Jinghpaw
Overview
The Jinghpaw language (also known as the Kachin language) is spoken in northern Myanmar (Kachin and northern Shan States), Yunnan province of China (Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture), and northeastern India (Assam and Arunachal Pradesh), being spoken across borders of three countries. Jinghpaw is the major language spoken by the Kachin people of Myanmar, one of the eight major ethnic groups in Myanmar, and by the Jingpo people of China, one of the 55 ethnic minority groups in China. The language serves as a lingua franca among the linguistically diverse Kachin and Jingpo people who speak multiple languages that are mutually unintelligible. Due to this situation, Jinghpaw is also known as the Kachin language. The population of the language is estimated to be approximately 630,000 in Myanmar, 40,000 in China, and 5,000 in India. Genetically, Jinghpaw belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, sharing a common ancestor with more than 250 languages such as Chinese, Burmese, Tibetan, Karen, Qiang, and Tangut. Jinghpaw, being located at the center of geographical and linguistic diversity in the family, stands at the linguistic “crossroads” of Tibeto-Burman (Benedict 1972). Jinghpaw, as a “link language”, links languages in several distinct branches of the family, sharing linguistic properties with several distinct branches (Nishida 1960).
Sounds and letters
Jinghpaw, as with many other Southeast Asian languages, is a tone language where tonal distinctions paly an important role to distinguish words. The present Jinghpaw orthography was devised by an American Baptist Missionary Ola Hanson in the late 19 centuries. Tones and glottal stops are not written in the orthography. Jinghpaw sound system is given below. (Below, slashes and angled brackets are used to enclose phonemic and orthographic forms, respectively.)
Vowels
| <a | e | i | aw | u | ă | ai | au | oi | wi> |
| /a | e | i | o | u | ə | ay | aw | oy | uy/ |
Consonants
| <p | b | hp | t | d | ht | ts | z | chy | j | k | g | hk | s | sh | m | n | ng | r | l | w | y> | ||||||||
| /p | b | ph | t | d | th | ts | dz | c | j | k | g | kh | ʔ | s | ɕ | m | n | ŋ | ʔm | ʔn | ʔŋ | r | l | ʔr | ʔl | w | y | ʔw | ʔy/ |
Tones
| /à/（Low-falling）、/a/（Mid-level）、/á/（High-level）、/â/（High-falling） |
Word formation
The main morphological processes of word formation include the following: compounding, reduplication, affixation, and conversion. Among them, compounding and reduplication are especially productive. Some examples are given below. (All examples below are in the orthographic forms.)
| Compounding: | shata-pan (lit. moon-flower) → ‘sunflower’ |
| Reduplication: | lawan ‘be quick’ → lawan wan ‘quickly’ |
| Affixation: | sha ‘eat’ → shat ‘rice, food’ |
| Conversion: | lata ‘hand’ → lata ‘choose’ |
Grammar
As with the vast majority of Tibeto-Burman languages, the word order is verb-final where subjects usually precede object (SOV).
| ngai | shat | sha ai. |
| I | food | eat |
| ‘I ate food.’ | ||
Jinghpaw also has a set of postpositive case marking clitics which mark subjects, objects, and obliques such as location, instrument, possessor, etc. Case clitics include:
hpe ‘accusative’, kaw ‘locative’, hta ‘locative’, de ‘allative’, kaw na ‘ablative’, hte ‘comitative’, a ‘genitive’, na ‘genitive’.
| nta | kaw | ngai | lakung | hte | shat | sha | ai |
| house | at | I | spoon | with | food | eat | |
| ‘I ate food with a spoon at home.’ | |||||||
Negation is formed by a negative prefix n- which precedes verbs.
