ISBN 978-4-903875-23-1

Contribution to the Studies of Eurasian Languages (CSEL) Series 20
ユーラシア諸言語の多様性と動態－20 号記念号－
ユーラシア言語研究コンソーシアム 2018 年 3 月発行
Diversity and Dynamics of Eurasian Languages: The 20th Commemorative Volume

The Consortium for the Studies of Eurasian Languages

The Phonology of Lhangsu,
an Undescribed Northern-Burmish Language（北部ビルマ下位語群の未記述言語ランスー語の音韻論）

SAWADA, Hideo
澤田英夫

381

The Phonology of Lhangsu,
an Undescribed Northern-Burmish Language
Sawada, Hideo
Keywords: Lhangsu, Lhaovo, Kachin, creaky phonation, palatalness

1

Introduction

Although the language spoken by Lhaovo (Maru), a tribe constituting Kachin
ethno-cultural group, shows a certain degree of geographical (or sub-tribal) variation,
its overall picture has seldom been clariﬁed. To ﬁll this gap, I worked with speakers ofvarious geographical varieties, residing in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, since2013. In this paper, I present a preliminary description of the phonological system of thelanguage spoken by “Lhangsu” people regarded as a sub-group of Lhaovo.
1.1

Lhaovo people

Lhaovo people mainly inhabit the Kachin and Shan States of Myanmar, and Yunnan
Province of China. In Kachin State, they originally lived in the watershed of Nmai
Hka River in Sawlaw and Chipwe Townships. The population of Lhaovo in China isapproximately 5,600 (Dai, 2005, p.3), and that in Myanmar is about 100,000 (Lhaovo
Littero-Cultural Committee, undated, p.1)
Until recently these people were referred to using their Jinghpaw and Burmese name,“Maru”. In China they are called Làngsù, a name which strongly resembles “Lhangsu”
discussed in this study. Hereafter I will use only “Lhaovo”.
1.2

Varieties in the languages spoken by Lhaovo people

In this section, I show the varieties of languages spoken by Lhaovo people attested until
now. All varieties are (or were) originally spoken in Sawlaw township of Kachin state*1
except Lhangsu, which is (or was) spoken in Sumprabum township. All of them areconsidered to belong to the Northern sub-branch of Burmish branch, Lolo-Burmese,
Tibeto-Burman.
1. Laungbyid-DagoP Lhaovo (Autonym) /lauNF pyitF tăkoPF /.

Lhaovo orthography{Laung Byid Da-go,}*2, *3*1 Since foreigners are currently prohibited to enter both Sumprabum and Tsawlaw townships,

impossible to examine the present situation of the varieties in this area.
*2 In Lhaovo orthography, punctuation marks , : ; ’ ” are used as tonal notations.
*3 It corresponds to Dago’ Lawng Bit in Ethnologue.

it is

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This variety is spoken in southern Sawlaw Township up to Maw Kyaung*4 river inthe east side of Nmai Hka River (Laung Byid in the variety), one of the two main
tributaries of Ayeyarwady, and up to Mt. Shan Ngaw Bum*5 in the west side. It is
named after Laung Byid and DagoP, the name of hill area between Nmai Hka andone of its tributary Ngochang Hka. This variety is also spoken in the basin of Nmai
Hka in Chipwe Township.
Laungbyid-DagoP is regarded as the standard among the varieties. In this study, I
refer it to as Lhaovo in the narrow sense.
2. GyannoP Autonym [kjEn35 noP21 ]. Lhv. /kyanH noPF /. Lhv. orth. {Gyan” No,}*6

This variety is originally spoken in the villages in the west side of Nmai Hka
in northern Sawlaw Township down to Shan Ngaw Bum, such as Wase*7 andWamyit*8 . Some GyannoP families have moved to the south of Sumprabum cityand inhabited villages such as Satak (now deserted) and Kying Dawt.
3. ThoPlhang Autonym [thaP21 lo22 ]. Lhv. /thoPH loNF /. Lhv. orth. {Tho’ Lhao}*9˜
˜ *10 and a few surrounding villages
This variety is originally spoken
in Htaw Langin the east side of Nmai Hka.

