Editing Mon language (section)

== Geographic distribution ==
[[File:Mon Thai alphabet in Wat Muang.jpg|thumb|Thai Mon and Thai scripts on a sign in Wat Muang, Thailand.]]
[[File:Mon Thai alphabet.jpg|thumb|Thai Mon and Thai scripts on a sign in Wat Muang, Thailand.]]
[[File:Mon National Day in Nakhon Sawan.jpg|thumb|Mon language in Thailand.]]
[[File:Wikipedia 20 marks in Mon.webm|thumb|Mon language in Burma.]]
Southern Myanmar (comprising [[Mon State]], [[Kayin State]], and [[Tanintharyi Region]]), from the [[Sittaung River]] in the north to [[Myeik, Myanmar|Myeik]] (Mergui) and [[Kawthaung]] in the south, remains a traditional stronghold of the Mon language.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|last1=Jenny|first1=Mathias|year=2001|title=A Short Introduction to the Mon Language|url=http://www.uzh.ch/spw/aboutus/jenny/downloads/mon_language_intro1.pdf|url-status=dead|publisher=Mon Culture and Literature Survival Project (MCL)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718071509/http://www.uzh.ch/spw/aboutus/jenny/downloads/mon_language_intro1.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-18|access-date=2010-09-30}}</ref> However, in this region, Burmese is favored in urban areas, such as [[Mawlamyine]], the capital of Mon State.<ref name=":2" /> In recent years, usage of Mon has declined in Myanmar, especially among the younger generation.<ref name="ethno">{{cite web|last=Gordon|first=Raymond G. Jr.|year=2005|title=Mon: A language of Myanmar|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mnw|access-date=2006-07-09|work=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition|publisher=SIL International}}</ref>

While Thailand is home to a sizable Mon population due to historical waves of migration, only a small proportion (estimated to range between 60,000 and 80,000) speak Mon, due to [[Thaification]] and the assimilation of Mons into mainstream Thai society.<ref name=":3" /> Mon speakers in Thailand are largely concentrated in [[Ko Kret]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Foster|first=Brian L.|date=1973|title=Ethnic Identity of the Mons in Thailand|url=http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1971/JSS_061_1i_Foster_EthnicIdentityOfMonsInThailand.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1971/JSS_061_1i_Foster_EthnicIdentityOfMonsInThailand.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|journal=Journal of the Siam Society|volume=61|pages=203–226}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The remaining contingent of Thai Mon speakers are located in the provinces of [[Samut Sakhon Province|Samut Sakhon]], [[Samut Songkhram Province|Samut Songkhram]], [[Nakhon Pathom Province|Nakhon Pathom]], as well the western provinces bordering Myanmar ([[Kanchanaburi]], [[Phetchaburi]], [[Prachuap Khiri Khan]], and [[Ratchaburi]]).<ref name=":3" /> A small ethnic group in Thailand speak a language closely related to Mon, called [[Nyah Kur language|Nyah Kur]]. They are descendants of the Mon-speaking [[Dvaravati]] kingdom.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Moseley|first=Christopher|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026.locale=en|title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|date=2010|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-104096-2|language=en}}</ref>