{{Infobox Language family
|name=Austro-Asiatic
|altname=Austroasiatic
|region=[[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]]
|familycolor=Austro-Asiatic
|family=One of the world's major [[language family|language families]]
|child1=[[Mon-Khmer languages|Mon-Khmer]]
|child2=[[Munda languages|Munda]]
|child3=[[Nicobarese languages|Nicobarese]]
|map=[[Image:Se asia lang map.png|center|300px|Austro-Asiatic languages]]
}}
The '''Austro-Asiatic languages''' are a large [[language family]] of [[Southeast Asia]], and also scattered throughout [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]]. The name comes from the [[Latin]] word for "south" and the [[Greek language|Greek]] name of [[Asia]], hence "[[South Asia]]". Among these languages, only [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], [[Khmer language|Khmer]], and [[Mon language|Mon]] have a long recorded history, and only Vietnamese and Khmer have official status (in Vietnam and Cambodia, respectively). The rest of the languages are spoken by minority groups.

Austro-Asiatic languages have a disjunct distribution across India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, separated by regions where other languages are spoken. It is widely believed that the Austro-Asiatic languages are the [[autochthonous language]]s of Southeast Asia and the eastern [[Indian subcontinent]], and that the other languages of the region, including the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], [[Tai-Kadai languages|Tai-Kadai]], [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]], and [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]] languages, are the result of later [[human migration|migrations of people]]. (There are, for example, Austro-Asiatic words in the Tibeto-Burman languages of eastern Nepal.) Some linguists have attempted to prove that Austro-Asiatic languages are related to [[Austronesian languages]], thus forming the [[Austric languages|Austric]] superfamily.

==Classification==
Linguists traditionally recognize two primary divisions of Austro-Asiatic: the [[Mon-Khmer languages]] of Southeast Asia, [[North-East India|Northeast India]] and the [[Nicobar Islands]], and the [[Munda languages]] of [[East India|East]] and Central India and parts of Bangladesh. [[Ethnologue]] identifies 168 Austro-Asiatic languages, of which 147 are Mon-Khmer and 21 are Munda. However, no evidence for this classification has ever been published, and it is possible that the linguistic classification has been influenced by researchers' subjective perception of a racial dichotomy between the speakers of languages that have traditionally been classified as Mon-Khmer and those that have traditionally been classified as Munda.

Each of the families that is written in boldface type below is accepted as a valid clade. However, the relationships between these families within Austro-Asiatic is debated; in addition to the traditional classification, two recent proposals are given, neither of which accept traditional Mon-Khmer as a valid unit. It should be noted that little of the data used for competing classifications has ever been published, and therefore cannot be evaluated by peer review.

===[[Gérard Diffloth]] (1974)===
This is the widely cited classification used in the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. Several languages that were not known of at the time are missing.

*'''[[Munda languages|Munda]]'''
**North Munda
*** Korku
***'''Kherwarian'''
**South Munda
***'''Kharia-Juang'''
***'''Koraput Munda'''
*[[Mon-Khmer languages|Mon-Khmer]]
**Eastern Mon-Khmer
***'''[[Khmer language|Khmer]]''' (Cambodian)
***'''[[Pearic languages|Pearic]]'''
***'''[[Bahnaric languages|Bahnaric]]'''
***'''[[Katuic languages|Katuic]]'''
***'''[[Vietic languages|Vietic]]''' (includes Vietnamese)
**Northern Mon-Khmer
***'''[[Khasi language|Khasi]]''' ([[Meghalaya]], [[India]])
***'''[[Palaungic languages|Palaungic]]'''
***'''[[Khmuic languages|Khmuic]]'''
**Southern Mon-Khmer
***'''[[Mon language|Mon]]'''
***'''[[Aslian languages|Aslian]]''' ([[Malaya]])
***'''[[Nicobarese languages|Nicobarese]]''' ([[Nicobar Islands]])

===Ilia Peiros (2004)===
Peiros is a [[lexicostatistics|lexicostatistic]] classification, based on percentages of shared vocabulary. This means that a language may appear to be more distantly related than it actually is due to [[language contact]], so it is only a starting point for a proper genealogical classification.

*'''[[Nicobarese languages|Nicobarese]]'''
*Munda-Khmer
**'''[[Munda languages|Munda]]'''
**[[Mon-Khmer languages|Mon-Khmer]]
***'''[[Khasi language|Khasi]]'''
***Nuclear Mon-Khmer
****Mangic ([[Mang language|Mang]] + [[Palyu languages|Palyu]]) (perhaps in Northern MK)
****'''[[Vietic languages|Vietic]]''' (perhaps in Northern MK)
****Northern Mon-Khmer
*****'''[[Palaungic languages|Palaungic]]'''
*****'''[[Khmuic languages|Khmuic]]''''
****Central Mon-Khmer
*****'''[[Khmer language|Khmer]]''' dialects
*****'''[[Pearic languages|Pearic]]'''
*****Asli-Bahnaric
******'''[[Aslian languages|Aslian]]'''
******Mon-Bahnaric
*******'''[[Monic languages|Monic]]'''
*******Katu-Bahnaric
********'''[[Katuic languages|Katuic]]'''
********'''[[Bahnaric languages|Bahnaric]]'''

===Gérard Diffloth (2005)===
Rather than counting cognates, Diffloth compares reconstructions of various clades, and attempts to classify them based on shared innovations.

