| Khun | |
|---|---|
| Kengtung Shan Kengtung Tai | |
| ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿᨡᩨ᩠ᨶ | |
| Pronunciation | /tájkʰɯ̌ːn/ |
| Native to | Myanmar (Shan State),Thailand |
| Region | Kengtung |
Native speakers | (100,000 cited 1990)[1] |
Kra–Dai
| |
| Tai Tham script,Thai script | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kkh |
| Glottolog | khun1259 |
 | |
Khün, orTai Khün (Tai Khün:ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿᨡᩨ᩠ᨶ,/taj˧˧.kʰɯːn˧˨˥/;Shan:တႆးၶိုၼ်Thai:ไทเขิน[tʰajkʰɤ̌ːn]), also known asKengtung Tai orKengtung Shan, is the language of the Tai Khün people ofKengtung,Shan State,Myanmar.[2] It is also spoken inChiang Rai Province, Thailand, andYunnan Province,China.
The Khün varieties share 93% to 100%lexical similarity.[2] Khun is closely related to otherTai languages. Khün shares 90% to 95% lexical similarity withNorthern Thai language, 92% to 95% withLü, 93% to 97% withShan, and 80% to 83% withstandard Thai.[2]
Tai Khun is traditionally written using a variant of theTai Tham script.[3]
In China, there are about 10,000 Tai Khuen (Chinese:傣艮/傣痕) people in the following areas of Yunnan province (Gao 1999).[4]
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar /palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | [m] | [n] | [ɲ] | [ŋ] | ||
| Plosive & Affricate | aspirated | [pʰ] | [tʰ] | [tɕʰ] | [kʰ] | |
| tenuis | [p] | [t] | [tɕ] | [k] | [ʔ][a] | |
| voiced | [b] | [d] | ||||
| Fricative | [f] | [s] | [h] | |||
| Trill | [r][b] | |||||
| Approximant | [l] | [j] | [w] | |||
There are contrastive five or six tones in Khün.[5] The varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah have five tones, and the variety spoken in Murng Lang has six tones.[5] Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Murng Lang are part ofKengtung Township.[5]
The table below presents the tones in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, Kat Fah, and Murng Lang. These tones occur in smooth syllables which are open syllables or closed syllables ending in asonorant sound, such as /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /w/, or /j/.
| Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah | Murng Lang | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Tone letter | Examples[5] | Name | Tone letter | Examples[5] |
| falling rising | ˧˨˥ (325) | /kaː˧˨˥/ᨠᩣ "crow" | falling rising | ˨˩˥ (215) | /kaː˨˩˥/ᨠᩣ "crow" |
| mid | ˧ (33) | /kaː˧/ᨣᩤ "car" | high | ˦ (44) | /kaː˦/ᨣᩤ "car" |
| low | ˨ (22) | /kaː˨/ᨠ᩵ᩣ "charm" /kaː˨/ᨣ᩵ᩤ "cost" | low rising | ˩˧ (13) | /kaː˩˧/ᨠ᩵ᩣ "charm" |
| low | ˨ (22) | /kaː˨/ᨣ᩵ᩤ "cost" | |||
| mid glottalized | ˀ˧ (33ʔ) | /kaːˀ˧/ᨠ᩶ᩣ "to dance" | mid glottalized | ˀ˧ (33ʔ) | /kaːˀ˧/ᨠ᩶ᩣ "to dance" |
| high falling | ˦˩ (41) | /kaː˦˩/ᨣ᩶ᩤ "to trade" | high falling | ˥˩ (51) | /kaː˥˩/ᨣ᩶ᩤ "to trade" |
Three of the five or six phonemic tones occur in checked syllables[5] which are closed syllables ending in aglottal stop (/ʔ/) or anobstruent sound, such as /p/, /t/, or /k/. The table below presents the three tones in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah.
| Tone | Vowel length | Example(s)[5] |
|---|---|---|
| mid | short | /kap˧/ᨠᩢ᩠ᨷ "with" |
| high falling | /kap˦˩/ᨣᩢ᩠ᨷ "tight" | |
| low | long | /kaːp˨/ᨠᩣ᩠ᨷ "coconut husk" /kaːp˨/ᨣᩤ᩠ᨷ "to grip in teeth" |
The Article 1 of theUDHR in Khün:
ᨾᨶᩩᩔ᩼ᨴ᩠ᨦᩢᩉᩖᩣ᩠ᨿᨠᩮ᩠ᨯᩨᨾᩣᨾᩦᨻ᩠ᨦᩈᩁᩓᩢᨹ᩠ᨿ᩵ᨦᨻ᩠ᨿᨦᨠ᩠ᨶᩢ ᨶᩱᨠᩥᨲ᩠ᨲᩥᩈ᩠ᨠᩢ ᩓᩢᩈᩥᨴ᩠ᨵᩥ ᨲ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨦᨣᩳ᩶ᨣᩢᨾᩦᨾᨶᩮᩣᨵᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼ᩓᩢ ᨣ᩠ᩅᩁᨷᨭᩥᨷ᩠ᨲᩢᨲᩳ᩵ᨠ᩠ᨶᩢᨯᩢ᩠ᩅ᩠ᨿᨣ᩠ᩅᩣ᩠ᨾᨹ᩠ᨿ᩵ᨦᨻ᩠ᨿᨦᨠ᩠ᨶᩢ[6]
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