Tai Laing language

Tai Leng
Tai Leng
Tai Leng; Tai Nine; Shan-Ni;
တႆးလႅင်
Native to	Myanmar
Region	Kachin, Sagaing
Native speakers	100,000 (2010)
Language family	Kra–Dai Burmese script (Tai Leng variant);
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tjl
Glottolog	tail1248

Tai Leng (

Burmese 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 Leng are Shan-Bamar, Shan Kalay, Myaybyan Shan, Tai Nine, Tai Dine and Tai Chaung.^[1]

Distribution and dialects

Tai Leng is spoken in

Homalin Township, Sagaing Region, along the Chindwin, Irrawaddy, and Uru rivers. It is also spoken in Kachin State from Bhamo to Myitkyina townships.^[1]

There are two subgroups of Tai Leng, namely Tai Nine and Tai Leng. The Tai Nine live along the Chindwin river and Uru river. And the Tai Leng live along the railway line between Myitkyina and Mandalay and along the Ayeyarwady river from the upper of Mandalay.^[1]

History

The Tai Leng settled in the

Mogaung, Wuntho, Kale, Khamti, Tsaung Tsu and Momeik.^[2] Tai Leng has had long-term close contact with several Tibeto-Burman languages, including Burmese speakers to the south, Lolo-Burmese, Nungish, and Jingpho-Luish languages to the east and north and Naga 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 the 1962 Burmese coup d'état, restrictive language policies were promulgated by the military regime.^[2] The Kachin 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 the 2011–2015 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]

Writing system

Tai Laing is written using a modified version of the

IAST

equivalents are provided below. Letters in gold are used to transcribe Pali.

Letters
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

Numerals
0 ꧰	1 ꧱	2 ꧲	3 ꧳	4 ꧴	5 ꧵	6 ꧶	7 ꧷	8 ꧸	9 ꧹

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tai Leng at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Lovett, Lorcan (2018-07-30). "Once-taboo language lives again in rural Myanmar". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
^
hdl:1887/74583
.

This Kra–Dai languages–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[e18-1] Tai Leng at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Lovett, Lorcan (2018-07-30). "Once-taboo language lives again in rural Myanmar". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-11-01.

[:1-3] 
hdl:1887/74583
.

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