ki. Chơ án cỡt cuchĩt tâng cutŏ́ ng nâi tỡ la acáp ki. ʔŋkiʔ ʔan muːt caː krə̤ ːŋ sanaː ki̤ː cə̤ ː ʔan kəːt kuciːt tɜŋ kutɒŋ nɜj təː laː ʔakap ki̤ː so he enter eat food that. Then he become dead in deadfall this or trap that So he went in and ate that food. Then he died in that deadfall or trap.

Catát tỡ la sarớt án. katat təː laː sarət ʔan fall or catch him. It fell on him or caught him in a noose.

27 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

Appendix 2: SIL SOUTHEAST ASIA WORDLIST for Bru Tri (Revised 1980) Adapted Swadesh list used for Mon-Khmer Languages. S indicates status as described in paper: "Evaluation of the Wordlist Used in a Mon-Khmer Research Project in Northeast Thailand." John Miller in Mon-Khmer Studies 23. 1994 i = inclusion, e = exclusion, p = problematic. English S Bru Tri/Van Kieu

1. sky i palɒ̤ :ŋ

2. cloud i ramɨl

3. sun i ma̤ :t manda:ŋ

4. moon i rli̤ aŋ kasɜj

5. star i manto:r

6. wind i kuja:l

7. rain i mi̤ a

8. rainbow p pre̤ ŋ ka:ŋ

9. mist i taluk

10. night i sadɜw

11. day i tangaj

12. year i kumɔ:

14. snow e pre:l prɨl

13. hail i pre:l

15. freeze e do: / do:ŋ

16. water i də:ʔ

17. river e kro:ŋ

18. lake e klɔŋ

19. sea e də:ʔ mɨ̤ :t

20. earth i kute:ʔ

21. stone p tamaw

22. sand i cuah

23. mud p luʔ

24. dust e breh

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25. gold e yɛ:ŋ

26. silver i praʔ

27. mountain i kɔh

28. tree i aluang

29. forest e ʔarɨ̤ :jh

30. leaf i :

31. bark i ʔndɒ:h

32. flower i pi̤ ar

33. root i re̤ :h

34. fruit i palɜj

35. seed i ʔɒk

36. grass i bat

37. stick e du:j

38. banana i pri̤ at

39. rattan e kraj

40. areca i pana:ŋ

41. papaya i ʔahoŋ

42. coconut i laʔu:

43. bird i cəm

44. wing i kʰla:p

45. feather e sɔk cəm

46. fly i pɜr

47. egg i tare:l

48. tail i sɔ:j / dɒŋ

49. claw i kre:h

50. horn i takɔ:j

51. animal e caran

29 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

52. dog i ʔacɔ:

53. pig i ʔali̤ :k

54. chicken i ntruəj

55. duck i ʔati̤ a

56. fish i siaʔ

57. snake i kusɜn

58. rat i kunɜj

59. rabbit e kata:j

60. monkey p tamɨr

61. deer p jə:t

62. tiger i kula:

63. buffalo i tari̤ ak

64. cow e ntrɒ̤ :ʔ

65. elephant i ʔaciaŋ

66. (elephant) tusk i paluak

67. worm e lu:j

68. scorpion e po̤ ŋ kati̻ aŋ

69. spider i ʔapi̤ aŋ

70. louse i ʔnci:

71. mosquito i rajɔ̤ :ŋ

72. a fly i ruəj

73. nose i muh

74. eye i ma̤ :t

75. ear i kutu:r

76. head i plə:

77. mouth i bo:ʔ

78. tooth i kane:ŋ

79. tongue i li̤ əjh

30 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

80. hair i sɔk

81. neck i takɔ:ŋ

82. shoulder i ʔapa:l

83. chest e ʔapə̤ :m

84. back i klɔ̤ :ŋ

85. heart e kɜ̤ :l pahə:m

86. abdomen i puŋ

87. intestine i ruajʔ

88. liver i luam

89. hand i ʔati:

90. palm i tala:ŋ ʔati:

91. nail e kre:h

92. leg e ʔnlu:

93. foot i ʔajɨ:ŋ

94. knee i rakəl

95. thigh i ʔnlu:

96. calf i ʔnluaŋ

97. blood i ʔaha:m

98. bone i ʔŋha:ŋ

99. skin i ʔŋkɜr

100. flesh i sɜjʔ

101. fat i ʔnse:ŋ

102. live e tamɔ̤ :ŋ

103. die i kuci:t

104. sick e ʔaʔi:

105. breathe i taŋɨh

106. hear e sɜŋ

107. see i hɨ:m

31 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

108. speak e taʔ ʔntə:ŋ

109. laugh i kacaŋ

110. weep i ɳi̤ am

111. suck e pu:

112. spit (v) i kucɔh

113. blow e tʱo:r

114. bite p kap

115. eat i ca:

116. drink i ŋuajʔ

117. drunk i bu:l

118. vomit i kuta:

119. smell e hu:n

120. think i cancəm

121. know i daŋ

122. count i na̤ :p / ŋi̤ :h

123. afraid i ʔŋkɔh

124. want e jɔ:k

125. sleep e beʔ

126. lie i beʔ

127. stand i tajɨŋ

128. sit i taku:

