# Mok language

Mok (/mɔ̀k/ ‘mountain people’), also known as Amok, Hsen-Hsum, and Muak, is an Angkuic language or dialect cluster spoken in Shan State, Myanmar
7 speakers in Lampang province, Thailand were reported by Wurm & Hattori (1981).

## Varieties

Hall & Devereux (2018) report that five varieties of Mok are spoken in Shan State, Myanmar, providing the following comparative vocabulary table. These varieties have some lexical similarity (the lowest being 88%) with each other, but very low lexical similarity with the other Angkuic languages.
| Gloss | Mok A | Mok B | Mok C | Mok D | Mok E | Muak Sa-aak | Pa Xɛp U | Hu |
| die | [jɛ́m] | [n̩jém] | [jám] | [jɛ́m] | [jɛ̂m] | jâm | jàp | jám |
| weep | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | jâːm | jâm | jàm |
| chicken | [ʔèa] | [ʔeàː] | [ʔìa] | [ʔeàː] | [ʔeàː] | ʔɛ̂l | jɛ́ | - |
| silver, money | [mûi] | [nèŋ] | [ŋə̀n] | [muí] | [p.sí muî] | mûl | mùn | mm̥úl |
| fly (v.) | [tʰə̀ːŋ] | [tʰiaŋ] / [pʰiaŋ] | [ntʰíaŋ] | [mpʰîang] | [ntʰîaŋ] | pʰ.jûl | mpʰə̀ | phɨ́ʁ |
| louse | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | [nsíʔ] | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | cʰíʔ | nchí | nsíʔ |
Owen (2018) names these varieties Hwe Law, Chieng Kham, Pha Lam, Punglong, and Hwe Koi.
A Mok dialect of Shan State has been documented by Shintani (2019).

## Geographic distribution

Tannumsaeng (2020) describes three locations for Mok: between Mong Khet and Mong Yang and south of Kengtung in Myanmar, and on the Thai-Burmese border in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. The main Mok-speaking areas in Shan State include an area just to the south of Kengtung, and another area situated between Mong Khet and Mong Yang.

## Phonology

Tannumsaeng (2020), citing Hall & Devereux (2018), provides the following phonology for Mok.
The consonants are /pʰ p m f w tʰ t n s l r c ɲ j kʰ k ŋ ʔ h/, with reduced /m̩ n̩ ɲ̩ ŋ̩ pə tə kə sə/. /f/ and /r/ only appear in certain varieties. The vowels are /i e ɛ u ɯ o ɤ ɔ a/, with the diphthongs /ia ɯa ua/. Mok has two tones, one low and one high.

### Consonants

| | | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Plosive | Voiceless | p | t | c | k | ʔ |
| Plosive | Aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | | kʰ | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Fricative | Fricative | f | s | | | h |
| Trill | Trill | | r | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | w | l | j | (w) | |

### Vowels

| | Front | Central | Back |
| Close | i | | ɯ • u |
| Close-mid | e | ə | ɤ • o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
| Open | a | | |
Where there are two vowels separated by a dot •, the one on the left is unrounded and the one on the right is rounded.

## References and notes

* ↑ Mok at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021)
* 1 2 Tannumsaeng, Phakawee. 2020. A Preliminary Grammar of Mok, Hwe Koi Variety, Chiang Rai, with Special Focus on The Anaphoric Uses of tɤ́ʔ. M.A. dissertation. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
* ↑ OLAC Resources in and about the Mok Language, www.language-archives.org/language.php/mqt.
* 1 2 Hall, Elizabeth and Shane Devereux (2018). Preliminary Mok Phonology and Implications for Angkuic Sound Change. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, held May 17-19, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
* 1 2 3 Phakawee Tannumsaeng (2020). A Preliminary Grammar of Mok, Hwe Koi Variety, Chiang Rai, With Special Focus on the Anaphoric Use of tɤ́ʔ. Payap University.
* 1 2 Tai loanword
* ↑ Owen, Robert Wyn. 2018. Initial findings from Mok KIQ and DMT. Unpublished manuscript.
* ↑ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Sen Tsum (I-Mok) language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 121. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).