* '''[[Munda languages]]''' ([[India]])
:* '''Koraput''': 7 languages
:*Core Munda languages
::* '''Kharian-Juang''': 2 languages
::*North Munda languages
::: ''[[Korku language|Korku]]''
::: '''Kherwarian''': 12 languages

* Khasi-Khmuic languages
:* '''[[Khasic languages|Khasian]]''': 3 languages of eastern [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]].
:*Palaungo-Khmuic languages
::* '''[[Khmuic languages|Khmuic]]''': 13 languages of [[Laos]] and [[Thailand]].

::*Palaungo-Pakanic languages
::: '''Pakanic''' or '''[[Palyu languages|Palyu]]''': 2 languages of southern [[China]]
::: '''[[Palaungic languages|Palaungic]]''': 21 languages of [[Myanmar]], southern [[China]], and [[Thailand]], plus Mang of [[Vietnam]].

* Nuclear [[Mon-Khmer]] languages
:* Khmero-Vietic languages

::* Vieto-Katuic languages
::: '''[[Vietic languages|Vietic]]''': 10 languages of [[Vietnam]] and [[Laos]], including the [[Vietnamese language]], which has the most speakers of any Austro-Asiatic language. These are the only Austro-Asiatic languages to have highly developed tone systems.
::: '''[[Katuic languages|Katuic]]''': 19 languages of [[Laos]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Thailand]].

::* Khmero-Bahnaric languages
:::* '''[[Bahnaric languages|Bahnaric]]''': 40 languages of [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]], and [[Cambodia]].
:::*Khmeric languages
:::: The '''[[Khmer language|Khmer dialects]]''' of [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]], and [[Vietnam]].
:::: '''[[Pearic languages|Pearic]]''': 6 languages of [[Cambodia]].

:* Nico-Monic languages
::* '''[[Nicobarese languages]]''': 6 languages of the [[Nicobar Islands]], a territory of India.

::* Asli-Monic languages
::: '''[[Aslian languages|Aslian]]''': 19 languages of peninsular [[Malaysia]] and [[Thailand]].
::: '''[[Monic languages|Monic]]''': 2 languages, the [[Mon language]] of [[Myanmar]] and the [[Nyah Kur language|Nyahkur language]] of [[Thailand]].

There are in addition several [[unclassified languages]] of southern China.

==References==
* Peck, B. M., Comp. (1988). ''An Enumerative Bibliography of South Asian Language Dictionaries''.
* Peiros, Ilia. 1998. ''Comparative Linguistics in Southeast Asia.'' Pacific Linguistics Series C-142. Canberra, Australian National University.
* Zide, Norman H., and Milton E. Barker. ''Studies in Comparative Austroasiatic Linguistics''. Indo-Iranian monographs, v. 5. The Hague: Mouton, 1966.
* [[Byomkes Chakrabarti]],''A Comparative Study of Santali and Bengali'', 1994

==External links==
*[http://www.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/languages.html Mon-Khmer.com: Lectures by Paul Sidwell]
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=90152 Ethnologue classification]

[[Category:Austro-Asiatic languages| ]]

[[br:Yezhoù aostrez-aziatek]]
[[da:Austroasiatiske sprog]]
[[de:Austroasiatische Sprachen]]
[[el:Αυστροασιατικές γλώσσες]]
[[es:Lenguas austroasiáticas]]
[[fr:Langues austroasiatiques]]
[[ko:오스트로아시아어족]]
[[ilo:Pagsasao nga Austro-Asiatica]]
[[id:Bahasa Austro-Asia]]
[[la:Linguae Austroasiaticae]]
[[lt:Austroazinės kalbos]]
[[hu:Ausztroázsiai nyelvcsalád]]
[[nl:Austroaziatische talen]]
[[ja:オーストロアジア語族]]
[[no:Austroasiatiske språk]]
[[pl:Języki austroazjatyckie]]
[[ru:Австроазиатские языки]]
[[sr:Аустроазијски језици]]
[[fi:Austroaasialaiset kielet]]
[[sv:Austroasiatiska språk]]
[[vi:Hệ ngôn ngữ Nam Á]]
[[zh:南亚语系]]