Cua(Kor) historical phonology and classification

The Cua language of the Central Vietnam Highlands has been little studied, and is barely known beyond a few unpublished wordlists. Recently the author acquired an extensive manuscript lexicon (Maier & Burton 1981), and also made some brief field recordings. With the help of this data the phonological history of Cua is reconstructed, with reference to a preliminary reconstruction of proto-Bahnaric. Additionally, the question of classification is discussed; it was treated as Eastern North Bahnaric by Smith (1973) and Central Bahanric by Sidwell (2002). The present study argues that Cua reflects a distinct Eastern branch which has been influenced by contact with North Bahnaric (in addition to Vietnamese and Chamic).