4. Lakin Autonym [lă2 kE22 ]. Lhv. /lăkinF /. Lhv. orth. {La-kin}*11

˜This variety is originally
spoken˜in Lakin village*12 , which is not far from Htaw
Lang. Lakin and ThoPlhang are two distinct varieties but similar to each other.

5. Lhangsu Autonym [laN53 su53 ]. Lhv. /loNF suF /. Lhv. orth. {Lhao su}*13

˜
˜ people have lived in several villages in the
According to my consultant,
Lhangsuarea between Hkrang Hka, a tributary of Mali Hka, and its tributary Sanin Hka.*14
Their inhabited area is distant from the rest of Lhaovo people and surroundedby Jinghpaw. Therefore the variety has borrowed immensely, including basic
vocabularies, from Jinghpaw. Jinghpaw people refer to them as Wunji Wunla Ga
and regard them as their subgroup (Keita Kurabe, personal communication).
Lhangsu should not be confused with a variety of Lhaovo in China, which is calledLàngsù শ෎ in Chinese.*15*4 The river ﬂows into Nmai Hka at 26.435N, 98.288E (GNS, All coordinate data are rounded to threedecimal place by the author.)*5 26.349N, 98.172E (GNS)*6 Perhaps it corresponds to Gawan Naw’ in Ethnologue. The latter seems incorrect.
*7 98.264E, 26.466N (Myanmar PCodes)*8 98.271E, 26.449N (Myanmar PCodes)*9 Perhaps it corresponds to Hlo’ lan in Ethnologue. The latter seems to be a misspelling.
*10 98.373E, 26.637N (Myanmar PCodes)*11 Laking in Ethnologue.
*12 98.399E, 26.599N (Myanmar PCodes)*13 Lawng Hsu in Ethnologue.
*14 My consultant told me that Lhangsu was spoken in villages such as Sharehkan, N-gawk Hkyet, Naw

Dan, Hting Sa and Ma Rawng. Hting Sa might be “Hting Sar Hkan” in Myanmar PCodes, but I could
not identify the other villages.
*15 When I met several members of Lhaovo Literature and Cultural Committee in Myitkyina in January 2014,
one of them explained to me that there are 12 “patois”. They include {Da-go,}, {Gyan” no,}, {Tho’ Lhao},{La-Kin} and {Lhao Su} mentioned above, as well as /cĕGaNL / {Je:-Qang:}, /phauNH coNL / {Phaung”
Jao:}, /păšeH / {Ba-she”}, /tsoNH pukH / {Zao” Bug’}, /coNH moH / {Jao” Mo”}, /GoPF moH lauNL lamL /{Go, Mo” - Laung: Lam:} and /xaNH kauH / {Hhang” Gau”}. I have collected about 500 words of˜383
Table 1 shows the distribution of varieties spoken by Lhaovo people as well as other
NBsh languages in Kachin State.

Fig. 1 Distribution of Northern Burmish languages in Kachin State

1.3

Fieldwork

I conducted preliminary research on Lhangsu in Tatkon ward of Myitkyina in 1–20
Nov. 2013 and 27–31 Dec. 2014.
The consultant for the ﬁeldwork was a male born in 1950. His birthplace is /t@N22
22ka / village in Sumprabum township.*16 He moved to the present residence in 1973. In
addition to his mother tongue Lhangsu, he can speak Jinghpaw, Lhaovo and Burmese.
2

Phonology

In this section, I provide an overview of the phonology of Lhangsu language.
The canonical syllable structure of Lhangsu is shown in (1).
(1)

(Ci (j))(w)V(C f )/T
Ci : Initial consonant, V: Vowel, C f : Final consonant, T: Tone.
j = Medial consonant, w = Vowel on-glide.

