Our languages are the part of our inheritance most at risk and the easiest to lose without noticing. This page lists what exists to learn, teach and study them: dictionaries and grammars, the codes linguists use to catalog them, recordings, and the translations in which many Dega families first saw their language written.
Two families, one people
Dega languages belong to two unrelated families. The Chamic languages — Rhade, Jarai, Chru, Roglai, Haroi — are Austronesian, related to Cham and more distantly to Malay. The Bahnaric languages — Bahnar, Sedang, Koho, Mnong, Stieng, Hre and many more — are Mon-Khmer, related to Khmer. See The tribes and the languages for the peoples themselves.
Codes
Linguists, libraries and software identify languages by codes. If you are publishing in, recording, or searching for material in a Dega language, these will find it. ISO 639-3 codes are the international standard; Glottolog links go to a free catalog of everything written about each language.
| Language | Family | ISO 639-3 | Glottolog |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhade (Ê Đê) | Chamic | rad | rade1240 |
| Jarai | Chamic | jra | jara1266 |
| Chru | Chamic | cje | chru1239 |
| Northern Roglai | Chamic | rog | nort2994 |
| Southern Roglai | Chamic | rgs | sout3010 |
| Haroi | Chamic | hro | haro1237 |
| Bahnar | Bahnaric | bdq | bahn1262 |
| Sedang | Bahnaric | sed | seda1262 |
| Rengao | Bahnaric | ren | reng1252 |
| Halang | Bahnaric | hal | hala1252 |
| Jeh | Bahnaric | jeh | jehh1245 |
| Hre | Bahnaric | hre | hree1244 |
| Cua | Bahnaric | cua | cuaa1241 |
| Koho | Bahnaric | kpm | koho1244 |
| Maa | Bahnaric | cma | maaa1253 |
| Eastern Mnong | Bahnaric | mng | east2333 |
| Central Mnong | Bahnaric | cmo | cent1992 |
| Southern Mnong | Bahnaric | mnn | sout2692 |
| Stieng (Bulo) | Bahnaric | sti | bulo1242 |
| Chrau | Bahnaric | crw | chra1242 |
| Trieng | Bahnaric | stg | trie1243 |
Dictionaries, grammars and study
- James A. Tharp and Y-Bhăm Buôn-yă, A Rhade–English Dictionary with English–Rhade Finderlist (Pacific Linguistics, Australian National University, 1980)
The standard Rhade dictionary, made with a Rhade co-author. Borrow free from the Internet Archive. - Pierre X. Dourisboure, Dictionnaire bahnar–français (Missions Étrangères, Hong Kong, 1889)
The first major Bahnar dictionary, from the Kon Tum mission. Free, full text. - Joshua M. Jensen, The Structure of Jarai Clauses and Noun Phrases (PhD dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington, 2013)
A modern grammatical description of Jarai. Free. - Neil H. Olsen, A Descriptive Grammar of Kơho-Sre (PhD dissertation, University of Utah, 2014)
The most complete grammar of Koho. - SIL International, Language and Culture Archives
Dictionaries, word lists, lessons and grammars for highland languages, many as free PDFs: for example a Sedang dictionary, Jarai language lessons and a Koho word list. The link above lists everything for Central Mnong; change the code for other languages. - SEAlang Library, Mon-Khmer resources
Free back issues of Mon-Khmer Studies, with comparative work on the Bahnaric and Mnong languages. - Ethnologue
Language profiles, with speaker estimates: about 177,000 first-language speakers of Rhade, some 242,000 Jarai in Vietnam, about 97,000 Sedang. Full data needs a subscription. - Glottolog
Free catalog and bibliography of every language, with a map.
Scripture and recordings
For many Dega families the first book they owned in their own language was a Bible. Whatever your faith, these are among the largest bodies of written and spoken text in our languages.
- Jarai Bible
Three versions, including one with audio. - Rhade Bible, Klei Aê Diê Blŭ (2015)
With audio. - The JESUS film in Bahnar
Two hours of spoken Bahnar.
What families can do
Speak the language at home, every day, including to children who answer in English. Record grandparents telling stories, naming plants, singing — and write down who they are. Keep letters and hymn books. If you teach a class in a Dega language anywhere in the diaspora, tell us, and we will list it here.
See also: The smaller peoples, Schools, language and the university gap, Writing our languages.
Compiled September 2026. Speaker figures are estimates from Ethnologue. Some Ethnologue and SIL pages require an account.