Daai language

Daai (also known as Daai Chin), which borders the Mün and Ütbü language groups, is a Kuki-Chin of Myanmar. It is spoken in 142 villages in Kanpetlet, Matupi, Mindat, and Paletwa townships in Chin State, Burma (Ethnologue).

Dai
RegionMyanmar
EthnicityDai Chin
Native speakers
37,000 (2010)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3dao
Glottologdaai1236

Mutual intelligibility among Nghngilo (Yang), Daa Yindu, and Mkui groups is high, but is lower among other groups.[2] Daai has greater than 90% lexical similarity with Daa Yindu, Yang, Mkui, Duk, and Msang, 81%–88% with Ngxang (Paletwa township) and Kheng, 80% with Shiip (Matupi township), 91%–94% with Gah/Ng-Gha (part of Mün), and 81%–87% with Mün.[2]

Dialects

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of Daai Chin.

  • Ngxang
  • Nghngilo (Yang)
  • Ma-Tu
  • Shiip
  • Duk-Msang
  • Kheng
  • Mkuui

Phonology

Consonants

Daai has twenty-four consonant phonemes.

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasals m n ŋ̊ ŋ
Plosives p b t d k ʔ
Fricatives s x ɣ h
Lateral Fricatives ɬ
Approximants w l j

Vowels

Daai has seven vowel phonemes, each with a phonemic length contrast.

  Front Central Back
Unrounded Rounded
High i ɯ ɯː u
Mid ɛ ɛː ə əː ɔ ɔː
Low a

Grammar

Daai is an isolating or analytic language. There is no inflectional morphology at the word level; case, number, and tense are marked by clitics.

Examples

DaaiEnglish
mthannight
mpyongmouth
kpyakto destroy
phato arrive
Nghngaai-ktheih hmin lokti.The mango fruits became ripe.
Mat jah mata i:ma am ngleh-ei ni.They did not visit each other's houses.

References

  1. Dai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.


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