ภาษาตระกูลมอญ - เขมรกับการศึกษาสถานนามในอีสานใต้

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Mon - Khmer languages family and the toponymy study in South - Northeastern region of Thailand

Toponymy, the study of place names, is a branch of Linguistics. However, its methodology requires another disciplines such as History andArchaeology to determine the etymology of a toponym. In many cases, tracesof language of a group that had disappeared or had been assimilated by another group have been “ fossilized” in toponyms. The southern part of Northeastern Thailand testifies great diversity of languages. Two important linguistic groups are attested : Tai Kadai and Mon-Khmer. It is probable that Tai speaking groups settled down in the area after those speaking Mon - Khmer. In the Mun River basin, in particular, Khmer language is attested at least since Angkorean period (9th-14th century). At the present time, the probable descendants of Old Khmer speakers speak Northern Khmer, a dialect of Khmer language. Other Mon- Khmer languages are also attested in this region. In the past, Mon- Khmer languages must have been distributed in larger areas than nowadays.This article will show the importance of Mon- Khmer languages in the approach to toponymy of Southern Isan as will demonstrate etymological analyses of some toponyms