Community
Saoch people
Indigenous people of southwestern Cambodia
The Saoch people are an Indigenous people of southwestern Cambodia.[1] They are closely related to the Pear and Chong.[1]
History
Auguste Pavie photographed the Saoch in 1876.[2] He was posted in Kampot (កំពត) at the time.[3] Under the Khmer Rouge (ខ្មែរក្រហម), the Saoch were forced off their land and barred from speaking their language.[4] Survivors settled near the coast.[4] A 2010 report places the community in Samrong Loeu.[4] Two reports from 2025 place it in Samrong, Kampot Province.[2][3]
Population
There were about 500 Saoch in 1981.[1]
Language
Speaker estimates differ: no more than 10 in 2010,[4] three to seven fluent native speakers in May 2025,[3] or none that same month.[2]
References 4
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Saoch (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cambodianess, The S’aoch: the Story of a Minority in Cambodia as Old as the Khmers Who Have Faded Away (May 9, 2025)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kiripost, S’aoch Language Nears Extinction Amid Global Linguistic Crisis (May 12, 2025)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The Christian Science Monitor, Linguist races to save a dying language spoken in Cambodia (April 27, 2010)
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