View source for Mon language

{{Short description|Austroasiatic language of Myanmar and Thailand}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Mon
| nativename       = {{lang|mnw|ဘာသာမန်}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|mnw|pʰɛ̤ːsaː mɔ̤ːn|}}
| states           = [[Myanmar]]
*[[Mon State]]
*[[Kayin State]]
*[[Tanintharyi Region]]
| region           = [[Lower Myanmar]]
| ethnicity        = [[Mon people|Mon]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|1.108000|2}} million
| date             = 2000–2014
| ref              = <ref>{{e28|mnw}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Austroasiatic
| fam2             = [[Monic languages|Monic]]
| script           = [[Mon–Burmese script|Mon–Burmese]] ([[Mon alphabet]])
| minority         = {{ubl
  | {{flag|Myanmar}}
  }}
| lc1              = mnw
| ld1              = Modern Mon
| lc2              = omx
| ld2              = Old Mon
| linglist         = omx
| lingname         = Old Mon
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = monn1252
| glottoname       = Modern Mon
| glottorefname    = Mon
| glotto2          = oldm1242
| glottoname2      = Old Mon
| image            = 
| map              = Monic language.jpg
| mapcaption       = Distribution of Monic languages in [[Thailand]] and [[Myanmar]], where Mon is denoted in red.
}}

The '''Mon language''',{{efn|{{langx|mnw|ဘာသာမန်|links=no}} {{IPA|mnw|pʰɛ̤ːsaː mɔ̤ːn||audio=Mon language.ogg}}; {{langx|my|မွန်ဘာသာစကား}} {{audio|LL-Q9228 (mya)-咽頭べさ-မွန်ဘာသာစကား..wav|listen}}; {{langx|th|ภาษามอญ}} {{audio|LL-Q9217 (tha)-咽頭べさ-ภาษามอญ.wav|listen}}}} formerly known as '''Peguan''' and '''Talaing''', is an [[Austroasiatic language]] spoken by the [[Mon people]]. Mon, like the related [[Khmer language]], but unlike most languages in [[mainland Southeast Asia]], is not tonal. The Mon language is a recognised indigenous language in Myanmar as well as an indigenous [[Languages of Thailand|language of Thailand]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rlpd.go.th/rlpdnew/images/rlpd_1/HRC/CERD%201_3.pdf|title=International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination|date=28 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009184727/http://www.rlpd.go.th/rlpdnew/images/rlpd_1/HRC/CERD%201_3.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2016|access-date=27 September 2019}}</ref>

Mon was classified as a "vulnerable" language in [[UNESCO]]'s 2010 ''[[Red Book of Endangered Languages|Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger|url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-2222.html|access-date=2020-06-03|website=UNESCO}}</ref> The Mon language has faced assimilative pressures in both Myanmar and Thailand, where many individuals of Mon descent are now monolingual in Burmese or Thai respectively. In 2007, Mon speakers were estimated to number between 1,800,000 and 2 million.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=McCormick|first1=Patrick|last2=Jenny|first2=Mathias|date=2013-05-13|title=Contact and convergence: The Mon language in Burma and Thailand|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/clao/42/2/article-p77_1.xml|journal=Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|pages=77–117|doi=10.1163/19606028-00422P01|issn=1960-6028|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In Myanmar, the majority of Mon speakers live in Southern Myanmar, especially [[Mon State]], followed by [[Tanintharyi Region]] and [[Kayin State]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrc-usa.org/mon__language.htm|title=The Mon Language|publisher=Monland Restoration Council|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622213233/http://www.mrc-usa.org/mon__language.htm|archive-date=2006-06-22}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Ban-talat-Mon-inscription.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Ban Talat Mon inscription from Laos.]]

