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Khün language

Not to be confused with Khuen language.

Khün, or Tai Khün (Tai Khün: ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿᨡᩨ᩠ᨶ, /taj˧˧.kʰɯːn˧˨˥/; Shan: တႆးၶိုၼ် Thai: ไทเขิน [tʰaj kʰɤ̌ːn]), also known as Kengtung tai, Kengtung Shan, is the language of the Tai Khün people of Kengtung, Shan State, Myanmar.[2] It is also spoken in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, and Yunnan Province, China.

Khun
Kengtung Shan
Kengtung tai
ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿᨡᩨ᩠ᨶ
Pronunciation/táj kʰɯ̌ːn/
Native toMyanmar (Shan State), Thailand
RegionKengtung
Native speakers
(100,000 cited 1990)[1]
Kra–Dai
Tai Tham script, Thai script
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3kkh
Glottologkhun1259

The Khün varieties share 93% to 100% lexical similarity.[2] Khun is closely related to other Tai languages. Khün shares 90% to 95% lexical similarity with Northern Thai language, 92% to 95% with Lü, 93% to 97% with Shan, and 80% to 83% with standard Thai.[2]

Geographical distribution

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In China, there are about 10,000 Tai Khuen (Chinese: 傣艮/傣痕) people in the following areas of Yunnan province (Gao 1999).[3]

Phonology

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Labial Alveolar Postalveolar
/ palatal 		Velar Glottal
Nasal [m] [n] [ɲ] [ŋ]
Plosive
&
Affricate 		aspirated [pʰ] [tʰ] [tɕʰ] [kʰ]
tenuis [p] [t] [tɕ] [k] [ʔ][a]
voiced [b] [d]
Fricative [f] [s] [h]
Trill [r][b]
Approximant [l] [j] [w]
  1. ^ The glottal stop is implied[What does 'implied' mean? Is it there or not?] after a short vowel without final, or silent before a vowel.[If it's silent, what's the evidence that it's there?]
  2. ^ The [r] is often used with Sanskrit and Pali loanwords.

Tones

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There are contrastive five or six tones in Khün.[4] The varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah have five tones, and the variety spoken in Murng Lang has six tones.[4] Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Murng Lang are part of Kengtung Township.[4]

Smooth syllables

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The table below presents the tones in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, Kat Fah, and Murng Lang. These tones occur in smooth syllables which are open syllables or closed syllables ending in a sonorant sound, such as /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /w/, or /j/.

Tones in smooth syllables in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Murng Lang
(Owen, 2012, p. 27)[4]
Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah Murng Lang
Name Tone letters Example(s)[4] Name Tone letters Example[4]
falling rising 325 or ˧˨˥ /kaː˧˨˥/ ᨠᩣ "crow" falling rising 215 or ˨˩˥ /kaː˨˩˥/ ᨠᩣ "crow"
mid 33 or ˧˧ /kaː˧˧/ ᨣᩤ "car" high 44 or ˦˦ /kaː˦˦/ ᨣᩤ "car"
low 22 or ˨˨ /kaː˨˨/ ᨠ᩵ᩣ "charm"
/kaː˨˨/ ᨣ᩵ᩤ "cost" 		low rising 13 or ˩˧ /kaː˩˧/ ᨠ᩵ᩣ "charm"
low 22 or ˨˨ /kaː˨˨/ ᨣ᩵ᩤ "cost"
mid glottalized 33ʔ or ˧˧ʔ /kaː˧˧ʔ/ ᨠ᩶ᩣ "to dance" mid glottalized 33ʔ or ˧˧ʔ /kaː˧˧ʔ/ ᨠ᩶ᩣ "to dance"
high falling 41 or ˦˩ /kaː˦˩/ ᨣ᩶ᩤ "to trade" high falling 51 or ˥˩ /kaː˥˩/ ᨣ᩶ᩤ "to trade"

Checked syllables

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Three of the five or six phonemic tones occur in checked syllables[4] which are closed syllables ending in a glottal stop (/ʔ/) or an obstruent sound, such as /p/, /t/, or /k/. The table below presents the three tones in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah.

Tones in checked syllables in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah
(Owen, 2012, p. 28)[4]
Tone Vowel length Example(s)[4]
mid short /kap˧˧/ ᨠᩢ᩠ᨷ "with"
high falling /kap˦˩/ ᨣᩢ᩠ᨷ "tight"
low long /kaːp˨˨/ ᨠᩣ᩠ᨷ "coconut husk"
/kaːp˨˨/ ᨣᩤ᩠ᨷ "to grip in teeth"

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Khun at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c bloggang.com (thai)
  3. ^ Gao Lishi 高立士. 1999. 傣族支系探微. 中南民族学院学报 (哲学社会科学版). 1999 年第1 期 (总第96 期).
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Owen, R. W. (2012). A tonal analysis of contemporary Tai Khuen varieties. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS) 5:12–31.
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