/phauNH coNL / but could not ﬁnd any signiﬁcant diﬀerences between it and Laungbyid-DagoP. Among theother six “candidates” for varieties, /tsoNH pukH / might be an alias of Laungbyid-DagoP, and /GoPF moH
lauNL lamL / and /coNH moH / might be subsumed to GyannoP. Nevertheless, further investigations isneeded to decide whether each candidate is a true variety or not.
*16 I cannot identify the location of the village. According to the consultant, it is near La Hkaw Ga (97.974E,
26.648N, Myanmar PCodes) and Hkin Dawng (98.018E, 26.641N, Myanmar PCodes) villages.

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2.1

Treatment of creaky phonation

Northern Burmish (hereafter NBsh) languages such as Zaiwa, Lacid, Lhaovo, Bola and
Lhangsu indicate the opposition between creaky and non-creaky phonation of vowels
phonetically. In general, vowels with creaky phonation do not cooccur with aspirated
stops/aﬀricates and voiceless fricatives.
There are mainly two solutions for the phonological treatment of creaky phonation.
The ﬁrst solution is to attribute it to vowels. In this analysis, we have two series of
consonants and two series of vowels. Almost all descriptions by Chinese scholars (e.g. Dai
2005 on Langsu (Lhaovo), Dai and Li 2007 on Leqi (Lacid), Dai et al. 2007 on Bola), as
well as Yabu (1982) and Sawada (1999) have adopted this solution.
Table 1 “Vocalic” solution of creakiness

V[−Creaky]
V[+Creaky]

C[−Aspirated]
[CV]
[CV]
˜

C[+Aspirated][ChV]—

Alternatively, we could attribute the feature to consonants, setting up three consonant
series. Burling’s (1967) analysis of Maru (Lhaovo) and Atsi (Zaiwa), and Lustig’s (2010)
analysis of Zaiwa have used the solution.
Table 2 “Consonantal” solution of creakiness

C[+Plain][CV]

C[+Creaky][CV]
˜

C[+Aspirated][ChV]

At ﬁrst sight, the “vocalic” solution seems straightforward because the vowels show
the opposition of creakiness phonetically. This solution also enables the establishment ofless segmental phonemes than the “consonantal” solution.
Nevertheless, I adopt the latter solution along with that of Burling (1967) et als. because
it has an advantages over the “vocalic” solution in describing simplex-causative verb pairs.
Similar to other NBsh languages, Lhangsu has a set of lexical simplex-causative verb
pairs. Under the “consonantal” solution, the patterns of verb pairs are roughly generalized
as follows:
Pattern I:
Simplex
Causative
Plain initials
Creaky initials
taP21 “to ascend”(waP21 -)t’aP53 “to raise”
l@N21 “to fall down”
l’@N21 “to fell down”
maw55 “to be amazed” m’aw55 “to cheat”

Pattern II:
Simplex
Causative
Plain initials
Aspirated initials
kja55 “to descend” (waP21 -)khja55 “to drop”
tS@k21 “to be torn” tS h@k53 “to tear”
Gu55 “to look at” (waP21 -)xu55 “to show”

If the “vocalic” solution is adopted, the generalization of the patterns of thesimplex-causative verb pairs would be more complicated. Therefore, I adopt the latter
solution.*17*17 Another reason to favor the “consonantal” solution is that it provides a simpler description of tonal split

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2.2

Initial consonants (Ci )Table 3 shows the inventory of initial consonants in Lhangsu.
Table 3 Lhangsu initial consonants

Nasal
Stop/
Affricate
Fricative
LateralFlap
Approximant

Labialm/m’

DentalAlveolar Palatal
n/n’
(ñ)

p/p’/ph (ts/ts’)
fw

t/t’/th
s

l/l’
(r)