Mon is an important language in Burmese history. Until the 12th century, it was the [[lingua franca]] of the [[Irrawaddy River|Irrawaddy valley]]—not only in the Mon kingdoms of the lower Irrawaddy but also of the upriver [[Pagan Kingdom]] of the [[Bamar people]]. Mon, especially written Mon, continued to be a [[prestige language]] even after the fall of the Mon [[Thaton Kingdom|kingdom of Thaton]] to Pagan in 1057. King [[Kyansittha]] of Pagan (r. 1084–1113) admired Mon culture and the Mon language was patronized. 
[[File:Myazedi-Inscription-Mon.JPG|left|thumb|236x236px|The Mon [[Myazedi Inscription]] (AD 1113) is Myanmar's oldest surviving stone inscription.]]
Kyansittha left many inscriptions in Mon. During this period, the [[Myazedi inscription]], which contains identical inscriptions of a story in [[Pali]], [[Pyu language (Burma)|Pyu]], Mon and Burmese on the four sides, was carved.<ref name="tarling"/> However, after Kyansittha's death, usage of the Mon language declined among the Bamar and the [[Burmese language]] began to replace Mon and Pyu as a [[lingua franca]].<ref name="tarling">{{cite book | first=Paul | last=Strachan | year=1990 | title=Imperial Pagan: Art and Architecture of Burma | publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]] | pages=66 | isbn=0-8248-1325-1}}</ref>

Mon inscriptions from [[Dvaravati]]'s ruins also litter [[Thailand]]. However it is not clear if the inhabitants were Mon, a mix of Mon and Malay or Khmer. Later inscriptions and kingdoms like [[Lavo Kingdom|Lavo]] were subservient to the [[Khmer Empire]].

After the fall of Pagan, Mon again became the lingua franca of the [[Hanthawaddy kingdom]] (1287–1539) in present-day [[Lower Myanmar]], which remained a predominantly Mon-speaking region until the 1800s, by which point, the [[Burmese language]] had expanded its reach from its traditional heartland in [[Upper Myanmar|Upper Burma]] into [[Lower Myanmar|Lower Burma]].

The region's language shift from Mon to Burmese has been ascribed to a combination of population displacement, intermarriage, and voluntary changes in self-identification among increasingly Mon–Burmese bilingual populations in throughout Lower Burma.{{sfn|Lieberman|2003|p=202-206}} The shift was certainly accelerated by the fall of the Mon-speaking [[Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom]] in 1757. Following the fall of Pegu (now Bago), many Mon-speaking refugees fled and resettled in what is now modern-day Thailand.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wijeyewardene|first=Gehan|title=Ethnic Groups Across National Boundaries in Mainland Southeast Asia|year=1990|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-3035-57-7}}</ref> By 1830, an estimated 90% of the population in the Lower Burma self-identified as Burmese-speaking Bamars; huge swaths of former Mon-speaking areas, from the [[Irrawaddy Delta]] upriver, spanning Bassein (now Pathein) and Rangoon (now Yangon) to Tharrawaddy, Toungoo, Prome (now Pyay) and Henzada (now Hinthada), were now Burmese-speaking.{{sfn|Lieberman|2003|p=202-206}} Great Britain's gradual annexation of Burma throughout the 19th century, in addition to concomitant economic and political instability in Upper Burma (e.g., increased tax burdens to the Burmese crown, British rice production incentives, etc.) also accelerated the migration of Burmese speakers from Upper Burma into Lower Burma.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adas|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Czd7xXIf3MC&pg=PA67|title=The Burma Delta: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852–1941|date=2011-04-20|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=9780299283537|pages=67–77}}</ref>

The Mon language has influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Jenny|first=Mathias|date=2013|title=The Mon language:recipient and donor between Burmese and Thai|url=http://www.lc.mahidol.ac.th/lcjournal/|journal=Journal of Language and Culture|volume=31|issue=2|pages=5–33|doi=10.5167/uzh-81044|issn=0125-6424}}</ref> In Lower Burmese varieties, the verb ပေး ("to give") is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, like in other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in other Tibeto-Burman languages.<ref name=":1" /> This usage is hardly employed in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct.<ref name=":1" />

