# Shan language

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**Shan** is the native language of the [Shan people](/source/Shan_people) and is mostly spoken in [Shan State](/source/Shan_State), [Myanmar](/source/Myanmar). It is also spoken in pockets in other parts of Myanmar, [Northern Thailand](/source/Northern_Thailand), [Yunnan](/source/Yunnan), [Laos](/source/Laos), [Cambodia](/source/Cambodia), [Vietnam](/source/Vietnam) and decreasingly in [Assam](/source/Assam) and [Meghalaya](/source/Meghalaya). Shan is a member of the [Kra–Dai language family](/source/Kra%E2%80%93Dai_languages) and is related to [Thai](/source/Thai_language). 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](/source/Tachileik).[citation needed]

In 2019, Ethnologue estimated there were 3.3 million Shan speakers, including 3.2 million in Myanmar.[1][2] The [Mahidol University](/source/Mahidol_University) Institute for Language and Culture estimates there are gave the number of Shan speakers in Thailand as 95,000 in 2006. Many Shan speak local dialects as well as the language of their trading partners.

## History

Historically, the dominance of Shan as a regional lingua franca made it the source of many loanwords in other regional languages, especially [Jingpo](/source/Jingpo_language) and [Palaung](/source/Palaung_language).[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](/source/Kh%C3%BCn_language) and [Northern Thai languages](/source/Northern_Thai_language). Shan vocabulary has been significantly enriched by Burmese contact, with Burmese loan words appearing throughout the Shan lexicon,[3] including loanwords borrowed from [Pali](/source/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](/source/Burmese_language) 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](/source/Thai_language) 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](/source/Tai_languages) and [Burmese](/source/Burmese_language).

- In Shan, the spoken language is commonly called *kwam tai* (*ၵႂၢမ်းတႆး*, kwáːm.táj, lit. '[Tai](/source/Tai_peoples) language'). The written language is called *lik tai* (*လိၵ်ႈတႆး*, lik táj).
- In [Burmese](/source/Burmese_language), it is called *hram: bhasa* (My-mymr: *ရှမ်းဘာသာ*, ʃáɰ̃ bàðà), whence the English word "Shan". The term "Shan," which was formerly spelt *hsyam:* (My-mymr: *သျှမ်း*) in Burmese, is an [exonym](/source/Exonym) believed to be a Burmese derivative of "Siam" (an old term for [Thailand](/source/Thailand)).
- In [Thai](/source/Thai_language) and [Southern Thai](/source/Southern_Thai_language), it is called *phasa thai yai* (ภาษาไทใหญ่, pʰāː.sǎː.tʰāj.jàj, lit. 'big/great [Tai](/source/Tai_peoples) 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](/source/Northern_Thai_language), it is called *kam tai* (กำไต, kām.tāj, literally "[Tai](/source/Tai_peoples) language") or more informally or even vulgarly by some *kam ngiao* (กำเงี้ยว, kām.ŋía̯w), lit. 'Shan language').
- In [Lao](/source/Lao_language), it is called *phasa tai yai* (*ພາສາໄທໃຫຍ່*, pʰáː.sǎː.tʰáj.ɲāj, lit. 'big/great [Tai](/source/Tai_peoples) language') or more informally or even vulgarly by some *phasa ngiao* (*ພາສາງ້ຽວ*, pʰáː.sǎː.ŋîa̯w).
- In [Tai Lü](/source/Tai_Lue_language), it is called *kam ngio* (*ᦅᧄᦇᦲᧁᧉ*, kâm.ŋìw).

