Shan is the native language of the Shan people and is mostly spoken in Shan State, Myanmar. It is also spoken in pockets in other parts of Myanmar, in Northern Thailand, in Yunnan, in Laos, in Cambodia, in Vietnam and decreasingly in Assam and Meghalaya. Shan is a member of the Kra–Dai language family and is related to Thai. It has five tones, which do not correspond exactly to Thai tones, plus a sixth tone used for emphasis. The term Shan is also used for related Northwestern Tai languages, and it is called Tai Yai or Tai Long in other Tai languages. Standard Shan, which is also known as Tachileik Shan, is based on the dialect of the city of Tachileik.[citation needed]
In 2019, Ethnologue estimated there were 3.3 million Shan speakers, including 3.2 million in Myanmar.[2][1] The Mahidol University Institute for Language and Culture estimates there are gave the number of Shan speakers in Thailand as 95,000 in 2006.[citation needed] Many Shan speak local dialects as well as the language of their trading partners.
History
Further information: Tai peoples and Shan people
Historically, the dominance of Shan as a regional lingua franca made it the source of many loanwords in other regional languages, especially Jingpo and Palaung.[3]
Influence from Burmese
By the same token, Shan has been significantly influenced by Burmese, mediated by centuries of historical and ongoing contact and exchange between Burmese and Shan speakers, especially between the Burmese royal court and Shan principalities.[3] For instance, the lack of a /f/ sound in most Shan dialects is attributed to Burmese influence; this sound is present in the closely related Khün and Northern Thai languages. Shan vocabulary has been significantly enriched by Burmese contact, with Burmese loan words appearing throughout the Shan lexicon,[3] including loanwords borrowed from Pali via Burmese. Burmese appears to have also influenced Shan grammar, with respect to the use of complex prepositions and certain word patterns that do not exist in closely related Tai languages.[3]
Due to Shan’s status as a lingua franca in the region, it has served as an intermediary, passing loanwords from Burmese into other regional languages.[3]
Influence from Thai
Due to labour migration in recent decades, one million ethnic Shan now live in Thailand.[3][4] As a result of ongoing language contact, Thai has increasingly become a competing source of loanwords into Shan, especially for scientific and political concepts.[3] These Thai loanwords are often more difficult to detect, because of phonetic and structural similarities between Shan and Thai.[3] Some recent phonological developments, like the reversal of the historical /f/ > /pʰ/ shift especially among younger Shan speakers, is attributed to contact with Thai.
Names
The Shan language has a number of names in different Tai languages and Burmese.
- In Shan, the spoken language is commonly called kwam tai , lit. ’Tai language’). The written language is called lik tai .
- In Burmese, it is called hram: bhasa, whence the English word “Shan”. The term “Shan,” which was formerly spelt hsyam: in Burmese, is an exonym believed to be a Burmese derivative of “Siam” (an old term for Thailand).
- In Thai and Southern Thai, it is called phasa thai yai (ภาษาไทใหญ่, [pʰāː.sǎː.tʰāj.jàj], lit. ’big/great Tai language’) or more informally or even vulgarly by some phasa ngiao (ภาษาเงี้ยว, [pʰāː.sǎː.ŋía̯w], an outdated term that now sounds like the word for “snake”).
- In Northern Thai, it is called kam tai (กำไต, [kām.tāj], literally “Tai language”) or more informally or even vulgarly by some kam ngiao (กำเงี้ยว, [kām.ŋía̯w]), lit. ’Shan language’).
- In Lao, it is called phasa tai yai (ພາສາໄທໃຫຍ່, [pʰáː.sǎː.tʰáj.ɲāj], lit. ’big/great Tai language’) or more informally or even vulgarly by some phasa ngiao (ພາສາງ້ຽວ, [pʰáː.sǎː.ŋîa̯w]).
- In Tai Lü, it is called kam ngio .
Dialects
The Shan dialects spoken in Shan State can be divided into three groups, roughly coinciding with geographical and modern administrative boundaries, namely the northern, southern, and eastern dialects. Dialects differ to a certain extent in vocabulary and pronunciation, but are generally mutually intelligible.
While the southern dialect has borrowed more Burmese words, eastern Shan is somewhat closer to Northern Thai language and Lao in vocabulary and pronunciation, and the northern so-called “Chinese Shan” is much influenced by the Yunnan-Chinese dialect.[clarification needed]
A number of words differ in initial consonants. In the north, initial /k/, /kʰ/ and /m/, when combined with certain vowels and final consonants, are pronounced /tʃ/ (written ky), /tʃʰ/ (written khy) and /mj/ (written my). In Chinese Shan, initial /n/ becomes /l/. In southwestern regions /m/ is often pronounced as /w/. Initial /f/ only appears in the east, while in the other two dialects it merges with /pʰ/.
J. Marvin Brown divides the three dialects of Shan State as follows:[5]
- Northern — Lashio, Burma; contains more Chinese influences
- Southern — Taunggyi, Burma (capital of Shan State); contains more Burmese influences
- Eastern — Kengtung, Burma (in the Golden Triangle); closer to Northern Thai and Lao
Prominent divergent dialects are considered separate languages, such as Khün (called Kon Shan by the Burmese), which is spoken in Kengtung valley. Chinese Shan is also called Tai Mao, referring to the old Shan State of Mong Mao. Tai Long is used to refer to the Southern Shan State dialect spoken in southern and central regions west of the Salween River,[6] the Northern Shan State dialect,[7] and the dialect spoken in Laos. There are also dialects still spoken by a small number of people in Kachin State, such as Tai Laing, and Khamti spoken in northern Sagaing Region.