In 1972, the [[New Mon State Party]] (NMSP) established a Mon national school system, which uses Mon as a [[medium of instruction]], in rebel-controlled areas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Lall|first1=Marie|last2=South|first2=Ashley|date=2014-04-03|title=Comparing Models of Non-state Ethnic Education in Myanmar: The Mon and Karen National Education Regimes|journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia|volume=44|issue=2|pages=298–321|doi=10.1080/00472336.2013.823534|s2cid=55715948|issn=0047-2336}}</ref> The system was expanded throughout Mon State following a ceasefire with the central government in 1995.<ref name=":0" /> Mon State now operates a multi-track education system, with schools either using Mon as the primary medium of instruction (called Mon national schools) offering modules on the Mon language in addition to the government curriculum (called "mixed schools").<ref name=":0" /> In 2015, Mon language courses were launched state-wide at the elementary level.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-03-11|title=Mon language classes to launch at state schools|url=https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/13452-mon-language-classes-to-launch-at-state-schools.html|access-date=2020-06-03|website=The Myanmar Times}}</ref> This system has been recognized as a model for [[mother-tongue]] education in the Burmese national education system, because it enables children taught in the Mon language to integrate into the mainstream Burmese education system at higher education levels.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-08-20|title=Mother tongue education: the Mon model|url=https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/187-mother-tongue-education-the-mon-model.html|access-date=2020-06-03|website=The Myanmar Times}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

In 2013, it was announced that the [[Mawlamyine]]-based ''Thanlwin Times'' would begin to carry news in the Mon language, becoming Myanmar's first Mon language publication since 1962.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kun Chan|date=2013-02-13|title=First Mon language newspaper in 50 years to be published|url=http://archive-2.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8898-first-mon-language-newspaper-in-50-years-to-be-published.html|access-date=2013-02-16|archive-date=2014-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714203800/http://archive-2.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8898-first-mon-language-newspaper-in-50-years-to-be-published.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Geographic distribution ==
[[File:Mon Thai alphabet in Wat Muang.jpg|thumb|Mon scripts on a sign in Wat Muang, Thailand.]]
[[File:Mon Thai alphabet.jpg|thumb|Mon scripts on a sign in Wat Muang, Thailand.]]
[[File:Mon National Day in Nakhon Sawan.jpg|thumb|Mon language in Thailand.]]
[[File:Wikipedia 20 marks in Mon.webm|thumb|Mon language in Burma.]]
Southern Myanmar (comprising [[Mon State]], [[Kayin State]], and [[Tanintharyi Region]]), from the [[Sittaung River]] in the north to [[Myeik, Myanmar|Myeik]] (Mergui) and [[Kawthaung]] in the south, remains a traditional stronghold of the Mon language.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|last1=Jenny|first1=Mathias|year=2001|title=A Short Introduction to the Mon Language|url=http://www.uzh.ch/spw/aboutus/jenny/downloads/mon_language_intro1.pdf|url-status=dead|publisher=Mon Culture and Literature Survival Project (MCL)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718071509/http://www.uzh.ch/spw/aboutus/jenny/downloads/mon_language_intro1.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-18|access-date=2010-09-30}}</ref> However, in this region, Burmese is favored in urban areas, such as [[Mawlamyine]], the capital of Mon State.<ref name=":2" /> In recent years, usage of Mon has declined in Myanmar, especially among the younger generation.<ref name="ethno">{{cite web|last=Gordon|first=Raymond G. Jr.|year=2005|title=Mon: A language of Myanmar|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mnw|access-date=2006-07-09|work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition|publisher=SIL International}}</ref>

While Thailand is home to a sizable Mon population due to historical waves of migration, only a small proportion (estimated to range between 60,000 and 80,000) speak Mon, due to [[Thaification]] and the assimilation of Mons into mainstream Thai society.<ref name=":3" /> Mon speakers in Thailand are largely concentrated in [[Ko Kret]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Foster|first=Brian L.|date=1973|title=Ethnic Identity of the Mons in Thailand|url=http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1971/JSS_061_1i_Foster_EthnicIdentityOfMonsInThailand.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1971/JSS_061_1i_Foster_EthnicIdentityOfMonsInThailand.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|journal=Journal of the Siam Society|volume=61|pages=203–226}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The remaining contingent of Thai Mon speakers are located in the provinces of [[Samut Sakhon Province|Samut Sakhon]], [[Samut Songkhram Province|Samut Songkhram]], [[Nakhon Pathom Province|Nakhon Pathom]], as well the western provinces bordering Myanmar ([[Kanchanaburi]], [[Phetchaburi]], [[Prachuap Khiri Khan]], and [[Ratchaburi]]).<ref name=":3" /> A small ethnic group in Thailand speak a language closely related to Mon, called [[Nyah Kur language|Nyah Kur]]. They are descendants of the Mon-speaking [[Dvaravati]] kingdom.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Moseley|first=Christopher|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026.locale=en|title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|date=2010|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-104096-2|language=en}}</ref>