| shi | myen | laika | n | chye ai |
| he | Burmese | letter | not | know |
| ‘He does not know Burmese letters.’ | ||||
Vocabulary
| Person | ngai ‘I’, nang ‘you (sg.)’, shi ‘he, she’, an ‘we two’, nan ‘you two’, shan ‘they two’, anhte ‘we’, nanhte ‘you (pl.)’, shanhte ‘they’ |
| Demonstratives | ndai ‘this’, dai `that’, wora ‘that over there, referring to an entity on the same level as the speaker’, htora ‘that down ther, referring to entity at a higher elevation than the speaker’, lera ‘that down there, referring to an entity at a lower elevation than the speaker’ |
| Interrogatives | hpa ‘what’, kadai ‘who’, gara ‘where’, galoi ‘when’, gade ‘how many’, ganing ‘how’ |
| Numerals | langai ‘1’, lahkawng ‘2’, masum ‘3’, mali ‘4’, manga ‘5’, kru ‘6’, sanit ‘7’, matsat ‘8’, jahku ‘9’, shi ’10’, hkun ’20’, latsa ‘100’ |
| Kinship | nu ‘mother’, wa ‘father’, hpu ‘elder brother’, na ‘elder sister’, nau ‘elder siblings’, sha ‘child’, ji ‘grand father’, dwi ‘grand mother’, shu ‘grandchild’ |
| Body parts | baw ‘head’, myi ‘eye’, na ‘ear’, ladi ‘nose’, n-gup ‘mouth’, nten ‘lips’, shabyi ‘cheek’, myi man ‘face’, du ‘neck’, hkum ‘body’, kan ‘belly’, lata ‘hands’, lagaw ‘feet’, mun ‘body hair’, kara ‘hair’, myi prwi ‘tiers’, sai ‘blood’, nra ‘bone’, shan ‘flesh’, masin ‘liver’, salum ‘heart’, myit ‘mind’ |
| fauna and flora | u ‘bird’, wa ‘pig’, nga ‘cow’, nga ‘fish’, gwi ‘dog’, lanyau ‘cat’, gumra ‘horse’, sharaw, ‘tiger’, tsap ‘bear’, yu ‘rat’, u hka ‘crow’, ji grawng ‘mosquito’, ji nu ‘fly’, shu ‘frog’, shan ‘deer’, hpun ‘tree’, tsing ‘grass’, nampan ‘flower’, kawa ‘bamboo’, namsi ‘fruit’ |
| Colors | hpraw ‘white’, chyang ‘black’, hkyeng ‘red’, tsit ‘green’, htoi ‘yellow’, mut ‘blue, brown, grey’ |
Greetings
Greetings such as ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’ are not usually used. Some common greetings include:
| Kaja ai i? ‘How are you?’ |
| Shat sha ngut sai i? ‘Have you eaten?’ |
| N sha shi ai. ‘I have not eaten yet.’ |
| Gara de sa na rai? ‘Where are you going?’ |
| Chyeju kaba sai. ‘Thank you.’ |
| N ra ai. ‘You are welcome.’ |
| Sorry. ‘I’m sorry.’ |
| Bai hkrum ga. ‘See you.’ |
(Keita Kurabe)
Lhaovo
Overview
Lhaovo language is spoken by Lhaovo, a tribe constituting Kachin ethnic group living in Northern Myanmar (Kachin and Shan States) and of Yunnan Province of China (Dehong Dai-Jingpho Autonomous Prefecture). It is called as “Maru” by Jinghpaw and Burmese, and “Langsu” in China. In Kachin State, Laungbyid-Dago’ dialect is regarded as the most superior and “Standard” one among the dialects identified so far. The population of Lhaovo speakers is estimated to be about 100,000. Lhaovo language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of Sino-Tibetan family and genetically very close to Lacid and Zaiwa.
Sounds and orthography
Lhaovo is a tone language where tonal distinctions play an important role to distinguish words.
The current Lhaovo orthography was a Romanization system devised by a Lhaovo scholar Luka Lahhung Hhao Leim, and licensed by the government of Myanmar in 1972.
Unlike Jinghpaw orthography, tones and the presence/absence of final glottal stops are written with syllable final signs. (Below <…> indicates orthographic representations and /…/ indicates phonological representation.)