## Dialects

The Shan dialects spoken in [Shan State](/source/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](/source/Burmese_language) words, eastern Shan is somewhat closer to [Northern Thai language](/source/Northern_Thai_language) and [Lao](/source/Lao_language) in vocabulary and pronunciation, and the northern so-called "[Chinese Shan](/source/Tai_Nuea_language)" 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](/source/J._Marvin_Brown) divides the three dialects of Shan State as follows:[5]

1. Northern — [Lashio](/source/Lashio), Burma; contains more Chinese influences
1. Southern — [Taunggyi](/source/Taunggyi), Burma (capital of [Shan State](/source/Shan_State)); contains more Burmese influences
1. Eastern — [Kengtung](/source/Kengtung), Burma (in the [Golden Triangle](/source/Golden_Triangle_(Southeast_Asia))); closer to Northern Thai and Lao

Prominent divergent dialects are considered separate languages, such as [Khün](/source/Kh%C3%BCn_language) (called Kon Shan by the Burmese), which is spoken in [Kengtung](/source/Kengtung_Township) valley. Chinese Shan is also called Tai Mao, referring to the old Shan State of [Mong Mao](/source/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](/source/Salween_River),[6] the Northern Shan State dialect,[7] and the dialect spoken in [Laos](/source/Laos). There are also dialects still spoken by a small number of people in [Kachin State](/source/Kachin_State), such as [Tai Laing](/source/Tai_Laing_language), and [Khamti](/source/Khamti_language) spoken in northern [Sagaing Region](/source/Sagaing_Region).

## Phonology

### Consonants

Shan has 19 consonants. Unlike [Thai](/source/Thai_language) and [Lao](/source/Lao_language) ([Isan](/source/Isan_language)) there are no voiced plosives /d/ and /b/.

Labial Dental/ Alveolar (Alveolo-) Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m မ n ၼ ɲ ၺ ŋ င Plosive unaspirated p ပ t တ tɕ ၸ k ၵ ʔ[a] ဢ aspirated pʰ ၽ tʰ ထ kʰ ၶ Fricative (f)[b] ၾ s သ h ႁ Trill (r)[c] ရ Approximant j ယ w ဝ Lateral l လ

1. The glottal plosive is implied after a short vowel without final, or the silent 'a' before a vowel.

1. Initial [f] is only found in eastern dialects in words that are pronounced with [pʰ] elsewhere.

1. The trill is very rare and mainly used in Pali and some English loan words, sometimes as a glide in initial consonant clusters. Many Shans find it difficult to pronounce [r], often pronouncing it [l].

### Vowels and diphthongs

Shan has ten vowels and 13 diphthongs:

Front Central Back Close i ɨ~ɯ u Mid e ə~ɤ o Open ɛ a aː ɔ

[iw], [ew], [ɛw]; [uj], [oj], [ɯj], [ɔj], [ɤj]; [aj], [aɯ], [aw]; [aːj], [aːw]

Shan has less vowel complexity than Thai, and Shan people learning Thai have difficulties with sounds such as "ia," "ua," and "uea" [ɯa]. Triphthongs are absent. Shan has no systematic distinction between long and short vowels characteristic of Thai.

### Tones

Shan has [phonemic](/source/Phoneme) contrasts among the [tones](/source/Tone_(linguistics)) of syllables. There are five to six tonemes in Shan, depending on the dialect. The sixth tone is only spoken in the north; in other parts it is only used for emphasis.

#### Contrastive tones in unchecked syllables

The table below presents six phonemic tones in unchecked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in [sonorant sounds](/source/Sonorant) such as [m], [n], [ŋ], [w], and [j] and open syllables.

No. Description IPA Description Transcription* 1 rising (24) ˨˦ Starting rather low and rising pitch ǎ a (not marked) 2 low (11) ˩ Low, even pitch à a, 3 mid-falling (32) ˧˨ Medium level pitch, slightly falling in the end a (not marked) a; 4 high (55) ˥ High, even pitch á a: 5 high-falling and creaky (42) ˦˨ˀ Short, creaky, strongly falling with lax final glottal stop âʔ, â̰ a. 6 emphatic (343) or middle (33) ˧˦˧ / ˧ Starting mid level, then slightly rising, with a drop at the end (similar to tones 3 and 5) a᷈ a-

- * The symbol in the first transcription column corresponds to conventions used for other tonal languages; the second is derived from the Shan orthography.

