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).

Not to be confused with Mün Chin language.
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 m̥ m n̥ n ŋ̊ ŋ
Plosives p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ ʔ
Fricatives s sʰ 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 iː ɯ ɯː u uː
Mid ɛ ɛː ə əː ɔ ɔː
Low a aː

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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