Initial consonants (including clusters):
| <b | p | ph | d | t | th | z | zh | x | j | jh | c | g | k | kh | (UNMARKED) | v | f | s | sh | q | qh(hh) | h | m | mh | n | nh | ny | nyh | ng | ngh | r | rh | l | lh | y | yh | w> |
| /p | p’ | pʰ | t | t’ | tʰ | ts | ts’ | tsʰ | tʃ | tʃ’ | tʃʰ | k | k’ | kʰ | ʔ | v | f | s | ʃ | ɣ | x | h | m | m’ | n | n’ | ɲ | ɲ’ | ŋ | ŋ’ | r | r’ | l | l’ | j | j’ | (0)/ |
| <by | py | phy | gy | ky | khy | my | myh> |
| /pj | p’j | pʰj | kj | k’j | kʰj | mj | m’j/ |
Consonants with /’/ are followed by vowels with creaky phonation.
Vowels (+ final consonants):
| < | i | e | a | oe | au | o | u | > | |||||
| / | i | e | a | ø | au | o | u | / | |||||
| < | ai | aui | ui | > | |||||||||
| / | aj | auj | uj | / | |||||||||
| < | am | eim | > | ||||||||||
| / | am | øm | / | ||||||||||
| < | ab | > | |||||||||||
| / | ap | / |
| < | in | an | > | ||||||||||
| / | in | an | / | ||||||||||
| < | id | ad | > | ||||||||||
| / | it | at | / | ||||||||||
| < | ae | ang | aung | ao | ung | > | |||||||
| / | eŋ | aŋ | auŋ | oŋ | uŋ | / | |||||||
| < | ag | aug | ug | > | |||||||||
| / | ak | auk | uk | / | |||||||||
| < | e,;’ | a,;’ | ø,;’ | o,;’ | > | ||||||||
| / | eʔ | aʔ | øʔ | oʔ | / |
In the notation with <,;’> the choice among signs depends on the tone.
Tone (in the cases of vowel a):
| / | a | aj | am | an | aŋ | ap | at | ak | aʔ | / | ||
| Falling | /F/ | < | a | ai | am | an | ang | ab | ad | ag | a, | > |
| Low | /L/ | < | a: | ai: | am: | an: | ang: | ab: | ad: | ag: | a; | > |
| High | /H/ | < | a” | ai” | am” | an” | ang” | ab’ | ad’ | ag’ | a’ | > |
Weak syllables are pronounced shorter than normal syllables. They are notated without tonal sign and followed by the next syllable directly.
Word formation
The main morphological processes of word formation include: compounding, reduplication, and affixation Some examples are given below. (All examples below are in the orthographic forms.)
| Compounding: | qo, `hen, cock’sho: `meat’qo, sho:`chicken’ |
| qid `water’laung `to be hot’qid laung `hot water’ |
| Reduplication: | lam `warm’lam lam (za:) `warm one, warmly’ |
| Affixation: | phyu `to be white’aphyu `white one’ |
| bai: `elder sister’bai: mo” `the eldest sister’ |
Grammar
As with the vast majority of Tibeto-Burman languages, the word order is verb-final where subjects usually precede object (SOV).
| ngo | zo | zo”. |
| I | food | eat.RLS |
| `I ate a meal.’ | ||
Lacid also has a set of postpositive case marking clitics which mark the roles except subjects, objects: Case clitics include:
-re TEMPORAL `at, in’, RECIPIENT `to’, DIFFERENTIATED PATIENT -mae LOCATION `at, in’, -khyo GOAL `to’, -mae” SOURCE `from’, -khyo” PATH `through, along’, -we’ CONCOMITANT, INSTRUMENT `with, by’
| yham-mae | ngo | zuin”-we’ | zo | zo”. |
| house-in | I | spoon-with | food | eat.RLS |
| `I ate a meal with spoon.’ | ||||
Verbs are negated by prefixes ma-/da-.
