Shan
The Shan language is spoken in Shan State, Myanmar. It is related to Thai, Lao, Lanna, Zhuang, and other Tai languages, in fact, the word for Shan in the Shan language itself is Tai (တႆး /taj˥/), which is an ethnonym used by many Tai peoples, coming from the same root as Thai. In the Thai language, to clearly refer to Shan specifically, the term Tai Yai (the Great Tai) is used. Shan is particularly close to Tai Nuea, spoken across the border in Dehong prefecture of Chinaʻs Yunnan province, though they are written in different scripts. The Tai ethnonym is pronounced Dai in Mandarin, so this spelling is sometimes encountered as well. Meanwhile, the word Shan that entered the English language is originally from Burmese, where it shares the same etymology as Siam.
Shan is written in an version of the Mon-Burmese Myanmar script, and its modern orthography has been standardized to match up quite precisely with its phonology, so it is overall easier to learn how to read and write compared to Thai.
Consonants
Main Consonant Initials
| Shan | IPA | Lexx Rom |
|---|---|---|
| ၵ | k | k |
| ၶ | kʰ | kh |
| င | ŋ | ng |
| ၸ | ts | ts |
| သ | s | s |
| ၺ | ɲ | ñ |
| တ | t | t |
| ထ | tʰ | th |
| ၼ | n | n |
| ပ | p | p |
| ၽ | pʰ | ph |
| ၾ | f | f |
| မ | m | m |
| ယ | j | y |
| ရ | r | r |
| လ | l | l |
| ဝ | w | w |
| ႁ | h | h |
| ဢ | ʔ | (∅) |
Many speakers merge /r/ into /l/. /ts/ can be realized as /tɕ/. Some speakers merge /ts/ into /s/.
Additional Consonant Initials
| Shan | IPA | Lexx Rom |
|---|---|---|
| ၷ | g | g |
| ၹ | z | z |
| ၿ | b | b |
| ၻ | d | d |
| ႀ | θ | thh |
These consonants are only sporadically used, for transcribing sounds in loanwords from other languages.
Codas
| Final Coda | IPA | Lexx Rom |
|---|---|---|
| ၵ် | -k̚ | -k |
| င် | -ŋ | -ng |
| တ် | -t̚ | -t |
| ၼ် | -n | -n |
| ပ် | -p̚ | -p |
| မ် | -m | -m |
Shan has six final coda consonants (not including glides, which will be discussed in the rimes section).
Vowels and Rimes
Basic Vowels
| IPA | without Coda | with Coda | Lexx Rom |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | ◌ | ◌◌ | a |
| aː | ႃ | ၢ | aa |
| i | ီ | ိ | i |
| e | ေ | ဵ | e |
| ɛ | ႄ | ႅ | ę |
| u | ူ | ု | u |
| o | ူဝ် | ူ | o |
| ɔ | ေႃ | ွ | ǫ |
| ɯ | ိုဝ် | ို | ư |
| ə | ိူဝ် | ိူ | ơ |
As in Thai, // is quite low, approaching .
Compound Rimes
| IPA | Shan | Lexx Rom |
|---|---|---|
| aj | ႆ | ai |
| aːj | ၢႆ | aai |
| uj | ုၺ် | ui |
| oj | ူၺ် | oi |
| ɔj | ွႆ | ǫi |
| ɯj | ိုၺ် | ưi |
| əj | ိူၺ် | ơi |
| aw | ဝ် | ao |
| aːw | ၢဝ် | aao |
| iw | ိဝ် | iu |
| ew | ဵဝ် | eo |
| ɛw | ႅဝ် | ęo |
| aɰ | ႂ် | aư |
Tones
Tones
| IPA | Tone | Shan | Lexx Rom |
|---|---|---|---|
| ˨˦ | 1 | ◌ | ǎ |
| ˩ | 2 | ႇ | a̩ |
| ˧ | 3 | ႈ | a |
| ˥ | 4 | း | ā |
| ˦˨ | 5 | ႉ | à |
| ˧˦˧ | 6 | ႊ | a̭ |
The sixth tone is only used for emphasis in general Shan orthography (though it is also used in the northern dialect).
The general etymological correspondences between Shan tones and tones in other Tai languages as well as broader East Asia is as follows:
Tone 1 corresponds to A1 (Yinping).
Tone 2 corresponds to B1 (Yinqu) or DL1 (Long Yinru).
Tone 3 corresponds to C1 (Yinshang), B2 (Yangqu), and DL2 (Long Yangru).
Tone 4 corresponds to A2 (Yangping), DS1 (Short Yinru).
Tone 5 corresponds to C2 (Yangshang), DS2 (Short Yangru).