==Dialects==
Mon has three primary dialects in Burma, coming from the various regions the Mon inhabit. They are the Central (areas surrounding [[Mottama]] and [[Mawlamyine]]), [[Bago, Myanmar|Bago]], and [[Ye, Mon State|Ye]] dialects.<ref name=":3">{{cite book | last=South | first=Ashley | year=2003 | title=Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma: The Golden Sheldrake | publisher=Routledge | isbn=0-7007-1609-2 }}</ref> All are mutually intelligible. ''Ethnologue'' lists Mon dialects as Martaban-Moulmein (Central Mon, Mon Te), Pegu (Mon Tang, Northern Mon), and Ye (Mon Nya, Southern Mon), with high mutual intelligibility among them.

Thai Mon has some differences from the Burmese dialects of Mon, but they are mutually intelligible. The Thai varieties of Mon are considered "severely endangered."<ref name=":4" />

== Phonology ==
[[File:Consonants mnw.webm|thumb|upright|Explanation on the Mon alphabet]]
[[File:Mon Thai consonant.webm|thumb|upright|Explanation of the Mon-Thai or Thai-Raman alphabet]]

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! colspan="2" |
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
![[Unaspirated|<small>unaspirated</small>]]
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
![[Aspirated consonant|<small>aspirated</small>]]
|{{IPA link|pʰ}}
|{{IPA link|tʰ}}
|{{IPA link|cʰ}}
|{{IPA link|kʰ}}
|
|-
![[Implosive consonant|<small>implosive</small>]]
|{{IPA link|ɓ}}~{{IPA link|b}}<sup>2</sup>
|{{IPA link|ɗ}}~{{IPA link|d}}<sup>2</sup>
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ç}}<sup>1</sup>
|
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Sonorant]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
| {{IPA link|r}}
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|{{IPA link|l}}
|
|
|
|}
# {{IPAslink|ç}} is only found in Burmese loans.
# Implosives are lost in many dialects and become explosives instead.

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
|
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}
| {{IPA link|ɐ}}
| {{IPA link|ɔ}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|æ}}
| {{IPA link|a}}
|
|}

=== Vocalic register ===
Unlike the surrounding Burmese and [[Thai language|Thai]] languages, Mon is not a [[tone (linguistics)|tonal language]]. As in many Mon–Khmer languages, Mon uses a vowel-phonation or vowel-[[register (phonology)|register]] system in which the quality of voice in pronouncing the vowel is phonemic. There are two registers in Mon:

# Clear (modal) voice, analyzed by various linguists as ranging from ordinary to [[Creaky voice|creaky]]
# [[Breathy voice]], vowels have a distinct breathy quality

One study involving speakers of a Mon dialect in Thailand found that in some syllabic environments, words with a breathy voice vowel are significantly lower in pitch than similar words with a clear vowel counterpart.<ref name=thongkum>[[Theraphan Luangthongkum|Thongkum, Theraphan L]]. 1988. The interaction between pitch and phonation type in Mon: phonetic implications for a theory of tonogenesis. ''[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]'' 16–17:11–24.</ref> While difference in pitch in certain environments was found to be significant, there are no [[minimal pair]]s that are distinguished solely by pitch. The contrastive mechanism is the vowel phonation.

In the examples below, breathy voice is marked with under-diaeresis.