| yao: | myan-tung” | ma-ba |
| he | Burmese-script | not-know.NEG |
| `He doesn’t know Burmese script.’ | ||
| da-zo: |
| Don’t-eat.IMP |
| `Don’t eat!’ |
Vocabulary
| Personal | ngo `I’, nyhao: `I and you’, nao `you’, yao: `he/she’, ngo nhaung” `I and other person(s)’ (not including the hearer), nyhao: nhaung” `I and you and other person(s)’, nao nhaung” `you (pl)’, yao: nhaung” / yao: bam `they’ |
| Demonstratives | ce: ru / ce PROXIMAL `this’, ai: ru / ai MEDIAL `that’, thoe: ru / thoe DISTAL-LEVEL `that’, qho” ru DISTAL-UP `that (upward)’, mho” ru (DISTAL-DOWN: `that (downward)’; ce: / ce: jo, qo PROXIMAL `here’, ai: / ai: jo, qo MEDIAL `there’, thoe: / thoe: jo, qo DISTAL-LEVEL `there’, qho: DISTAL-UP `there (upward)’, mho: DISTAL-DOWN `there (downward)’ |
| Interrogatives | pe” `what?’, khag’ / khoyaug `who?’, khai: / kho jo, qo `where?’, khonhae” `when?’, khonho” `how much?’, khoru: `how?’ |
| Numerals | da `one’, shid’ `two’, sam `three’, byid `four’, ngo” `five’, khyaug’ `six’, nhad’ `seven’, she’ `eight’, gug `nine’, daxe `ten’, shid’ xe `twenty’, dayo `one hundred’ |
| Kinship | (a)myhi” `mother’, (a)pho” `father’, (a)mao: `elder brother’, (a)bai: `elder sister’, (a)nhaung: `younger brother/sister’, zo: `child’, (a)phug’ `grandfather’, (a)phyid’ `grandmother’, myid: `grandchild’, lao `husband’, myi: `wife’ |
| Body parts | au:(lam:) `head’, myo, `eye’, no: `ear’, nho `nose’, nhad’ `mouth’, nhad’ qid `lip’, ba qae `cheek’, myo, khung: `eyelid’, lang zang: `neck’, gaung `body’, vae:(dug:) `belly’, lo, `hand’, khyid `leg, foot’, mug’ `hair’, xae `skin hair’, ngug byid `tear’, sa: `blood’, sho: qug: `bone’, shoqid: `skin’, sho: `fresh’, sang: `lung’, nhag’lam: `heart’, myid `mind’ |
| Fauna and Flora | ngho’ `bird’, vo, `pig’, nung: jaung `ox, cow’, ngo: `fish’, lakha: `dog’, lanyhau: `cat’, myao: `horse’, lo: / myang kha: `tiger’, voem `bear’, gyu, `rat’, kano, `crow’, kyang `mosquito’, yao khaung: `fly’, po: haung `frog’, shocid’ `deer’, sag’ gae `tree’, myo, gae `grass’, bin: `flower’, vo: `bamboo’, (a)shi: `fruit’ |
| Colors | phyu `be white’, no, `be black’, ne `be red’, nyug’ `be green’, bo” `be yellow’ |
Greetings
Greetings such as `hello’ and `good morning’ are not usually used. Some common greetings include:
| qao” na: (ra”) i” `How are you?’, |
| zo zo: va” i” `Have you eaten a meal?’, |
| mazo: shi: `I have not eaten yet.’, |
| khokhyo ye: nae” `Where will you go?’, |
| je” ju” qi: va” `Thank you very much.’ |
| khyam” sa byid: la, `I’m sorry.’ |
| dam: qhug’ (ge)lang: `See you again.’ |
（Hideo Sawada）
Lacid
Overview
Lacid language is spoken by Lacid, a tribe constituting Kachin ethnic group living in Northern Myanmar (Kachin and Shan States) and of Yunnan Province of China (Dehong Dai-Jingpho Autonomous Prefecture). It is called as “Lashi” by Jinghpaw and Burmese, and “Leqi” in China. The population of Lacid speakers is said to be 30 thousands, though without accuracy. Lacid language belongs to Tibeto-Burman branch of Sino-Tibetan family and genetically very close to Lacid and Zaiwa.
Below I show the basics of Cangmokhung dialect which is regarded as “Standard” one among the dialects in Kachin State.
Sounds and orthography
Lacid is a tone language where tonal distinctions play an important role to distinguish words.
The current Lacid orthography was a Romanization system made in 1970s.
Tones and the presence/absence of final glottal stops are written with syllable final signs. (Below <…> indicates orthographic representations and /…/ indicates phonological representation.)
