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The Shan people, also known as the Tai Long or Tai Yai, are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in the Shan State of this country, but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Region, Kachin State, Kayah State, Sagaing Region and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China, Laos, Assam and Megalaya, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. Though no reliable census has been taken in Burma since 1935, the Shan are estimated to number 4–6 million, with CIA Factbook giving an estimate of five million spread throughout Myanmar which is about 10% of the overall Burmese population.
The Shan language is the native language of the Shan people and is mostly spoken in Shan State, Myanmar. It is also spoken in pockets in other parts of Myanmar, in Northern Thailand, in Yunnan, in Laos, in Cambodia, in Vietnam and decreasingly in Assam and Meghalaya. Shan is a member of the Tai–Kadai language family and is related to Thai. It has five tones, which do not correspond exactly to Thai tones, plus a sixth tone used for emphasis. The term Shan is also used for related Northwestern Tai languages, and it is called Tai Yai or Tai Long in other Tai languages. Standard Shan, which is also known as Tachileik Shan, is based on the dialect of the city of Tachileik.
Khmu[kʰmuʔ] is the language of the Khmu people of the northern Laos region. It is also spoken in adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and China. Khmu lends its name to the Khmuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, the latter of which also includes Khmer and Vietnamese. Within Austroasiatic, Khmu is often cited as being most closely related to the Palaungic and Khasic languages. The name "Khmu" can also be seen romanized as Kmhmu, Khmu', Kammu, or Khamuk in various publications or alternatively referred to by the name of a local dialect.
Tai Lue or Xishuangbanna Dai is a Tai language of the Lu people, spoken by about 700,000 people in Southeast Asia. This includes 280,000 people in China (Yunnan), 200,000 in Burma, 134,000 in Laos, 83,000 in Thailand and 4,960 in Vietnam. The language is similar to other Tai languages and is closely related to Kham Mueang or Tai Yuan, which is also known as Northern Thai language. In Yunnan, it is spoken in all of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, as well as Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er City.
The nearly thirty Palaungic or Palaung–Wa languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages.
The Khmuic languages are a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken mostly in northern Laos, as well as in neighboring northern Vietnam and southern Yunnan, China. Khmu is the only widely spoken language in the group.
There are approximately a hundred languages spoken in Myanmar. Burmese, spoken by two-thirds of the population, is the official language.
Lahu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lahu people of China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. It is widely used in China, both by Lahu people, and by other ethnic minorities in Yunnan, who use it as a lingua franca. However, the language is not widely used nor taught in any schools in Thailand, where many Lahu are in fact refugees and illegal immigrants, having crossed into Thailand from Myanmar.
Jingpho or Kachin, is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sal branch mainly spoken in Kachin State, Burma and Yunnan, China. There are many meanings for Jingpho. In the Jingpho language, Jingpho means people or Jinghpho tribe. The term "Kachin language" can refer either to the Jingpho language or to a group of languages spoken by various ethnic groups in the same region as Jingpo: Lisu, Lashi, Rawang, Zaiwa, Lhao Vo, Achang and Jingpho. These languages are from distinct branches of the highest level of the Tibeto-Burman family. The Jingpho alphabet is based on the Latin script.
The Phai are an ethnic group in Thailand and Laos. They are one of two sub-groups of the Lua people.
Tai Nüa is one of the Tai ethnicities in South East Asia. They are mostly found in the Yunnan Province of China, Laos, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam and some have emigrated to the United States of America. There are however two different groups of Tai people called Tai Nua, one in China and Burma, the other in Laos.
Wa (Va) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Wa people of Myanmar and China. There are three distinct varieties, sometimes considered separate languages; their names in Ethnologue are Parauk, the majority and standard form; Vo and Awa, though all may be called Wa, Awa, Va, Vo. David Bradley (1994) estimates there are total of 820,000 Wa speakers.
Palaung or Ta'ang, also known as De'ang, is a Austroasiatic dialect cluster spoken by over half a million people in Burma and neighboring countries. The Palaung people are divided into Palé (Ruching), Rumai, and Shwe, and each of whom have their own language. The Riang languages are reported to be unintelligible or only understood with great difficulty by native speakers of the other Palaung languages.
The Southwestern Tai, Southwestern Thai or Thailanguages are a branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. Its languages include Siamese, Lanna, Lao, Shan and others.
The Waic languages are spoken in Shan State, Burma, in Northern Thailand, and in Yunnan province, China.
Mok, also known as Amok, Hsen-Hsum, and Muak, is a possibly extinct Angkuic language spoken in Shan State, Myanmar and in Lampang Province, Thailand. In Lampang, 7 speakers were reported by Wurm & Hattori (1981).
The Angkuic languages are spoken in Yunnan province, China and Shan State, Burma.
Muak Sa-aak is an Angkuic language spoken in the Burma-China border region by over 4,000 people.
References
- ↑ Tai Loi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ "Laos".
- ↑ Schliesinger, Joachim. 2003. Ethnic Groups of Laos. Vol. 2: Austro-Asiatic-Speaking Peoples. Bangkok: White Lotus Press.
- 1 2 "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
- Hall, Elizabeth. 2017. On the Linguistic Affiliation of 'Tai Loi'. JSEALS vol. 10.2:xix-xxii.