129. walk i tajah

130. come e tɜ̤ :ʔ

131. enter i mu:t

132. return e cu:

133. turn e pih

134. swim i lo̤ :j

135. float e do:jh

32 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

136. flow i hɔ:j

137. push i kutəl

138. pull i ti̤ :

139. throw e wa̤ :ŋ

140. fall e dəm

141. give i jo:n

142. take i ʔi:t

143. wash i ʔari̤ aw

144. launder i pɔ̤ :h

145. split i pah

146. tie i cɒʔ

147. wipe i cu:t

148. rub e ti̤ a

149. hit i tɜ̤ :n

150. cut e kɨt

151. stab i ca̤ :t

152. dig i piʔ

153. scratch i pi̤ əjʔ

154a. squeeze e pɜt

154b. wring i tawiat

155. man i sami̤ aŋ

156. woman i mansɛ:m

157. person i kuaj

158. father i ʔmpa̤ :ʔ

159. mother i ʔmpi̤ :ʔ

160. child e kɔ:n

161. husband i kaja:k

162. wife i lakuəj

33 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

163. brother i ʔa:j

164. sister i ʔə:j

165. younger sibling i ʔaʔɛ:m

166. name i ramɨh

167. I i kɨʔ

168. you sg i məj

169. he, she e ʔan

170. we (include) e haj

171. you pl e ʔaɳi̤ a

172. they e ʔaləj

173. field rice i sarɔ:

174. pounded rice i rakaw

175. cooked rice i do:j

176. corn i sapua

177. salt i bɔ:j

178. red pepper i tiəw kusɜw

179. betel chew e laba:ʔ

180. pestle i ʔntri̤ :

181. mortar i tapal

182. to steam e kʰo:j

183. firewood i ʔu:jh

184. fire e ʔu:jh

185. burn e ka:t

186. ashes i bɒ:h

187. smoke i pʰiak

188. road i rana:

189. house i doŋ

190. roof i ʔmpuəl

34 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

191. cord p ʔnsɜj

192. sew i ji:h

193. clothing e tampɜk

194. loincloth e sarla:j

195. work i taʔ

196. play i lə̤ :jʔ

197. sing e ʔuat

198. dance i puən

199. drum p sakə̤ :r

200. gong p parnɔh

201. buy i cə:ŋ

202. crossbow i tamiaŋ

203. arrow i sarah

204. spear p kɔ:jh

205. shoot i pan

206. hunt e pupan

207. kill i kaci:t

208. fight e racil

209. one i muəj

210. two i ba:r

211. 3 i paj

212. 4 i po:n

213. 5 i sə:ŋ

214. 6 i tapɜ̤ :t

215. 7 i tapu:l

216. 8 i takual

217. 9 i take̤ :h

218. 10 i muəj cit

35 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

219. 20 e ba:r cit

220. 100 i muəj kula:m

221. all i ɳɛ:ʔ

222. many p saʔɨ:j

223. some e ---

224. few e bi:ʔ

225. big i tɜ̤ :r

226. small i kət

227. long i kuti̤ :

228. tall i sarə:jh

229a. short (length) p ŋkɛh

229b. low (height) p dɛ:n

230. round p vɨl

231. smooth i si̤ əl

232. thick i kubɜn

233. thin i kada:

234. wide i laʔa:

235. narrow i hɛ:p

236. black i ku:m

237. red i kusɜw

238. white i klɔ:k

239. green i ramɔ̤ :ŋ

240. yellow i rari̤ aʔ

241. dry e kʰo:

242. wet i yu:r

243. rotten i ʔnsɔʔ

244. swell e ʔajh

245. full (container) i pɜ̤ :n

36 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

246. dirty e ɳə̤ :p

247. sharp (blade) i bək

248. dull e lu:j

249. new i tamaj

250. hot e kutɜw

251. cold e lɛ:ŋ

252. heavy i ʔntɜŋ

253. straight i tana̤ :ŋ

254. right (correct) i piəjʔ

255. good e ʔɔ:

256a. bad e sɜwʔ

256b. evil e sɜwʔ

257a. old (object) i ti̤ aʔ

257b. old (person) i tʰɜw

258. far i jə̤ :ŋ

259. near i cɛ:ʔ

260. rightside i ʔata̤ :m

261. leftside i ʔave̤ :r

262. same e macəŋ

263. different i ʔmpʰa:

264. here e ʔanɜj

265. there e ʔaki̤ :

266. this i nɜj

267. that i ki̤ :

268. when? e bɔ: lɛ:ʔ

269. where? i ʔnlɛ:ʔ

270. who? e na̤ :w

271. what? i ʔntrəw

37 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

272. and e kəp

273. with e kəp

274. at e pə:

275. because e juaʔ

276. how e lɛʔ

277. if e kʰɜn

278. in e tɜŋ

279. not i tə:

280. not yet e tə: juah

281. already i cə̤ :

