| Tai Laing | |
|---|---|
| |
| တႆးလႅင် | |
| Native to | Myanmar |
| Region | Kachin,Sagaing |
Native speakers | 100,000 (2010)[1] |
Kra–Dai
| |
| Burmese script (Tai Leng variant) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tjl |
| Glottolog | tail1248 |
Tai Laing (Shan:တႆးလႅင်,lit. 'redTai'; variously speltTai Leng orTai Nine), also known asShan-Ni (Burmese:ရှမ်းနီ,lit. 'redShan'), is aTai language of Burma, closely related toKhamti andShan. It is written in its own variant ofBurmese script, and though not taught in schools, is experiencing a cultural revival, albeit still small. There is no census of speakers, but they are estimated to number around 100,000.
Alternate names for Tai Laing are Shan-Bamar, Shan Kalay, Myaybyan Shan, Tai Nine, Tai Dine and Tai Chaung.[1]
Tai Leng is spoken inHomalin Township,Sagaing Region, along the Chindwin, Irrawaddy, and Uru rivers. It is also spoken inKachin State fromBhamo toMyitkyina townships.[1]
There are two subgroups of Tai Leng, namelyTai Nine andTai Leng. The Tai Nine live along the Chindwin river and Uru river. And the Tai Leng live along the railway line betweenMyitkyina andMandalay and along the Ayeyarwady river from the upper of Mandalay.[1]
The Tai Leng settled in theIndawgyi Lake valley, in modern-dayKachin State, Myanmar, establishing city-states includingMongyang,Mogaung,Wuntho,Kale,Khamti,Tsaung Tsu andMomeik.[2] Tai Leng has had long-term close contact with severalTibeto-Burman languages, includingBurmese speakers to the south,Lolo-Burmese,Nungish, andJingpho-Luish languages to the east and north andNaga languages to the west.[3] These languages have influenced the phonology and grammar of Tai Leng, including the frequency of disyllabic words and presence of different grammatical markers, and variation in word order.[3]
Following the1962 Burmese coup d'état, restrictive language policies were promulgated by the military regime.[2] TheKachin Independence Organization also repressed Tai Leng speakers, who lived in contested territory.[2] In the 1990s, a military ceasefire enabled the Tai Leng to recover manuscripts, publish literacy books, and teach the language in summer schools.[2] During the2011–2015 Myanmar political reforms, Khin Pyone Yee was appointed Kachin State's Minister of Shan Affairs.[2] She spearheaded a program to institutionalize Tai Leng education materials and curricula.[2]
While Tai Leng is experiencing a linguistic revival driven by youth, many Tai Leng are now bilingual or monolingual in Burmese, due to assimilation and intermarriage with Burmese speakers.[2]
Tai Laing is written using a modified version of theMon-Burmese script. The alphabet andIAST equivalents are provided below. Letters in gold are used to transcribe Pali.
က k | ၵ kh | ꧩ g | ꧪ gh | င ṅ | |
ၸ c | ꩬ ch | ꧫ j | ꧬ jh | ꧧ ñ | |
ꩦ ṭ | ꩧ ṭh | ꧭ ḍ | ꧮ ḍh | ꧯ ṇ | |
တ t | ထ th | ꧻ d | ꧼ dh | ꩫ n | |
ပ p | ꧤ ph | ꧽ b | ꧾ bh | ꧨ f | မ m |
ယ y | ꩺ r | လ l | ꧺ ḷ | ဝ w | ꧬ s |
ၯ h | ဢ a |
0 ꧰ | 1 ꧱ | 2 ꧲ | 3 ꧳ | 4 ꧴ | 5 ꧵ | 6 ꧶ | 7 ꧷ | 8 ꧸ | 9 ꧹ |
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