==Syntax==

===Pronouns===

{|class=wikitable
|-
! Mon !! Translate
|-
|{{lang|mnw| အဲ}}  || I
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဒဒက်တဴကဵုအဲ}}  || my, mine
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်အဲ}}  || Me
|-
|{{lang|mnw|မိန်အဲ}}  || By me
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုအဲ}}  || From me
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ပိုဲ}}  || We
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်ပိုဲ}}  || Us
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဒဒက်တဴကဵုပိုဲ}}  || Our, ours, of us
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုပိုဲ}}  || To us
|-
|{{lang|mnw|မိန်ပိုဲညးဂမၠိုၚ်}}  || By us
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူပိုဲညးဂမၠိုၚ်}}  || From us
|-
|{{lang|mnw|တၠအဲ၊ ဗှေ်}}  || You; thou
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဒဒက်တဴကဵုတၠအဲ}}  || You, yours; thy, thine
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်တၠအဲ}}  || You; thee
|-
|{{lang|mnw|မိန်တၠအဲ}}  || By you (Sin); by thee
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူတၠအဲ}}  || From you
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုတၠအဲ}}  || To you
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ၚ်မၞးတံညးဂမၠိုၚ်}}  || You
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်မၞးတံ}}  || You (Object)
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဒဒက်တဴကဵုမၞးတံ}}  || Your, yours
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုမၞးတံ}}  || To you
|-
|{{lang|mnw|မိန်မၞးတံ}}  || By you
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူမၞးတံ}}  || From you
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ၚ်ညးဂှ်}}  || He
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဒဒက်တဴကဵုညးဂှ်}}  || His
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်ညးဂှ်}}  || Him
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုညးဂှ်}}  || To him
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူညးဂှ်}}  || From him
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ၚ်ညးတံဂှ်}}  || They
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်ညးတံဂှ်}}  || Them
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဒဒက်တဴကဵုညးတံဂှ်}}  || Their, theirs
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုညးတံဂှ်}}  || To them
|-
|{{lang|mnw|မိန်ညးတံဂှ်}}  || By them
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူညးတံဂှ်}}  || From them
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ၚ်ညးဗြဴဂှ်}}  || She
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုညးဗြဴဂှ်}}  || Her, hers
|-
|{{lang|mnw|မိန်ညးဗြဴဂှဲ၊ပ္ဍဲ}}  || By her; in her
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူညးဗြဴဂှ်}}  || From her
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ၚ်ဗြဴတံဂှ်}}  || They (feminine)
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ဟိုန်ညးဗြဴတံဂှ်}}  || There
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ကုညးဗြဴတံဂှ်}}  || To them
|-
|{{lang|mnw|နူညးဗြဴတံဂှ်}}  || From them
|-
|{{lang|mnw|ပ္ဍဲညးဗြဴတံဂှ်}}  || In them
|}

===Verbs and verb phrases===

Mon verbs do not inflect for person. Tense is shown through particles.

Some verbs have a morphological causative, which is most frequently a /pə-/ prefix (Pan Hla 1989:29):

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Underived verb !! Gloss !! Causative verb !! Gloss
|-
| c<sup>h</sup>ɒt || to die || kəcɒt || to kill
|-
| lɜm || to be ruined || pəlɒm || to destroy
|-
| k<sup>h</sup>aɨŋ || to be firm|| pəkhaɨŋ ||to make firm
|-
| tɛm || to know || pətɛm || to inform
|}

===Nouns and noun phrases===

====Singular and plural====

Mon nouns do not inflect for number. That is, they do not have separate forms for singular and plural:

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|{sɔt pakaw} mo̤a me̤a
|apple one CL
|'one apple'}}

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|{sɔt pakaw} ba me̤a
|apple two CL
|'two apples'}}

====Adjectives====

Adjectives follow the noun (Pan Hla p.&nbsp;24):

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|prɛ̤a ce
|woman beautiful
|'beautiful woman'}}

====Demonstratives====

Demonstratives follow the noun:

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|ŋoa nɔʔ
|day this
|this day}}

====Classifiers====

Like many other Southeast Asian languages, Mon has [[Classifier (linguistics)|classifiers]] which are used when a noun appears with a numeral. The choice of classifier depends on the semantics of the noun involved.

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|kaneh mo̤a tanəng
|pen one CL
|'one pen'}}

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|chup mo̤a tanɒm
|tree one CL
|'one tree'}}

===Prepositions and prepositional phrases===

Mon is a prepositional language.