Velar Glottal
N/N’tS/tS ’/tS h k/k’/kh P
S G / x hj/j’Lhangsu consonants are classiﬁed into three series, plain, creaky, and aspirated.
Members of each series are summarized in Table 4.
Table 4 Three series of Lhangsu initial consonants

plain
creakyaspiratedp-, t-, tS-, k-,m-, n-, N-, l-, j-, w-, Gp’-, t’-, tS’-, k’-, P-, m’-, n’-, N’-, l’-, j’-,f-, x-, s-, S-, hph-, th-, tS h-, kh-,

The presence of an initial glottal stop /P/ is conﬁrmed by the fact that it prevents thefollowing vowel to be pronounced in a sequence with the vowel of the preceding syllable.
/P/ is usually followed by a creaky vowel and counted as a creaky consonant phoneme.
All fricatives are included in aspirated series, except /G/, which is a plain consonant
phoneme. An approximant consonant /w/ is included in the plain series.
Dental aﬀricates /ts-, ts’-/ and palatal nasal /ñ-/ seem to occur only in non-native
words (e.g., from Jinghpaw and Chinese). Alveolar ﬂap /r-/ occurs only in grammaticalmorphemes and non-native words.
(2)

Examples of initial consonant phonemes
pp’ph-

p@m22 “mountain”
p’a22 “to be thin”
phoN55 “to open”t-“wing”
tuN
twi22 “tooth”
waP21 -t’a22 “to set, to put”
t’@p53 “to seize”
thoP53 “to exit”
tha22 “salt”

t’th-

22

than “vocalic” solution. See Section 3.3.

tStS’tS h-

tS@k21tS’@p53
tS’in53tS hin53tS haP53“to be torn”“to suck”“to be sour”“rice”“navel”

kk’kh-“puddy”kuP21ă2 k’uP53 “bark”
khwi22 “dog”

P-

Pu55

“egg”

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mm’-

l’aN53 mwe22 “snake”
m’@N55 “to get ripen”

jj’-“ﬁeld”
ja22
53
j’@m “house”n-“to be red”
ne21
“to be green”
nu21
n’ut53 “mouth”
laP21 n’u22 “ﬁnger”

wf-

w@t21 “to wear”
f@n53 “to send”

Gx-“water”
Gi22
xaP53 “to be ashamed”

sS-

su53
sa22
Sit53

h-

ni22 haw22 “wind”

n’-

2.3

NN’-

Naj21 “to be small”
N’aP53 “bird”

ll’-

la35
“to go”
l’am53 “lance, spear”

tsts’ñr-mo22 tsa22 “socks”<Jhp. mawM zaM <Bur.<Hindi<Persian mojām˘@2 tSi22 ts’i21 “to cure”<Lhs. “medicine”+Jhp. tsiL “to cure”
ñen21 mun22 “beard” cf. Jhp. ningL munM *18
rin35 th@m55 “mortar”<Jhp. rinH “to grind”+Lhs. “mortar”“person”“meat, ﬂesh”“eight”

Medial consonant: -j-

The two approximant consonants /-j-/ and /-w-/ can occur between an initial consonant
and a vowel. Their distributions in this position are fairly diﬀerent. /-j-/ cooccurs onlywith labial nasals, labial stops and velar stops, and therefore it is appropriate to treat it asa medial consonant. (As for /-w-/ analyzed as a vowel on-glide, see 2.5.)
Some words borrowed from Jinghpaw contain the medial /-r-/.
(3)

Examples of consonant clusters with medial /-j-/
pjp’jphj-

pja21
p’ji22
phjit53“bee”“to close”“to cut”

kjk’jkhj-

kjuP
k’juP53
khju22“to fear, to be scared”“to dry”“to bend”

21

mj- mjaP21
m’j- m’juP53
mr-

kom22 mraN21“eye”“white yam”
“horse”<Jhp.

2.4 Vowels (V)Lhangsu has six vowels. /a/ is centralized, /e/ and /o/ are raised, and /u/ is advanced.
The vowel transcribed by schwa is an unrounded central vowel whose aperture varies
from mid-close to mid-open.

