The Waic languages are spoken in Shan State, Burma, in Northern Thailand, and in Yunnan province, China.
| Waic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Burma, China |
| Ethnicity | Wa people |
| Linguistic classification | Austroasiatic |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | waic1245 |
Classification
editGérard Diffloth reconstructed Proto-Waic in a 1980 paper. His classification is as follows (Sidwell 2009). (Note: Individual languages are highlighted in italics.)
The recently discovered Meung Yum and Savaiq languages[1][2] of Shan State, Burma also belong to the Wa language cluster.
Other Waic languages in Shan State, eastern Myanmar are En and Siam (Hsem),[3][4] which are referred to by Scott (1900)[5] as En and Son. Hsiu (2015)[6] classifies En, Son, and Tai Loi in Scott (1900) as Waic languages, citing the Waic phonological innovation from Proto-Palaungic *s- > h- instead of the Angkuic phonological innovation from Proto-Palaungic *s- > s-.
References
edit- ^ Myint Myint Phyu (2013). A Sociolinguistic Survey of Selected Meung Yum and Savaiq Varieties (PDF) (MA thesis). Payap University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-29.
- ^ Phung Wei Ping (2013). A Phonological Description of Meung Yum and Phonological Comparison of Meung Yum with Three Wa Dialects in China (PDF) (MA thesis). Payap University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-29.
- ^ Shintani Tadahiko. 2016. The Siam (Hsem) language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA), 107. Tokyo: ILCAA.
- ^ Shintani Tadahiko. 2016. The Va (En) language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA), 108. Tokyo: ILCAA.
- ^ Scott, J. G. 1900. Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. Superintendent, Government Printing, Rangoon.
- ^ Hsiu, Andrew. 2015. The Angkuic languages: a preliminary survey. Paper presented ICAAL 6 (6th International Conference on Austroasiatic Linguistics), Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Further reading
edit- Sidwell, Paul. 2009. Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 76. Munich: Lincom Europa.
- Shintani Tadahiko. 2016. The Va (En) language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 108. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).
External links
edit- SOAS Wa Dictionary Project and Internet Database for Minority Languages of Burma (Myanmar)