Karenni
AltnameKayah
Nativenameꤊꤢꤛꤢ꤭ ꤜꤟꤤ꤬ ကယး လီူး; ကရင်နီ
StatesBurma, Thailand
EthnicityKarenni
Date2000–2007
Refe18
FamilycolorSino-Tibetan
Fam 2Karen languages
Fam 3Sgaw–Bghai
ScriptKayah Li (eky,kyu)
Latin (kyu,kxf)
Myanmar (kyu,kxf)
unwritten (kvy)
MinorityMyanmar
Thailand
Lc 1eky
Ld 1Eastern Kayah
Lc 2kyu
Ld 2Western Kayah
Lc 3kvy
Ld 3Yintale
Lc 4kxf
Ld 4Manumanaw (Manu)
Glottokaya1317
GlottonameKayah
Glotto 2yint1235
Glottoname 2Yintale Karen
Glotto 3manu1255
Glottoname 3Manumanaw Karen

Karenni or Red Karen (Kayah Li: ꤊꤢꤛꤢ꤭ ꤜꤟꤤ꤬; Burmese: ကရင်နီ), known in Burmese as Kayah (Burmese: ကယား), is a Karen dialect continuum spoken by over half a million Kayah people (Red Karen) in Burma.

The name Kayah has been described as "a new name invented by the Burmese to split them off from other Karen".[1]

Eastern Kayah is reported to have been spoken by 260,000 in Burma and 100,000 in Thailand in 2000, and Western Kayah by 210,000 in Burma in 1987. They are rather divergent. Among the Western dialects are Yintale and kayahManu (Manumanaw in Burmese).

Distribution and varieties

Eastern Kayah is spoken in:[2]

Eastern Kayah dialects are Upper Eastern Kayah and Lower Eastern Kayah, which are mutually intelligible. The speech variety of Huai Sua Thaw village (Lower Eastern) is prestigious for both dialect groups. The Eastern Kayah have difficulty understanding the Western Kayah.

Western Kayah is spoken in Kayah State and Kayin State, east of the Thanlwin River. It is also spoken in Pekon township in southern Shan State.[2]

Western Kayah dialects are part of a dialect continuum of Central Karen varieties stretching from Thailand. They include:[2]

  • Northern dialect of Western Kayah
  • Southern dialect of Western Kayah
  • Dawtama
  • Dawnnyjekhu
  • Sounglog
  • Chi Kwe
  • Wan Cheh

Yintale, reportedly a variety of Western Kayah, is spoken in 3 villages of Hpasawng township, Bawlakhe district, Kayah State.[2]

Yintale dialects are Bawlake and Wa Awng.

Kawyaw, reportedly similar to Western Kayah, is spoken in 23 villages along the border of Bawlake and Hpruso townships, in the West Kyebogyi area of Kayah State.

Kawyaw dialects are Tawkhu and Doloso, which have been reported to be difficult to mutually understand.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants in Western Kayah[3][4]
LabialDentalAlveolarPost-alv./
Palatal		VelarGlottal
Plosivevoicelessptk
aspiratedpʰtʰkʰ
voicedbdɡ
Affricatetʃ
Fricativevoicelessθʂh
aspiratedsʰ
voicedvzʝ
Nasalmn(ɲ)ŋ
Rhoticɾ
Approximantlaterall
centralwj
  • /sʰ/ is heard as a palato-alveolar [ʃ] before high-front vowels.
  • /ŋ/ is heard as a palatal [ɲ] before front or mid vowels.[3]
  • /ɾ/ may also be heard as a trill [r].[4]
Consonants in Eastern Kayah[5]
LabialDental/
Alveolar		Post-
alveolar		PalatalVelarGlottal
Plosive/
Affricate		voicelesspttɕk(ʔ)
aspiratedpʰtʰtɕʰkʰ
voicedbddʑ
Fricative(v)s(ɕ)(ʝ)h
Nasalmn(ɲ)ŋ
Approximantlaterall
centralwɻj
  • /tɕ/ may also be occasionally be realized as [ɕ].
  • /j/ may also be heard as a palatal fricative [ʝ].
  • /ŋ/ may also be heard as palatal [ɲ] when before front vowels and /j/.
  • /ɻ/ may also be heard as a trill [r] among emphatic speech.
  • /w/ may also be heard as [v] in free variation.
  • A glottal stop [ʔ] is heard in zero-initial position before an initial vowel.[5]

Vowels

Western

Vowels in Western Kayah
FrontCentralBack
Highiɯu
High-mideəɤo
Low-midɛɔ
Lowa
Diphthongɯᵊ
Breathy vowels
FrontCentralBack
Highi̤ɯ̤ṳ
High-mide̤ə̤ɤ̤o̤
Low-midɛ̤ɔ̤
Lowa̤
Diphthongɯ̤ᵊ

Eastern

Vowels in Eastern Kayah[5]
FrontCentralBack
Highiɯu
High-mideɤo
Low-midɛəɔ
Lowa
  • /ə/ may also be heard as a centralized [ʌ̈].

Writing system

According to Aung 2013, Manumanaw Karen does not yet have a standardized script. Catholic missionaries developed a spelling using the Latin script which is used in religious documents, including the translation of the Bible. A Manumanaw Karen literature committee has been set up and is developing literacy programs with SIL, using spelling based on Burmese script, so that it is accepted by Catholics and Baptists.[6]

Manumanaw Karen Latin Alphabet
abcdeèghjiîkkhlmnoôòpphrsshthtuûwy

The tones are indicated using the caron, the acute accent or without the addition of these on the vowels: , . The diaeresis below is used to indicate the breathy voice on the vowels: .

Western Kayah Latin Alphabet
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Seven digraphs are used.

Digraph
nghtkhphthnygn

The five vowels of the alphabet are supplemented by four accented letters representing their own vowels.

Vowels
aeiouèòôû

Tones are represented using the acute accent and the caron over the vowel. The breathy voice is indicated with an umlaut below the vowel letter. Breathy voiced vowel letters can also have a diacritic indicating the tone.

Tones
Higháéíóúè́ò́ốû́
Mediumǎěǐǒǔè̌ò̌ô̌û̌
Breathya̤e̤i̤o̤ṳè̤ò̤ô̤ṳ̂

References

  1. ^ Christopher Beckwith, International Association for Tibetan Studies, 2002. Medieval Tibeto-Burman languages, p. 108.
  2. ^ e18
  3. ^ Bryant, John R. (1996). Notes on Western Kayah Li (Western Red Karen) phonology. PYU Working Papers in Linguistics 1: Payap University. pp. 66–104.
  4. ^ Wai, Lin Aung (2013). A descriptive grammar of Kayah Monu. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
  5. ^ Solnit, David B. (1986). A grammatical sketch of Eastern Kayah (Red Karen). University of California at Berkeley.
  6. ^ Aung, Wai Lin (2013). "A Descriptive Grammar of Kayah Monu (Master's thesis)". Payap University. p. 14.

Further reading