*18 It is highly conceivable that Lhangsu borrowed some words from a Jinghpaw dialect other than Standard

Jinghpaw, e.g. Hkahku.

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Table 5 Lhangsu vowels

Close
Mid
Open

Front
i [i]
e [eﬁ]

Central@ [9]∼[3]a [ä]

Backu [uﬃ ]
o [2ﬁ]/@/ without ﬁnal consonant occurs only in weak syllables. (See 2.9.)(4)

Vowels in open syllables
-i

-e

mji21
ă2 si22
khji53Gi22
si55
ă2 tS hi55

“ﬁre”
“to bear (fruit)”“leg, foot”“water”“to do”“what”

ne21
Ne21 k@N21
ta21 we22“to be red”
“forehead”“food”

-a

tha22
la21
wa21 se22“salt”“to come home”“pole, stick”-ono21 tSuN22
sam53 so22

“cow, bull”“blade, edge”

-u

Pu55
“egg”
w@t22 pu21 w@t22 maj22 “clothes”
laP21 p’u55 “arm”“person”
su53“to bend”
khju22
laP21 n’u22 “ﬁnger”

2.5 Vowel on-glide: -w-/-w-/ cooccurs only with vowels /-i, -e/ in native words. Therefore, I treat /-w-/ as avowel on-glide, not as a medial consonant. In non-native words, /-w-/ also occurs with/-@(n)/.
(5)

Examples of rhymes with on-glide /-w-/
-wi

2.6

twi22
no21 lwi21
khwi22swi22
thwi53“tooth”“buﬀalo”“dog”“blood”“sound, voice”-wel’aN53 mwe22 “snake”“taro”
mwe21
21
22 h
t’ut kan p we55 “to spit”“to arrive”
tSwe35“to be warm”
nwe21

Final consonants (Cf ): -m, -p, -n, -t, -N, -P/-k, -w, -j

Three nasal, four stop and two oﬀ-glide consonant phonemes stand as a ﬁnal consonantin Lhangsu. /-P/ and /-k/ are in a complementary distribution in native words.

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Table 6 Lhangsu rhymes

Open
-a
-o
-@*
-e
-u
-i
-we
-wi

Closed
-am
-ap
-om
-op
-@m
-@p
(-em)
-um
-up
(-im)
(-ip)

-an
(-on)
-@n
(-en)
-un
-in

-at
(-ot)
-@t
-ut
-it

(-w@n)

-aN
-oN
-@N
(-eN)
-uN
(-iN)
(-awN)* occurs only in weak syllables.
(6)
-am
-om
-@m
-um

Rhymes with ﬁnal /-m/tham53tS ham22
tam22
Pam22 phaP53 kom22ă2 k’om53
n’@k53 lom35
j’@m53
p@m22
t@m22 -la21
khjum53
nap21 tS hum55(7)

Rhymes with ﬁnal -p

-ap

-up

l’am22 ma22 khjap53
k’jin55 tap21
N’ap53
mjaN55 tap21
N’op53
mo2 Pop53 si22
j’@p53
p@p21
G˘@2 tSam21 s@p53
khjuN22 p’up53(8)

Rhymes with ﬁnal -n

-op
-@p

-an
-@n

na21 pan21
N’an53san22
w@n21“hair”“to be cool”“bridge”“bowl”“to be empty”“to be interested in”“house”“mountain”“to return”“to meet”“morning”“month”“to attach”“to read”“needle”“to cover”“tomato”“to sleep”“to be rotten”“to be thirsty”“owl”“ﬂower”“mist/frost”“to scatter”“to bear on one’s back”-aP (-ak)-oP (-ok)-@k(-eP)-uP (-uk)
(-ik)

-aw

-aj
(-oj)

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-un
-in

(9)
-at
-@t
-ut
-it

(10)
-aN
-oN
-@N
-uN
-iN

(11)
-aP
-oP
-@k
-uP

G˘@2 m@n22 khoN53
t@n22
kun21
tSun22 loN22
tS’in53tS hin53
khjin53“north”“eagle”“to be exhausted”“island”“to be sour”“rice”“to choose”

