Jarai language

Jarai
Jrai
Native to	Vietnam, Cambodia
Region	Central Highlands, Vietnam Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia
Native speakers	530,000 (2019)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Malayo-Sumbawan (?) Chamic Highlands Jarai
Writing system	Vietnam: modified Vietnamese alphabet Cambodia: modified Khmer alphabet
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Vietnam  Cambodia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	jra
Glottolog	jara1266
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Jarai (/dʒəˈraɪ/; Vietnamese: Cho-Rai, Chor, Chrai, Djarai, Gia-Rai, Gio-Rai, Jorai or Mthur; Khmer: ចារ៉ាយ, Charay [caːraːj]) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Jarai people of Vietnam and Cambodia. The speakers of Jarai number approximately 530,000,^[1] not including other possible Jarai communities in countries other than Vietnam and Cambodia such as United States of America. They are the largest of the upland ethnic groups of Vietnam's Central Highlands known as Degar or Montagnards, and 25 per cent of the population in the Cambodian province of Ratanakiri.

The language is in the Chamic subgroup of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, and is thus related to the Cham language of central Vietnam.

A number of Jarai also live in the United States, having resettled there following the Vietnam War.