Shan leid

Shan
lik tái
Native tae	Burma, Thailand, Cheenae
Region	Shan State
Native speakers	3.3 million (2001)
Leid faimily	Kra–Dai Tai Soothwastren (Thai) Northwastren Shan
Leid codes
ISO 639-2	shn
ISO 639-3	shn

The Shan leid (Shan: , IPA: [lɪ̀k tɑ́ɪ] or ၽႃႇသႃႇတႆး, [pʰàː sʰàː tái]; Burmese: ရှမ်းဘာသာ, [ʃáɴ bàðà]; Thai: ภาษาไทใหญ่) is the native leid o Shan fowk an spoken maistly in Shan State, Myanmar. It is an aa uised in pockets o Kachin State in Myanmar, in northren Thailand, an in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Cheenae. Shan is a member o the Tai-Kadai leid family, an is relatit tae Thai. It haes five tones, which dae no correspond exactly tae Thai tones, plus a "saxt tone" uised for emphasis. It is cawed Tai-Yai, or Tai Long in the Tai leids. The term "Shan" is an exonym believed tae be a Burmese derivative o "Siam".

The number o Shan speakers is no kent in pairt acause that o the Shan population is unkent. Estimates o Shan fowk range frae four million to 30 million, though the true number is somewhaur aroond sax million, wi aboot hauf speakin the Shan leid; 3.3 million is the number generally estimatit. Many Shan speak local dialects as well as the leid o their tradin pairtners. Due tae the civil war in Myanmar, few Shan today can read or write in Shan script, which wis derived frae the Burmese script.