Aman Singh

The Mon-Khmer Group:

Concludes of today’s Cambodian (Khmer), Vietnamese and the Mon languages. Ethnically and linguistically, Vietnamese and Cambodians are brothers. But what makes Cambodian and Vietnamese languages, who both share the same root, sound nothing alike from each other? Some Vietnamese claim that Cambodian sounds the same, others say it sounds like Thai, even though Thai, Lao, Burma and even Malaysia and Indonesia share the same cultures as Cambodians.

The Sino and Indo Influences:

The Trung Sisters fighting against the Chinese army.

Many times in Vietnamese history, the Chinese has ruled and influenced their cultures into Vietnam, whereas Cambodia however developed it’s cultural and religious influences from Pali (Ancient eastern Indian) cultures that would soon enlighten other neighboring countries. Vietnamese borrowed many words and cultures from China and Cambodia from Pali.

But whenever I hear Cambodians speak Khmer, I hardly hear anything that would sound similar to either Thai, Lao or even Viet.

For example, the word “water” in both Thai & Lao would be “Nam” and in Vietnamese, “Nuoc” and in Khmer, “Tuk”.

Many would assume that Thai/Lao and Cambodian, who shares many of the same cultures, but do not have many shared languages at all. They wear similar clothing, practice the same religions and have their writings from the same scripts, but they do not speak the same languages or are ethnically related.

The Adopted Brother:

The Tai (Proto-Thai & Lao) migrated south from Southern parts of China and into northern Indochina during the 10th-11th century. The Thai and Lao would eventually assimilate and adopt into many of the Indian influences through Cambodia.I often stress that Thai & Lao are very very similar languages to the point that maybe they’re just different accents or else dialects. The Thai would say, “How much is This?" and the Lao would say "How much is Dis?" (Thai: A-nee toe-rai) (Lao: A-nee toe-dai).

The Black Tai people of Northern Laos & Vietnam, also another relative of the Thai/Lao people.

The Forgotten Brothers of Viet & Khmer:

The Muong people of  Northern Vietnam. Ethnologists say that the Muong and Vietnamese are the same ethnic people, but that the Muong people were untouched by many of the Chinese influences.

Champa people of Central Vietnam and Cambodia.

Conclusion:

A long time ago, The Khmer and Viet came from the same tree, but both adopted into different cultures. Remember that there are many ethnicity’s that are related to the Khmer & Cambodian, but but were not heavily influenced from either outside groups.

So, has Khmer & Viet languages changed throughout the many centuries by many outside influences, that they no longer share anymore similarities or practices with one another anymore? Was the invitation of outside culture influences good on today’s Cambodia and Vietnam?