The following table shows an example of the [phonemic](/source/Phoneme) tones:

Tone Shan IPA Transliteration English rising ၼႃ /nǎː/ na thick low ၼႃႇ /nàː/ na, very mid-falling ၼႃႈ /nà̱ː/ na; face high ၼႃး /náː/ na: paddy field high-falling and creaky ၼႃႉ /nâ̰(ː)/ na. aunt, uncle emphatic or middle ၼႃႊ /nāː/ na- (for interjection / transcription)

The Shan tones correspond to Thai tones as follows:

1. The Shan rising tone is close to the Thai rising tone.
1. The Shan low tone is equivalent to the Thai low tone.
1. The Shan mid-tone is different from the Thai mid-tone. It falls in the end.
1. The Shan high tone is close to the Thai high tone. But it is not rising.
1. The Shan falling tone is different from the Thai falling tone. It is short, creaky and ends with a glottal stop.

#### Contrastive tones in checked syllables

The table below presents four phonemic tones in checked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in a [glottal stop](/source/Glottal_stop) [ʔ] and [obstruent sounds](/source/Obstruent) such as [p], [t], and [k].

Tone Shan Phonemic Phonetic Transliteration English high လၵ်း /lák/ [lak˥] lak: post creaky လၵ်ႉ /la̰k/ [la̰k˦˨ˀ] lak. steal low လၢၵ်ႇ /làːk/ [laːk˩] laak, differ from others mid လၢၵ်ႈ /lāːk/ [laːk˧˨] laak; drag

### Syllable structure

The [syllable](/source/Syllable) structure of Shan is C(G)V((V)/(C)), which is to say the [onset](/source/Syllable_onset) consists of a consonant optionally followed by a [glide](/source/Semivowel), and the [rhyme](/source/Syllable_rime) consists of a monophthong alone, a monophthong with a consonant, or a diphthong alone. (Only in some dialects, a diphthong may also be followed by a consonant)

The glides are: -w-, -y- and -r-. There are seven possible final consonants: /ŋ/, /n/, /m/, /k/, /t/, /p/, and /ʔ/.

Some representative words are:

- CV /kɔ/ *also*
- CVC /kàːt/ *market*
- CGV /kwàː/ *to go*
- CGVC /kwaːŋ/ *broad*
- CVV /kǎi/ *far*
- CGVV /kwáːi/ *water buffalo*

Typical Shan words are monosyllabic. Multisyllabic words are mostly Pali loanwords, or Burmese words with the initial weak syllable /ə/.

## Pronouns

Person Pronoun IPA Meaning[8] first ၵဝ် [kǎw] I/me (informal) တူ [tǔ] I/me (informal) ၶႃႈ [kʰaː] I/me (formal) "servant, slave" ႁႃး [háː] we/us two (familiar/dual) ႁဝ်း [háw] we/us (general) ႁဝ်းၶႃႈ [háw.kʰaː] we/us (formal) "we servants, we slaves" second မႂ်း [máɰ] you (informal/familiar) ၸဝ်ႈ [tɕaw] you (formal) "master, lord" ၶိူဝ် [kʰɤ̂] you two (familiar/dual) သူ [sǔ] you (formal/singular, general/plural) သူၸဝ်ႈ [sǔ.tɕaw] you (formal/singular, general/plural) "you masters, you lords" third မၼ်း [mán] he/she/it (informal/familiar) ၶႃ [kʰǎː] they/them two (familiar/dual) ၶဝ် [kʰǎw] he/she/it (formal), or they/them (general) ၶဝ်ၸဝ်ႈ [kʰǎw.tɕaw] he/she/it (formal), or they/them (formal) "they masters, they lords" ပိူၼ်ႈ [pɤn] they/them, others

## Resources

Given the present instabilities in Burma, one choice for scholars is to study the Shan people and their language in Thailand, where estimates of Shan refugees run as high as two million, and [Mae Hong Son Province](/source/Mae_Hong_Son_Province) is home to a Shan majority. The major source for information about the Shan language in English is Dunwoody Press's *Shan for English Speakers*. They also publish a Shan-English dictionary. Aside from this, the language is almost completely undescribed in English.[citation needed]

## References

1. ["Shan"](https://www.ethnologue.com/language/shn). *Ethnologue*. 2019. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190629160426/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/shn) 2019-06-29 at the Wayback Machine.