38 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

APPENDIX 3: RESOURCES ON BRU TRI Barulin, A.N. & A. Iu. Efimov 1985 Vai van de ngu am tieng Van Kieu. Ho Xuan Kieu 1986 Buoc dau tim hieu ve hien tuong lay tieng Bru-Van Kieu. Hoang Tue et al 1986 Sach Hoc Tieng Bru-Van Kieu. Hoang Van Ma 1985 de yeu to yet hau mui trong tieng Van Kieu. Hoang Van Ma & Ta Van Thong 1998Tieng Bru-Van Kieu, Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi, Ha Noi. Miller, Carolyn 1964 The substantive phrase in Brou. Mon-Khmer Studies 1.63-80. _____ & Nuan 1974 Bai hoc tieng Bru: Bru - Viet - Anh. Bru Language Lessons. Vien Chuyen Khao Ngu Hoc. Saigon. _____1994 Perceptions of ethnolinguistic identity, language shift and language use in Mon- communities of Northeast Thailand. Mon-Khmer Studies 23.83-101. _____1996 Application of typologies for language maintenance and loss to southeast asial linguistic minorities: The case of the Bru-So and Kadazan-Dusun language continua. Paper presented at the Fourth International Symposium of Languages and Linguistics. Mahidol University at Salaya, , Thailand. To be published in the conference procedings. _____1999 Language Shift and Language Use Within Mon-Khmer Language Communities of Northeast Thailand, ?? Miller, John 1964 Word classes in Brou. Mon-Khmer Studies 1.41-62 _____1967 An acoustical study of Brou vowels. Phonetica 17:149-177. _____1972 Bru kinship. Southeast Asia: An International Quarterly 2:1.62-70. _____& Thom 1973 Bru list for Vietnam comparative wordbook. SIL. Unpublished manuscript. _____1994 Evaluation of the Wordlist Used in a Mon-Khmer Research Project in Northeast Thailand.Mon-Khmer Studies 23.67-81. Miller, John & Carolyn 1994 Preliminary observations on text and the use of the computer for text adaptation within several Katuic Mon-Khmer language groups of Northeast Thailand. Unpublished manuscript. _____1994 Comparative database of Katuic Mon-Khmer wordlists. Unpublished Ms. _____1994 Comparative thesaurus database of seven Katuic Mon-Khmer languages, with Thai, Lao, and English glosses. Unpublished Ms. _____1994 Comparative database of grammar questionnaires in six Bru/So , Thai and English. Unpublished Ms. _____1994 Preliminary observations on text comparison and the use of the computer for text adaptation within several Katuic Mon-Khmer language groups of Northeast Thailand. Unpublished manuscript. _____1994 Notes on Phonology and Orthography in Several Katuic Mon-Khmer Groups in Northeast Thailand, Mon-Khmer Studies 24:27-51. _____1994 Comparative database of Katuic Mon-Khmer wordlists. Unpublished Ms. _____1994 Comparative thesaurus database of seven Katuic Mon-Khmer languages, with Thai, Lao, Isan and English glosses. Unpublished Ms. _____1994 Comparative database of grammar questionnaires in six Bru/So dialects, Thai and English. Unpublished Ms. _____1996 Lexical comparison of Katuic Mon-Khmer Languages with special focus on So-Bru groups in Northeast Thailand. Mon-Khmer Studies 26:255-90.

39 Bru Tri Grammar Sketch

_____2001 The Tiger Mother’s Child and the Cow Mother’s Child: A Preliminary Look at a Bru Epic, ", in Collected papers on Southeast Asian and Pacific languages, ed. R.S. Bauer, pp. 111-139. Australian National Univ., Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. _____2003 Testing for Lao Script Orthography for Bru Van Kieu/Bru Hapool, ??:??. Nguyen Cong Oanh 2009 Parnai Yiang Sursi (Kinh Thanh Tieng Bru, Tan Uoc va Thi Thien). Nguyen Van Tai & Tran Giang Nam 1985 Ve mot vai phu to trong tieng Bru-Van Kieu Piat, Martine 1962 Quelques correspondences entre le Khmer et le Bru Phillips, Richard, John & Carolyn Miller 1976 The Bru vowel system: alternate analyses. Mon- Khmer Studies 5.203-17.Theraphan L. Thongkum 1979 The Distribution of the Sounds of Bruu MKS VIII Thomas, Dorothy 1967 A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-East-Katuic. Trung Tam Hoc Lieu, Saigon, Doc Parnai Bru (volumes 1, 2, & 3) 1971 _____ 1986 Sach hoc tieng Bru Van Kieu ,UBND Tinh Binh Tri Thien, Ha Noi. Vuong Huu Le & Hoang Dung 1985 Tien am tiet tieng Bru-Van Kieu Vuong Huu Le 1991 Nhung am tieng Bru _____ 1997 A Bru-Vietnamese-English Dictionary, Nha Xuat Ban Thuan Hoa, Hue _____ 1999 A New Interpretation of the Bru Van Kieu Vowel System, Mon-Khmer Studies 29.97- 106. _____ 1999 72 Bai Hoc Tieng Bru Van Kieu, Nha Xuat Ban Thuan Hoa, Hue. Watson, Richard 1980, A grammar of Two Pacoh texts. Arlington: The University of Texas at Arlington.

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