Talk:Mlabri people

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Is it true that they have no words for numbers??--142.108.107.36 22:19, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

In traditional Mlabri, counting words are usually used only for numbers under 5. For example, 3 is expressed as "2 + 1". Nowadays, the Mlabri use Thai numerals for counting. (Rischel 1995:147f) Felix ahlner (talk) 07:27, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

Tonal?

Is it a tonal language? Badagnani 08:52, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

No, Mlabri isn’t tonal. However, the closely related Khmu language has developed low and high tone. Felix ahlner (talk) 07:27, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

I traveled in Nan (North East Thailand) about 5 years ago and realized that there are some people exploiting these subsistence-existent people by charging tourists high prices to "go see the Mlabri" like a freak show and passing none of the funds on to the tribe. Very sad to see a people so close to extinction living in such poverty treated so poorly. I declined the tour... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.164.152.161 (talk) 21:27, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

It is reasonless to say that Mlabri language is closely related to Kmuic. Khmuic language is very different from Mlabri language; the fact is that at present, Khmuic and Mlabri vocabularies are very different and people of these two groups can not understand each other. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.62.104.17 (talk) 07:14, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

Fact of The words "Yumbri" and "Mlabri"

"Mlabri" is exactly not from khmuic language, there is no words "mla" and "Mra" in Khmuic language. Khmuic people call them-self "[kɨm.hmuʔ]" which means human such as person/s or people. [kɨm.hmuʔ]" is used to contrast things and animals, and also used as the name of the Khmuic ethnic. In Khmuic, "[gon]" is also means human, person/s or people, it is used to refer to general person/s or people. Ex: 1. [gon ɟɛʔ ci:n] or [gon ci:n] means Chinese person/s or people. 2. [gon ɟɛʔ tʱɑ̯i̯] or [gon tʱɑ̯i̯] means Thai person/s or people. 3. [gon wia:ŋcan] means Vientiane people and so on. In Khmuic, the word "[ɟɛʔ]" is used to refer to people of other ethnics or minorities ex: [ɟɛʔ ci:n] means Chinese. 2. [ɟɛʔ tʱɑ̯i̯] means Thai.  and uses "[tmɔi:]" to refer to there own Khmuic people in different clans or the same clan that live in different residences (different villages, different cities, different countries). Old Khmuic peaple in Sayabouly province said that in the past they called Yumbri ethnic in general as "[ɟɛʔ jumbri:]" or "[ɟɛʔ briʔ]. When referring the people of Yumbri they called "[gon ɟɛʔ jumbri:]" or "[gon jumbri:]"; "[gon ɟɛʔ briʔ:]" or [gon briʔ] (least used). Khmuic people have never called Yumbri as "tmoi", or never used "tmoi" with Yumbri, only "[ɟɛʔ]" is used with Yumbri, this is because Yumbri is not Khmu. They old people also said that Khmuic and Yumbri language are different, Khmuic people could not understand Yumbri language. Yumbri people often traded with Khmu, they brought honey, wax, rattan to exchange rices, tobacco, still, and salt from Khmu. Yumbri adults who often traded with Khmuic people learned, spoke and could understood basic Khmuic; and ofcause Yumbri was influenced by Khmuic language which they borrowed some Khmuic words. Do be mind that "bri" in "[jumbri:]" is mid tone; but "briʔ]" in "[ɟɛʔ briʔ]" is high tone. This is even confuse with Khmuic people; it also made Bernatzik confuse, and That is why he wrote and pronounced as [jumbriʔ]. Bernatzik might thought that the last syllable "bri" must came from Khmuic word "[briʔ]" which means forest. During the time Bernatzik took expedition in 1936-1937 (published in German in 1938) he said that Yumbri people called them-self "Yumbri" and that they did not like people from other ethnics or minorities called them "Mlabri". So, the dominant word "Mla" must come from other languages. As for word "Mra" and "Ma" are newly invented by few authors if not one who are not stand in neutral. The later researchers said that Yumbri called them-self "Mlabri"; this must be fake or bias information. If during 1963 Yumbri poeple really called them-self Mlabri, then it must be any other researchers or authors who did not want Yumbri called them-self "Yumbri", and they might tried to teach and persuade Yumbri people to call them-self Mlabri. From the time Bernatzik made a research on Yumbri in 1936 until a new research of other new researchers and authors in 19963 it was about 27 years; it is long enough to make the ways of lives of Yumbri people change in some levels. The obvious things to prove that new researchers and authors are not stand neutral is that they try to modified some Yumbri words to make it closely related and resemble to Khmuic words; then try to speak using those words with Yumbri people to make them familiar and use it eventually. In the present day we have seen and heard some writings and videos presented Yumbri culture as Khmuic culture especially some Lao-Tai authors and writers. Some Lao-Tai people who do not like Khmu enthusiastically want Yumbri to be Khmu and vice versa, there are a lot of reasons why they do that. It is so long to explain it here but a few phenomenon are presented. In Laos, there are a lot of relics and ancient cultures discovered. Some Lao-Tai people do not want you to say and write that those relics belong to Khmu. Yumbri is backward and They want Khmu to be Yumbri and vice versa. They said that Khmuic people just spread out not so long. In order to make writing creditable, they even persuaded a foreigner author or researcher of a university of a country in southern hemisphere to write down that Khmu just spread out during the third century BC from the land of present day Oudomsay province, and can not produce those relics. They modified some legends to made them closely related to their nation and made it far away from Khmu. They try to do every tings even fake information to make people believe that the home land of Khmu is situated in Odoumsay. They did this because there are some important relics discovered in Huaphan and Xiangkhuang provinces such as stone poles in Huameuang district of Huaphan province and stone jars in Xiangkhuang province. They don't want people to believe that Huaphan and Xiangkhuang provinces are the homeland of Khmuic ancestors. A thing that is very obvious is that, when their media present ethnics and minorities living in Huaphand and Xiengkhuang provinces to public, they just introduce Lao-Tai and Hmong, they omit Khmu. Some Lao-Tai authors of Laos even wrote that Khmu stole their brown drum culture from them. In fact Khmuic people have used brown drums in rituals or ceremonies since the ancient time until present day; but there is no any evidence and nobody saw that Tai-Kadai have ever used brown drums. This is why present day researchers make controversy with the research of Bernatzik.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Daleno (talk • contribs) 11:45, 16 December 2019 (UTC)