1. e25

1. Jenny, Mathias (Autumn 2016). ["Tai identity in Myanmar and beyond"](https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/127179/1/IIAS_NL75_FULL.pdf). *IIAS the Newsletter*. '***(75): 32–33. International Institute for Asian Studies.***

1. Sai Wansai (2020-01-28). ["Refugee Conundrum: Little movement in Myanmar's repatriation schemes"](https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/refugee-conundrum-little-movement-myanmars-repatriation-schemes). *Burma News International*. Retrieved 2024-12-10.

1. Brown, J. Marvin. 1965. *From Ancient Thai To Modern Dialects and Other Writings on Historical Thai Linguistics*. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, reprinted 1985.

1. Jirattikorn, Amporn (April 2008). [""Pirated" Transnational Broadcasting: The Consumption of Thai Soap Operas among Shan Communities in Burma"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41220059). *Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia*. **23** (1): 30–62. [doi:10.1355/SJ23-1B](https://doi.org/10.1355/SJ23-1B). [JSTOR 41220059](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41220059). Retrieved 21 April 2023.

1. Soh, Jyr Minn (2019). [*Serial verb constructions in Tai Long Shan*](https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106030) (M.A.). Nanyang Technological University. [doi:10.32657/10220/47853](https://doi.org/10.32657/10220/47853). [hdl:10356/106030](https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106030)

1. ["SEAlang Library Shan Lexicography"](http://sealang.net/shan/dictionary.htm). *sealang.net*. Retrieved Apr 27, 2020.

## Further reading

- Sai Kam Mong. *The History and Development of the Shan Scripts*. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 2004. ISBN 974-9575-50-4
- *The Major Languages of East and South-East Asia*. [Bernard Comrie](/source/Bernard_Comrie) (London, 1990).
- *A Guide to the World's Languages*. [Merritt Ruhlen](/source/Merritt_Ruhlen) (Stanford, 1991).
- *Shan for English Speakers*. Irving I. Glick & Sao Tern Moeng (Dunwoody Press, Wheaton, 1991).
- *Shan – English Dictionary*. Sao Tern Moeng (Dunwoody Press, Kensington, 1995).
- *Shan phonology and morphology*. Aggasena Lengtai. (MA thesis, Mahidol University, 2009).
- Loss, Daniel (2017). *A Comparison of Grammaticalization in Shan and Thai*. Master's thesis, Payap University. [Available online](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t152M1Ukncx_uuuBJ714LkqSBzxdAF-g/view)
- *An English and Shan Dictionary*. H. W. Mix (American Baptist Mission Press, Rangoon, 1920; Revised edition by S.H.A.N., Chiang Mai, 2001).
- *Grammar of the Shan Language*. J. N. Cushing (American Baptist Mission Press, Rangoon, 1887).
- *Myanmar – Unicode Consortium* [\[1\]](https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1000.pdf)

## External links

- [An English-Shan dictionary translator](http://sealang.net/shan/)
- [Shan-language Swadesh vocabulary list of basic words](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Tai–Kadai_languages) (from Wiktionary's [Swadesh-list appendix](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists))
- [SIL Padauk Font (Shan Unicode)](http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=Padauk)
- [SEAlang Library Shan Dictionary](http://sealang.net/shan/dictionary.htm)
- [Titles of Shan-foreign language dictionaries](http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2767:first-shan-thai-dictionary-on-sale-&catid=93:general&Itemid=291)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shan language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shan_language) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shan_language?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.