Alternate Names: Aleng, Mou, Mun, Peguan, Raman, Rman, Rmen, Takanoon, Talaing, Taleng, Teguan
Dialects: Martaban-Moulmein (Central Mon, Mon Te), Pegu (Mon Tang, Northern Mon), Ye (Mon Nya, Southern Mon). Intelligibility between Mon varieties high; between Mon in Thailand and Myanmar 99% (Huffman 1976). Varieties in Myanmar and Thailand “mutually intelligible” (Bauer 1990) but lexical borrowings from Thai and Burmese may cause miscommunication (Guillon 1999). Lexical similarity: 69% with Mon and Nyah Kur , (Huffman 1976).
Genealogy:
Demographics: 743,000 in Myanmar (2004), decreasing. Population total all countries: 851,000. Ethnic population: 1,000,000.
Language Use: Vigorous in some rural areas and in Three Pagodas border area. Low or no usage in urban centers. Many domains in some communities; only among the elderly, in the monastery, or not at all in other communities. All ages. Positive attitudes. Widespread bilingualism; some language shift. Also use Burmese [mya].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Some literacy among the older generation; very low literacy rates among those under 40. Taught in some Buddhist monasteries in both Myanmar and Thailand. Some literacy efforts made on Thailand-Myanmar border. Poetry. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1928.
Typology: SVO.
Writing System: Myanmar (Burmese)
Nation of Origin: Myanmar
Other Comments: Remnants of a nation that once spread over south Myanmar and west Thailand. Preferred names: Mon or Raman. Buddhist.