Khün, or Tai Khün (Tai Khün: , ; ), also known as Kengtung Tai or Kengtung Shan, is the language of the Tai Khün people of Kengtung, Shan State, Myanmar.bloggang.com (thai) It is also spoken in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, and Yunnan Province, China.
The Khün varieties share 93% to 100% lexical similarity. Khun is closely related to other Tai languages. Khün shares 90% to 95% lexical similarity with Northern Thai language, 92% to 95% with Lü, 93% to 97% with Shan, and 80% to 83% with standard Thai.
Tai Khun is traditionally written using a variant of the Tai Tham script.
Geographical distribution In China, there are about 10,000 Tai Khuen () people in the following areas of Yunnan province (Gao 1999).Gao Lishi 高立士. 1999. 傣族支系探微. 中南民族学院学报 (哲学社会科学版). 1999 年第1 期 (总第96 期). Menglian County 孟连县: in Mengma Town 勐马镇, and in Meng'aba 勐阿坝 (12 villages total) Ximeng County 西盟县: in Mengsuo 勐梭 Lincang Prefecture (small, scattered population)
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarPostalveolar/ palatalVelarGlottalNasalPlosive&Affricateaspiratedtenuisvoiced FricativeTrillApproximant
Vowels FrontCentralBackunroundedroundedClose Mid Open
Tones There are contrastive five or six tones in Khün.Owen, R. W. (2012). A tonal analysis of contemporary Tai Khuen varieties. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS) 5:12–31. The varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah have five tones, and the variety spoken in Murng Lang has six tones. Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Murng Lang are part of Kengtung Township.
Smooth syllables The table below presents the tones in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, Kat Fah, and Murng Lang. These tones occur in smooth syllables which are open syllables or closed syllables ending in a sonorant sound, such as /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /w/, or /j/.
+ Tones in smooth syllables in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Murng Lang(Owen, 2012, p. 27) Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah Murng Lang Name Tone letter Examples Name Tone letter Examples falling rising ˧˨˥ (325) /kaː˧˨˥/ "crow" falling rising ˨˩˥ (215) /kaː˨˩˥/ "crow" mid ˧ (33) /kaː˧/ "car" high ˦ (44) /kaː˦/ "car" low ˨ (22) /kaː˨/ "charm"/kaː˨/ "cost" low rising ˩˧ (13) /kaː˩˧/ "charm" low ˨ (22) /kaː˨/ "cost" mid glottalized ˀ˧ (33ʔ) /kaːˀ˧/ "to dance" mid glottalized ˀ˧ (33ʔ) /kaːˀ˧/ "to dance" high falling ˦˩ (41) /kaː˦˩/ "to trade" high falling ˥˩ (51) /kaː˥˩/ "to trade"
Checked syllables Three of the five or six phonemic tones occur in checked syllables which are closed syllables ending in a glottal stop (/ʔ/) or an obstruent sound, such as /p/, /t/, or /k/. The table below presents the three tones in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah.
+ Tones in checked syllables in the varieties spoken in Keng Tung City, Kang Murng, and Kat Fah(Owen, 2012, p. 28) Tone Vowel length Example(s) mid short /kap˧/ "with" high falling /kap˦˩/ "tight" low long /kaːp˨/ "coconut husk"/kaːp˨/ "to grip in teeth"
Sample text The Article 1 of the UDHR in Khün:
ᨾᨶᩩᩔ᩼ᨴ᩠ᨦᩢᩉᩖᩣ᩠ᨿᨠᩮ᩠ᨯᩨᨾᩣᨾᩦᨻ᩠ᨦᩈᩁᩓᩢᨹ᩠ᨿ᩵ᨦᨻ᩠ᨿᨦᨠ᩠ᨶᩢ ᨶᩱᨠᩥᨲ᩠ᨲᩥᩈ᩠ᨠᩢ ᩓᩢᩈᩥᨴ᩠ᨵᩥ ᨲ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨦᨣᩳ᩶ᨣᩢᨾᩦᨾᨶᩮᩣᨵᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼ᩓᩢ ᨣ᩠ᩅᩁᨷᨭᩥᨷ᩠ᨲᩢᨲᩳ᩵ᨠ᩠ᨶᩢᨯᩢ᩠ᩅ᩠ᨿᨣ᩠ᩅᩣ᩠ᨾᨹ᩠ᨿ᩵ᨦᨻ᩠ᨿᨦᨠ᩠ᨶᩢOmniglot
See also Northern Thai language Shan language
References
Owen, R. Wyn. 2012. "A tonal analysis of contemporary Tai Khuen varieties". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS) 5:12–31. Owen, R. Wyn. 2017. "A Description and Linguistic Analysis of the Tai Khuen Writing System". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (JSEALS) 10.1:140-164. Petsuk, Rasi (1978). General characteristics of the Khün language. Mahidol University MA thesis.
External links Khün alphabet