Rhymes with ﬁnal -t
sat53
k’at53
p@t21
w@t21
N’@t53
khjut53
n’ut53k’ut53
Sit53
phjit53tS hit53“to kill”“to let s.o. come in”“to rub, to scrub”“to wear”“copula”“to take oﬀ”“mouth”“to build”“eight”“to cut”“to be dark”

Rhymes with ﬁnal -N
mjaN21sam53 pjaN22
phoN55t’oN55
khj@N53
l@N22 t@N21
k’@N51
khjuN22tuN22
pjiN53mjiN22“to ﬁnd”“sword”“to open”“to write”“thread”“neck”“to be ﬁrm”
“throat”“wing”“to request, to ask”
“night”

Rhymes with ﬁnal -P/-k
mjaP21
N’aP53
tSaP21
GoP21
thoP53s@k53 t@N22
tS h@k53
G@k21
kuP21

“eye”
“bird”“to exist”“rat”“to exit”“tree”“mutton”“to beat, to hit”
“puddy”

390
khjuP53
luP21 t@N22
(12)
-aw

(13)
-aj

“six”
“stone”

Rhymes with ﬁnal -w
Paw22
naw21
tS’aw53“pan, pot”
“to like”“to say”

Rhymes with ﬁnal -j
Naj21
tă2 thaj53
laj35“to be small”“ten”“to come”

If non-native words are considered more variety of rhymes can be identiﬁed.
(14)

Examples of closed rhymes found only in non-native words

-em
-im

t’em21 si22 mu21
tsim21“to be tender, to be gentle”<Jhp. temL siL +?Lhs. “to do”“to be calm, to be quiet”<Jhp. zimL

-ip

S@N21 nip21“shadow”<Jhp. shingL nipL

-on
-en

S˘@2 k’on21
tsen21 taw21“to praise”<Jhp. shăkawnL“scissors”<Jhp. zenL dauL ?<Chinese ࡧ֗-ot

thot21“to move”<Jhp. htawtL . cf. Lhv. thutF-eN

khaP21 reN53“wave”<Jhp. hkaPL lengH

-ak
-ok
-uk

ă2 sak21
tSak21
kok21
laj21 ka21 p’uk53-ik

tSauN21 p’jik53-eP

theP53“age”<Jhp. ăsakL“machine”<Jhp. jakL <WB {cak’}. cf. Lhv. cakF
“to bark”<Jhp. gawkL“book”<Jhp. laiL kaM “book”+Lhs. “to stack”
cf. Lhv. mukF sukH paukH “book” (“paper”+“to stack”)¯¯“(school) to close”<Jhp.
jawngL (or Bur. cauðL )H“school” +Jhp. pyik “to close”“to be hot”<Jhp. htePH-ojkhoj53 -ju21“to borrow (money)”<Jhp. hkoiM “to lend/borrow(money)” +Lhs. “to take”-w@n

jw@n22“to grieve, to be sad”<Jhp. yawnM

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2.7

Syllabic nasals

A nasal consonant phoneme /m/ stands as a syllabic nasal in Lhangsu native phonology.
(15)m

Examples with syllabic nasal
mji22 m21
m55 pu22 si22
-m21“gun” cf. Lhv. myiL PamF
“gourd” cf. Lhv. PamF pauNL šiL“sentence marker: irrealis” e.g. Na22 ta21 -m21 (I eat-irl)

Some of the loanwords from Jinghpaw have an initial syllabic nasal. Kurabe (2016)
analyses the syllabic nasal in Jinghpaw as /n/, which assimilates to the place of articulationof the following consonants (p.40). In Lhangsu, we may set up syllabic /m/ for suchloanwords because among the nasal consonants only /m/ can stand word- and clauseﬁnally as syllabic nasal, as seen above.
(16)

Syllabic nasal in loanwords
m1 puN22 li22 [m1 ...]
m2 tup21 tap21 mji21 khjom55 [n2 ...]
m22 khu22 [N22 ...]

