Not only is May otherwise undescribed in writing, it is the only small Vietic language documented and analysed in such detail, and one of few endangered Austroasiatic languages described so thoroughly.

May is predominantly monosyllabic, yet retains traces of affixes and consonant clusters that reflect older disyllabic forms. It is tonal, and also manifests breathy phonation and vowel ongliding, yielding a remarkable complexity of syllable types. The lexicon, which is extensively documented, has a substantial archaic component. Consequently, the volume provides an invaluable resource for comparative historical and typological studies.

This book is an English translation of the 2018 Russian language monograph by Babaev and Samarina.

Edited and translated by: Paul Sidwell