Мьянма Тай тілі және Шан халқының тілі

Kra–Dai language of Myanmar

The Shan language 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 Tai–Kadai 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. The number of Shan speakers is not known in part because the Shan population is unknown. Estimates of Shan people range from four million to 30 million, with about half speaking the Shan language. Ethnologue estimates that there are 4.6 million Shan speakers in Myanmar; the Mahidol University Institute for Language and Culture 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.

The Shan language has a number of names in different Tai languages and Burmese. In Shan, the spoken language is commonly called kwam tai (ၵႂၢမ်းတႆး, , ). The written language is called lik tai (လိၵ်ႈတႆး, ). 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it is called phasa thai yai (ภาษาไทใหญ่, , ) or more informally or even vulgarly by some phasa ngiao (ภาษาเงี้ยว, , an outdated term that now sounds like the word for "snake"). In Northern Thai, it is called kam tai (กำไต, , literally "Tai language") or more informally or even vulgarly by some kam ngiao (กำเงี้ยว, ), ). In Lao, it is called phasa tai yai (ພາສາໄທໃຫຍ່, , ) or more informally or even vulgarly by some phasa ngiao (ພາສາງ້ຽວ, ). In Tai Lü, it is called kam ngio (ᦅᧄᦇᦲᧁᧉ, ).

Shan has phonemic contrasts among the tones 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.

The table below presents four phonemic tones in checked syllables, i. e. closed syllables ending in a glottal stop [ʔ] and obstruent sounds such as [p], [t], and [k]. ToneShanPhonemicPhonetic Transliteration Englishhigh lak:postcreaky lak. steallow laak,differ from othersmid laak;drag

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 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.