“airplane”< Jhp. nL bungM liM “airplane”“ﬁreplace” cf. Jhp. nL dupL “blacksmith”“pillow” cf. Jhp. bungL hkumL “pillow”

2.8 Tones (T)Lhangsu has four tones.
Table 7 Lhangsu tones

21
53
22
55

mainly with plain initials; often 31 after 22
mostly with creaky and aspirated initials*19
with a variant 35

Drastic pitch declination was commonly observed in the speech of the consultant,even in short sentences such as tS hi55 -lo53 GaP21 N’@t53 -na21 . (this-top fowl copula-rls)“This is a fowl”. This declination often makes the determination of tones fairly diﬃcult,particularly in the case of some grammatical morphemes in clause ﬁnal position.
Lhaovo and Zaiwa have tonal morphemes that trigger tonal alternation to the preceding
syllable (Sawada 2005, Lustig 2010), and Lacid has similar abstract morphemes thattrigger vowel lengthening (Dai and Li 2007). However, Lhangsu has neither of them.

*19 In fact, a motivation of “consonantal” solution of creaky phonation is that it enables to simplify thegeneralization on the distribution of tones.

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2.9

Weak syllables

Similar to other Burmish languages, Lhangsu has weak syllables. They are pronounced
weakly and shortly. Two vowels, /-a/ and /-@/, occur in weak syllables of Lhangsu.
/a/ without any initial is a familiar Tibeto-Burman preﬁx. It occurs as an inherent partof some nouns. It also functions as nominalizing and negative preﬁxes.
(17)

ă

Inherent: ă2 pha55 “father”, ă2 m’ji55 “mother”, ă2 la21 “male”, ă2 ma22 “female”,ă2 si22 “fruit”, ă2 thaj22 “bottom” etc.
Nominalizing: ă2 phju53 joN22 “white”, ă2 tS@m22 “raw food” etc.
Negative: ă2 -ta21 “not to eat”, ă2 -tSaP21 “not to exist” etc.
In addition, a few preﬁxes with /-a/ are attested.
(18)

Că
kă2 naP21 “crow”, Nă2 PaN22 th@p53 “cabbage”

The weak syllables with /-@/ are mostly the results of syllable weakening.
(19)

C˘@
t˘@2 mji21 “daughter” (<ta21 “child” + mji21 “woman”),
G˘@2 pu22 “hot water” (<Gi22 “water” + pu22 “to be hot”),
khj˘@2 t’uN22 “shoes” (<khji22 “foot” + t’uN22 “to get on”) etc.

3 Sound correspondence between Lhangsu and other Burmish languages

In this section, I examine the correspondence of Lhangsu sounds with those of otherBurmish languages, such as Bola, Lhaovo, Lacid, Zaiwa and Written Burmese (WB, andalso Old Written Burmese, OWB). In the tables of this section, data on Bola and Zaiwa
forms are based on Nishi (1999), originally from Huang (1992). Lhangsu, Lhaovo and
Lacid are based on my own data.
An underbar after the initial C- in Bola, Lhaovo, Lacid and Zaiwa data indicates thatcreaky vowels follow the initial. The braces in WB and OWB forms indicate that they aretransliterations of Burmese script in my own system.
3.1

InitialsFirst, I explore the correspondence of Lhangsu initials (including initial clusters withmedial -j-), grouped by the manner and place of articulation, with other NBsh languages
and WB (OWB).
3.1.1

Stops and nasals: velar

Table 8 shows the correspondence of Lhangsu velar stops and nasals with other NBsh
languages and WB (OWB).