Initial consonants (including clusters):
| <b | p | ph | d | t | th | z | zh | x | j | jh | c | g | k | kh | (UNMARKED) | v | f | s | sh | h | m | mh | n | nh | ny | nyh | ng | ngh | r | rh | l | lh | y | yh | w> |
| /p | p’ | pʰ | t | t’ | tʰ | ts | ts’ | tsʰ | tʃ | tʃ’ | tʃʰ | k | k’ | kʰ | ʔ | v | f | s | ʃ | h | m | m’ | n | n’ | ɲ | ɲ’ | ŋ | ŋ’ | r | r’ | l | l’ | j | j’ | (0)/ |
| <by | py | phy | gy | ky | khy | my | myh> |
| /pj | p’j | pʰj | kj | k’j | kʰj | mj | m’j/ |
Consonants with /’/ are followed by vowels with creaky phonation.
| < | i | e | ei～eu | a | oo～o | u | ui | ue | > | |||||||||||
| / | i | e | ə | a | o | u | wi | we | / | |||||||||||
| < | (ai) | > | ||||||||||||||||||
| / | (aj) | / | ||||||||||||||||||
| < | am | oem | > | |||||||||||||||||
| / | am | om | / | |||||||||||||||||
| < | ab | oeb | > | |||||||||||||||||
| / | ap | op | / | |||||||||||||||||
| < | en | ain | oin | > | ||||||||||||||||
| / | en | an | on | / | ||||||||||||||||
| < | id | ed | aid | oid | uid | > | ||||||||||||||
| / | it | et | at | ot | wit | / | ||||||||||||||
| < | eing～eung | ang | oung | ung | uang | > | ||||||||||||||
| / | əŋ | aŋ | oŋ | uŋ | waŋ | / | ||||||||||||||
| < | eig-eug | (ag) | au(g) | oug | ug | > | ||||||||||||||
| / | ək | (ak) | auk | ok | uk | / | ||||||||||||||
| < | a,’ | o,’ | u,’ | > | ||||||||||||||||
| / | aʔ | oʔ | uʔ | / |
Tone (in the cases of vowel o):
| / | o | om | on | oŋ | op | ot | ok | oʔ | / | ||
| Falling | /F/ | < | oo | oem | oin | oung | oeb | oid | oug | o, | > |
| Low | /L/ | < | oo: | oem: | oin: | oung: | oug: | > | |||
| High | /H/ | < | oo” | oem” | oin” | oung” | oug” | > | |||
| High-falling | /HF/ | < | oo’ | oem’ | oin’ | oung’ | oeb’ | oid’ | oug’ | o’ | > |
Both /uHF/ and /uʔHF/ are spelled as <u’>. ex: tu’ /t’uHF/ `to compare’, thu’ /tʰuʔHF/ `to exit'</u’>
Weak syllables are pronounced shorter than normal syllables. They are notated without tonal sign and followed by the next syllable directly.
Word formation
The main morphological processes of word formation include: compounding, reduplication, and affixation Some examples are given below. (All examples below are in the orthographic forms.)
| Compounding: | gyo, `hen, cock’shoo” `meat’gyo, shoo” `chicken’ |
| qid `water’laung `to be hot’qid laung `hot water’ |
| Reduplication: | loem `warm’loem loem (za:) `warm one, warmly’ |
| Affixation: | phyu: `to be white’aphyu: `white one’ |
| bi: `elder sister’bi: moo” `the eldest sister’ |
Grammar
As with the vast majority of Tibeto-Burman languages, the word order is verb-final where subjects usually precede object (SOV).
| ngoo | voem: | zo: |
| I | food | eat.RLS |
| `I ate a meal.’ | ||
Lacid also has a set of postpositive case marking clitics which mark the roles except subjects, objects: Case clitics include:
-ri TEMPORAL `at, in’, RECIPIENT `to’, DIFFERENTIATED PATIENT, -moo LOCATION `at, in’, -khyoo: GOAL `to’, -mo” SOURCE `from’, -khyoo” PATH `through, along’, -yo’ CONCOMITANT, INSTRUMENT `with, by’
| yhoem:-moo | ngoo | moid’-yo’ | voem: | zo: |
| house-in | I | spoon-with | food | eat.RLS |
| `I ate a meal with spoon.’ | ||||
Verbs are negated by prefixes a-.
