This archive contains audio recordings and texts collected from different communities mostly in Burma. The recordings are the result of my many years of fieldwork and serve as database for linguistic research. The bulk of the recordings was done with the support of the University of Zurich (Department of Comparative language Science, formerly General Linguistics Department) and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Among local institutions in Southeast Asia, especially the University of Mandalay (Anthropology Department) has assisted in collecting data for many years.
The collection, transcription, and translation of recordings is ongoing, and the archive is updated regularly. For privacy and data protection reasons, the material cannot be published in its full form. Please direct your requests for access to individual files to info@mathiasjenny.ch.
Mon is an Austroasiatic (formerly also called "Mon-Khmer") language, and as such related to Khmer (Cambodian) and Vietnamese. Mon is spoken mostly in southeastern Burma, but also in Thailand, especially on the Burmese border at Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi, besides a few communities near Bangkok and south of Chiang Mai. Mon is one of the earliest attested languages of Southeast Asia, the first inscriptions dating back to the 6th century. The Burmese kingdom of Bagan (Pagan) used Mon as literary language during the 10th and 11th centuries, when it was replaced by Burmese. Mon adapted an south Indic script, which was later taken over by the Burmese.
While Burmese gained political, social, and economic dominance, Mon lost its influence after the 15th century and its speaker numbers declined. Today, less than one million people claim Mon as their mother tongue, most of them literate only in Burmese or Thai, but not in Mon. Still, the Mon were able to conserve and develop their literature over the centuries, and today there is some literary activity among the Mon, comprising of religious and popular texts, as well as songs and movies. At the same time, there are endeavors to promote literacy in Mon, which is given at around 25% by Mon sources.
The following selected recordings have been collected over many years and have been transcribed and annotated. Access to the original files and translations is given upon request.
World War 2 in Monland
In this 1-hour conversation a couple from southern Mon State talk about their experiences during WW2, including English, Japanese, and Burmese occupation. The recording provides a personal glimpse of the life and the political developments during the time, told by the speakers with humor much more than bitterness. The conversation was recorded in Sangkhlaburi and is available as audio in Mon, as well as transcript in Mon and IPA and English translation. Speakers: MN, 72y, from Panga and NC, 74y, from Kaw Dot, Mon State.
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2. Stories from Monland
A young man, WM (19y) from Kaw Khapoun village, 20 km south of Moulmein, the official capital of Mon State, tells two short stories he remembers from his childhood. The stories are available as audio in Mon, as well as transcript in Mon and IPA and English translation.
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3. Life in a theater group
Two bothers, one, KM, a teenager, the other, SR, around 25 years old, from Kan Ni in Karen State, talk about their life in a traveling theater group in Mon and Karen State. The younger brother tells stories of his life as a temple boy in their village, before he joined the theater. The conversation was recorded in Sangkhlaburi and is available as audio in Mon, as well as transcript in Mon and IPA and English translation.
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4. On the road to Thailand
A young Mon woman, AM (26y) from Yangon, interviews a young Mon man, WM (19y) from Kaw Khapoun, about his travel from Monland to Thailand. he tells her about the events along the way by foot and by bus across the green border between Burma and Thailand. The interview was recorded in Bangkok and is available as audio in Mon, as well as transcript in Mon and IPA and English translation.
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5. Mon Poetry
These two examples give the hearer an impression of living Mon poetry. The recordings and transcripts/translations are freely available.
i. Tɒəʔ ŋìt - swallowed by the earth (part 1 - prose, part 2 - verse).
Stories about sinners who are swallowed by the earth an important part of the popular Buddhist tradition of the Mon. The present recordings were made by Mi Mroh Son, a popular Mon singer from Moulmein, Mon State.
Transcript and translation of verse
ii. Sangadā - The story of the Conch Shell Prince
Sangada, Sang Sin Chai in Thai, is a story that is popular among many peoples in Southeast Asia. It tells the adventures of a prince born with a conch shell, who is expelled from the palace by his elder brothers and finds his way back through virtuous deeds and conduct. The story is a local adaptation of Buddhist birth stories (Jataka). The present excerpts were recorded by Mahe, abbot of the temple at Three Pagodas Pass (Thailand). A study on the story of Sangada by Mathias Jenny is available as PDF. A complete transcript and recording of the story (Mon only) by Mi Mroh Son is available on request.
Sangada transcript and translation
Coming soon - collection of Shan stories and interviews
See htanawsar.org and Mathias Jenny, Sandra Vanessa Herdeg: Htanaw alphabetization and documentation [Dataset]. Universität Zürich, Chiang Mai University. Distributed by SWISSUbase, Lausanne, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48656/vxhj-mn25 for available recordings.
Coming Soon - recordings in Burmese, Pa'O, Intha, Palaung, Kathe, Gorakha
Recordings available in Pwo Karen (kjp, Sino-Tibetan): Language attitude interview (n Burmese), "Frog where are you?", Basic clause structures, Stories, Elicitation - "NSIT - New Situation marker", Elicitation - "Space relations". Recordings made in the Thailand-Burma border area between 2005 and 2016 with Thai and Burmese as elicitation languages.
Recordings available in Nyah Kur (cbn, Austroasiatic): General elicitation of basic patterns and vocabulary, "Frog where are you?", Song, Story. Recordings were made in Thepsathit, Thailand, in 2011, with Thai as elicitation language.
Recordings available in Lue (khb, Tai-Kadai): Three interviews about language background and basic vocabulary and sentence patterns. Recordings were made in Nan, Thailand, in 2012 with Thai as interview language.