Austroasiatic languages

The Austroasiatic languages /ˌɔːstroʊ.eɪʒiˈætɪk/, also known as Mon–Khmer /ˌmoʊnkəˈmɛər/, are a large language family of Mainland Southeast Asia, also scattered throughout parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China.

Quotes

• “India was the centre from which the Austric race spread into the lands and islands of the east and Pacific”... “the Austric speech… in its original form (as the ultimate source of both the Austro-Asiatic and Austronesian branches)… could very well have been characterised within India”.
  • S.K. Chatterji in The History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. I: The Vedic Age edited by R.C. Majumdar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Publications, Mumbai, 6th edition 1996.