Sa'och (Khmer pronunciation: [sa ʔoc], also, "Sauch") is an endangered, nearly extinct Pearic language of Cambodia and Thailand spoken only occasionally by a decreasing number of older adults.
Within the Austroasiatic family, Sa'och is a member of the Pearic languages, a subgroup consisting of a handful of dying languages, including Suoy, Pear, Chong and Samre, spoken by small numbers of ethnic minorities living mostly in far western Cambodia and adjacent areas of Thailand.
During this time, the Sa'och maintained a semi-autonomous territory centered on Veal Renh in Kampong Saom (modern-day Sihanoukville).
[6] The Sa'och in Thailand were first resettled in the Si Sawat District of Kanchanaburi Province in their own villages along the Khwae Yai River.
In making preparations for the dam, the Thai government again forced the Sa'och to relocate, this time to the gravelly hills above the new reservoir.
A paper published in 2009 reported that use of the Chung language in Thailand was only found among older generations remaining in the village and a few small children left in their care.
However, also similar to the other Pearic languages, Sa'och is marked by an unusual four-way contrast of vocal register, or phonation, in its vowel system.