Kayan, also known as, Padaung or Padaung Karen) is a Karen language of Burma, spoken by the Kayan people. The Kayan dialects share more than 90% lexical similarity.[2] Padaung is 71% to 76% lexically similar to Lahta.[3]

Padaung
Kayan
Native toBurma
EthnicityKayan people
Native speakers
500,000 (2005)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3pdu
Glottologkaya1315

Distribution

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Internal classification

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The Kayan languages are spoken in Kayah State, southern Shan State, and northern Karen State. There are four branches according to Shintani (2016),[10] namely:[11]

  • Kangan ("lowland dwellers")
  • Kakhaung ("highland dwellers")
  • Lawi ("South")
  • Latha ("North")

Nangki (sometimes called Langki), documented in Shintani (2016), is one of the Kayan languages belonging to the Kakhaung subgroup. It is spoken only in one village.

Pekong Kayan is documented in Manson (2010).

Sonkan Kayan and Dosanbu Kayan are documented in Shintani (2018a, b).[12][13] Shintani has also documented:by families or by villages as below:

  • Phulon Kayan[14]
  • Lagu Kayan[15]
  • Totan Kayan[16]
  • Dokhoncon Kayan[17]
  • Natwei Kayan[18]
  • Pimon Kayan[19]
  • Sonplao Kayan[20]
  • Dolan Kayan[21]
  • Thaoku Kayan[22]
  • Diklon Kayan[23]
  • Pulon Kayan[24]
  • Kabla Kayan[25]
  • Kathan Kayan[26]
  • Kalondei Kayan[27]
  • Ramaku, Subao, Kadu, Huason, Hanti, Sonpu Kayan (Shintani 2022)

Dimawso Kayan, a Kayan variety spoken in Wanbanbalo village, Dimawso township, Kayah State, Myanmar, is described in Lew (2018).[28]

Ethnologue lists Padaung (Kayan) dialects as:

  • Standard Pekon (prestige dialect)
  • Kayan Lahwi
  • Kayan Kangan (Yeinbaw, Yinbaw)

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ
aspirated
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
Fricative θ h
Nasal m n ŋ
Rhotic ɾ
Approximant lateral l
central w j
  • Voiced stops /b, d/ can also range to pre-glottalized stops [ʔb, ʔd] in free variation among speakers.
  • /θ/ shows fluctuation to [s] in some closely related dialects.
  • /ɾ/ is heard as a glide [ɹ] in syllable-medial position. It is heard as a tap [ɾ] elsewhere.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
High i ɨ u
High-mid e ə o
Low-mid ɛ ɔ
Low a
Diphthongs ai əɨ au
Nasal coda
Front Central Back
Mid əŋ
Low
  • Sounds /ɨ, a, ə, u/ phonetically range to [ɨ̠, a̟, ɤ̟, ʊ] in free variation.
  • Breathiness [V̤] is also evenly distributed among all sounds.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Padaung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  3. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  4. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  5. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  6. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  7. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  8. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  9. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  10. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2016. The Nangki language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 109. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  11. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2015. The Kadaw language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 106. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  12. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2018. The Sonkan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 118. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  13. ^ Shintani Tadahiko. 2018. The Dosanbu Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 120. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  14. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Phulon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 122. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  15. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Lagu Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 123. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  16. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Totan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 124. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  17. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Dokhoncon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 125. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  18. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Natwei Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 128. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  19. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Pimon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 129. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  20. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Sonplao Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 130. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  21. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Dolan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 132. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  22. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Thaoku Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 133. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  23. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Diklon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 134. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  24. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Pulon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 135. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  25. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Kabla Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 136. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  26. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Kathan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 137. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  27. ^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Kalondei Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 138. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  28. ^ Lew, Sigrid (2018). Preliminary phonology of Dimawso Kayan, Myanmar. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, held May 17–19, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
  29. ^ Manson, Ken (2007). Pekon Kayan phonology. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
  • Shintani, Tadahiko. 2020. A handbook of comparative Kayan languages. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA). Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
  • Aung, Wai Lin. 2013. A Descriptive Grammar of Kayah Monu. Master’s thesis, Payap University.
  • Ywar, Naw Hsa Eh. 2013. A Grammar of Kayan Lahta. Master’s thesis, Payap University.