{{interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|doa əma
|in lake
|'in the lake'}}

===Sentences===

The ordinary word order for sentences in Mon is subject–verb–object, as in the following examples

{{fs interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|c1= {{audio|LL-Q13349 (mnw)-咽頭べさ-အဲရာန်သ္ၚုတုဲယျ.wav|listen}}
|{{Script/mnw-Mymr|အဲ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ရာန်}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|သ္ၚု}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|တုဲ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ယျ}}
|ʔoa ran hau toa ya.
|I buy rice COMPL AFF
|'I bought rice.'}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|c1= {{audio|LL-Q13349 (mnw)-咽頭べさ-ညးတံဗ္တောန်ကဵုအဲဘာသာအၚ်္ဂလိက်.wav|listen}}
|{{Script/mnw-Mymr|ညး}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|တံ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ဗ္တောန်}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ကဵု}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|အဲ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ဘာသာ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|အၚ်္ဂလိက်}}
|Nyeh tɔʔ paton kɒ ʔua pʰɛ̤asa ʔengloit
|3 PL teach to 1 language English
|'They taught me English.'}}

===Questions===

Yes–no questions are shown with a final particle ''ha''

{{fs interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|c1= {{audio|LL-Q13349 (mnw)-咽頭べさ-ဗှ်ေစပုၚ်တုဲယျဟာ.wav|listen}}
|{{Script/mnw-Mymr|ဗှ်ေ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|စ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ပုင်}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|တုဲ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ယျ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ဟာ}}
|be̤ shea pəng toa ya ha?
|you eat rice COMPL AFF Q
|‘Have you eaten rice?’}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|c1= {{audio|LL-Q13349 (mnw)-咽頭べさ-အပါအာဟာ.wav|listen}}
|{{Script/mnw-Mymr|အပါ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|အာ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ဟာ}}
|əpa a ha?
|father go Q
|‘Will father go?’ (Pan Hla, p.&nbsp;42)}}

Wh-questions show a different final particle, ''rau''. The interrogative word does not undergo [[wh-movement]]. That is, it does not necessarily move to the front of the sentence:

{{fs interlinear|lang=mnw|indent=3
|c1= {{audio|LL-Q13349 (mnw)-咽頭べさ-တၠနာဲကြာတ်ကြဴမံၚ်မူရော.wav|listen}}
|{{Script/mnw-Mymr|တၠ နာဲ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ကြာတ်ကြဴ}}မံင် {{Script/mnw-Mymr|မူ}} {{Script/mnw-Mymr|ရော}}
|{Tala oa} kratkraw mu raw?
|You wash what WH.Q
|'What did you wash?'}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Aung-Thwin | first=Michael | title=The mists of Rāmañña: The Legend that was Lower Burma | edition=illustrated | publisher=University of Hawai'i Press | year=2005 | location=Honolulu | isbn=9780824828868}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Bauer |first=Christian |year=1982  |title=Morphology and syntax of spoken Mon |type=PhD dissertation |publisher= University of London (SOAS)}}
* {{cite book |last=Bauer |first=Christian |year=1984 |title=A guide to Mon studies |series=Working Papers |volume=32 |publisher=Monash University |isbn=0867463481}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bauer |first=Christian |year=1986 |title=The verb in spoken Mon |journal=[[Mon-Khmer Studies]] |volume=15 |pages=87–110 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/bauer1986verb.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616030239/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/bauer1986verb.pdf |archive-date=2015-06-16}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bauer |first=Christian |date=Spring 1986 |title=Questions in Mon: Addenda and Corrigenda |journal=Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=22–26 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/bauer1986questions.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124112336/http://www.sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/bauer1986questions.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-24}}
* {{cite book |last=Diffloth |first=Gerard |year=1984 |title=The Dvarati Old Mon language and Nyah Kur |series=Monic Language Studies |volume=I |publisher=Chulalongkorn University |location=Bangkok |isbn=974-563-783-1}}
* {{cite journal |last=Diffloth |first=Gerard |year=1985 |title=The registers of Mon vs. the spectrographist's tones |journal=UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics |volume=60 |pages=55–58 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3nb2m7h9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ferlus |first=Michel |year=1984 |title=Essai de phonetique historique du môn |journal=[[Mon-Khmer Studies]] |volume=12 |pages=1–90 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/ferlus1983essai.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616025817/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/ferlus1983essai.pdf |archive-date=2015-06-16}}
* {{cite book |last=Guillon |first=Emmanuel |year=1976 |title=Some aspects of Mon syntax |series=Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications |pages=407–421 |jstor=20019165 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Halliday |first=Robert |year=1922 |title=A Mon–English dictionary |location=Bangkok |publisher=Siam Society}}
* {{Cite book |last=Haswell |first=J. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqYTAAAAQAAJ |title=Grammatical Notes and Vocabulary of the Peguan Language: To which are Added a Few Pages of Phrases, &c |date=1874 |publisher=American Mission Press |language=en}}
* {{cite journal |last=Huffman |first=Franklin |year=1990 |title=Burmese Mon, Thai Mon, and Nyah Kur: a synchronic comparison |journal=[[Mon-Khmer Studies]] |volume=16–17 |pages=31–84 |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/huffman1987-1988burmese.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616030419/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/huffman1987-1988burmese.pdf |archive-date=2015-06-16}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Jenny |first=Mathias |year=2005 |title=The Verb System of Mon |location=Zürich |publisher=Universität Zürich |isbn=3-9522954-1-8}}
* {{cite journal |last=Lee |first=Thomas |year=1983 |title=An acoustical study of the register distinction in Mon |journal=UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics |volume=57 |pages=79–96 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1kq6011w}}
* {{cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Victor B. |title=Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 |volume=1: Integration on the Mainland |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-80496-7}}
* {{cite journal |last=Pan Hla |first=Nai |year=1986 |title=Remnant of a lost nation and their cognate words to Old Mon Epigraph |journal=Journal of the Siam Society |volume=74 |pages=122–155 |url=https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/1986/03/JSS_074_0i_NaiPanHla_RemnantOfALostNation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718115450/https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/1986/03/JSS_074_0i_NaiPanHla_RemnantOfALostNation.pdf |archive-date=2020-07-18}}
* {{cite book |last=Pan Hla |first=Nai |year=1989 |title=An introduction to Mon language |publisher=Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University}}
* Pan Hla, Nai. 1992. ''The Significant Role of the Mon Language and Culture in Southeast Asia''. Tokyo, Japan: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
* Shorto, H.L. 1962. ''A Dictionary of Modern Spoken Mon''. Oxford University Press.
* Shorto, H.L.; Judith M. Jacob; and E.H.S. Simonds. 1963. ''Bibliographies of Mon–Khmer and Tai Linguistics''. Oxford University Press.
* Shorto, H.L. 1966. "Mon vowel systems: a problem in phonological statement". in Bazell, Catford, Halliday, and Robins, eds. ''In memory of J.R. Firth'', pp.&nbsp;398–409.
* Shorto, H.L. 1971. ''A Dictionary of the Mon Inscriptions from the Sixth to the Sixteenth Centuries''. Oxford University Press.
* {{cite journal |last=Thongkum |first=Therapan L. |year=1987 |title=Another look at the register distinction in Mon |journal=UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics |volume=67 |pages=132–165 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6t1916dq}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|ဘာသာမန်}}
{{InterWiki|code=mnw}}
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/austroasiatic/AA/A%20hypertext%20grammar%20of%20the%20Mon%20language.htm A hypertext grammar of the Mon language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117012732/http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/austroasiatic/AA/A%20hypertext%20grammar%20of%20the%20Mon%20language.htm |date=2016-11-17 }}
*[http://sealang.net/mk/monic.htm SEAlang Project: Mon–Khmer languages: The Monic Branch]
*[http://sealang.net/oldmon/ Old Mon inscriptions database]
**[http://sealang.net/oldmon/ananda/ The Ananda "Basement" Plaques]
*[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Austro-Asiatic_languages Mon-language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051025134044/http://www.albany.edu/anthro/fac/broadwell/mon/ Mon Language Project]
*[https://www.burmalibrary.org/sites/burmalibrary.org/files/obl/docs/Mon%20Language%20in%20Thailand.htm Mon Language in Thailand: The endangered heritage]
*{{cite web |url=http://www.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/Monic.html |title=Monic |access-date=2007-09-21 |format=lecture |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070915133208/http://www.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/Monic.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-09-15}}

{{Languages of Burma}}
{{Languages of Thailand}}
{{Austro-Asiatic languages}}
{{Mon alphabet}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Monic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Languages of Thailand]]
[[Category:Mon culture]]
[[Category:Subject–verb–object languages]]
[[Category:Endangered Austroasiatic languages]]