| nyang: | myeing-lhid” | a-si’ |
| he | Burmese-script | not-know.NEG |
| `He doesn’t know Burmese script.’ | ||
| a-zoo:-lhe” |
| not-eat.NEG-POSTP |
| `Don’t eat!’ |
Vocabulary
| Persona | ngoo `I’, nang `you’, nyang: `he/she’, ngoonu” `I and other person(s)’ (not including the hearer), nyhang” nu” `I and you (and other person(s))’, nanu” `you (pl)’, nya: nu” / yao: bam `they’ |
| Demonstratives | he: zi / ce PROXIMAL `this’, hau: zi / ai MEDIAL `that’, thu: zi / thoe DISTAL-LEVEL `that’, fu: zi DISTAL-UP `that (upward)’, mho: zi (DISTAL-DOWN: `that (downward)’; hid: / he: jo, yoo PROXIMAL `here’, hug: / hau: jo, yoo MEDIAL `there’, thu: / thu: jo, yoo DISTAL-LEVEL `there’, fu: DISTAL-UP `there (upward)’, mhoo: DISTAL-DOWN `there (downward)’ |
| Interrogatives | ce: `what?’, hang” / khayug `who?’, kha: / kha jo, yoo `where?’, khanham `when?’, khamyhoo’ `how much?’, khasu” `how?’ |
| Numerals | da `one’, eig’ `two’, soem” `three’, myid: `four’, wu: /mL/ `five’, khyug’ `six’, nyhdd’ `seven’, shed’ `eight’, goug: `nine’, daxi: `ten’, eig’ xi: `twenty’, dashoo: `one hundred’ |
| Kinship | amyhi’ / ayhid’ `mother’, (a)phoo’ `father’, amang: `elder brother’, abi: `elder sisterj’, nhung” `younger brother/sister’, zoo: `child’, aphoug” `grandfather’, aphyid” `grandmother’, myid: zoo: `grandchild’, lang / yhoem: seing: phoo’ `husband’, myi: / yhoem: seing: myhi’ `wife’ |
| Body parts | u”(loem:) `head’, myo, `eye’, noo: `ear’, nhoo: `nose’, nhoid’ `mouth’, nhoid’ kug’ `lip’, bu loid’ `cheek’, myo, nhoo: `eyelid’, leing zeing: `neck’, gung `body’, voem:(doug:) `belly’, lo, `hand’, khyid: `leg, foot’, moug” `hair’, xam: `skin hair’, myo, byid `tear’, suid” `blood’, shoo” youg: `bone’, shoo” yid `skin’, shoo” `fresh’, seing” `lung’, nheig’ loem: `heart, mind’ |
| Fauna and Flora | ngho’ `bird’, vo, `pig’, nu: jung `ox, cow’, wu: /mL/ `fish’, lakhuid” `dog’, lanyhoug: `cat’, myang: `horse’, loo: `tiger’, voem `bear’, gyu, no, `rat’, kano, `crow’, kyang: `mosquito’, yang khung” `fly’, poo” `frog’, shoocid’ `deer’, seig’ gam `tree’, myo, gam `grass’, bain: `flower’, voo: `bamboo’, (a)shi” `fruit’ |
| Colors | phyu: `be white’, no, `be black’, ne `be red’, nyoug `be green’, shui: `be yellow’ |
In `five’ and `fish’, /m/ forms a syllable on its own and is exceptionally spelled as wu:.
Greetings
Greetings such as `hello’ and `good morning’ are not usually used. Some common greetings include:
| yang” nyid la, `How are you?’, |
| voem: zoo: bye: la, `Have you eaten a meal?’, |
| azoo: shi” `I have not eaten yet.’, |
| kha:khyoo: yhi: wa’ `Where will you go?’, |
| je ju gyi: bye: / gaja bye: `Thank you very much.’ |
| khyam” sa: byid: we’/la,/la’ `I’m sorry.’ |
| doem shoug’ goo” shang `See you again.’ |
（Hideo Sawada）