393
Velar stops accompanied by medial /-j-/ in Lhangsu correspond to OWB velar stops
with subscript consonant letters {=l} and {=r}, but not with {=y}, which corresponds with thepalatal aﬀricates of the languages.
Every initial (including clusters) is speciﬁed for “palatalness”. An initial is assigned
the feature [+J] if it is palatal, /r-/ or a cluster with /-j-/. If not, it is assigned [−J]. The
palatalness of an initial aﬀects the correspondence relation of the rhyme following it.
Table 8 Initials: velar stops/nasals
Lhangsukk’kh-

Bola
kkkh-

Lhaovo
kkkh-

Lacid
kkkh-

Zaiwa
kkkh-

−J

NN’-

NN-

NN-

NN-

NN-

−J

kjk’jkhj-

kjkjkhj-

kykykhy-

kykykhy-

kjkjkhj-

+J

3.1.2

WB (OWB){k-} k`{kh-} K`{ng-} N`{ng=h-} NH`{k=y-} kY` (< {k=l-} kÇ`) / {k=r-} Ùk`{kh=y-} KY (< {kh=l-} K Ç) / {kh=r-} RK`

Stops and nasals: palatal/alveolar

Table 9 shows the correspondence of Lhangsu palatal stops/nasals, and alveolar
stops/nasals with other NBsh languages and WB (OWB).
Table 9 Initials: palatal and alveolar stops/nasals
Lhs.
tStS’tS h-

Bol.
tStStSh-

Lhv.
ccch-

Lcd.
ccch-

Zwa.
tStStSh-WB (OWB){k=y-} kY (< {k=y-}) / {c-} ct-

tt-/ts-

tts-

tts-

tts-

t’-

tt- /ts-

tts-

tts-

tts-

th-

thth-/tsh-

thtsh-

thtsh-

thtsh-

n-

nNj-

nñ-

nñ-

nNj-

−J
−J (Lhs.)/+J (others){n-} n{N˜-} F

n’-

nNj-

nñ-

nñ-

nNj-

−J
−J (Lhs.)/+J (others){n=h-} ÓH{N˜=h-} FÞ+J{kh=y-} KY (< {kh=y-}) / {ch-} C{t-} t{c-} c−J{th-} T{ch-} C
{th-}
{ch-}

Palatal aﬀricates of Lhangsu as well as other NBsh languages correspond to either velar
initial letters with subscript consonant letter {k=y-, kh=y-} or palatal initial letters {c-, ch-}of OWB.
Lhangsu alveolar stops correspond to either alveolar stops or dental aﬀricates in
Lhaovo, Lacid and Zaiwa. The case of Bola is more complex. Dental aﬀricates in Lhaovo,394
Lacid and Zaiwa correspond partly to dental stops and partly dental aﬀricates of Bola, as
seen in Table 10.
Table 10 Lhangsu alveolar stops and their correlates in other NBsh languages
˞ Bola data are supplemented by Dai et al. (2007)“to eat”“son”“salt”

Lhs.
ta21
ta21
tha22

Bol.
ta31
ta31
tha35

Lhv.
tsoL
tsoL
tshoL

Lcd.
tsoL
tsoL
tshoH

Zwa.
tso21
tso21
tsho55WB{caa:}–{chaa:}“to connect”

thaP53tshaP31

tshoPH

tshoPF

tshoP55{chak’}“bridge”“hair”

tam22

tsẼ55

tsẽF

tsamF

tsam51tsham51–{chaM}“ten”

thaj53-thai55

tsheF

tshiL

tshe51{chay’}“neck”-t@N21-taN31-tsaNL-ts@NL-tsiN21{caN˜’:}“mortar”

th@m55tsham55

tshamF(tshOm33 )tshum51{chuM}“to cough”

t’aw22“kite; hawk”

tsukH
¯
tsumF

tsokH
¯
tsonF

tsau21¯
tsun51{chui:}

t@n22

tau31
¯¯
tsOn55“tooth”

twi22

tui55

tsauyF

ts@F

tsui51{c=way’}tham53tshẼ55

tshẽFtshamL{c=wan’}

The factor of split between alveolar stops and dental aﬀricates in Bola must be therhymes. However, I could not establish a reasonable formulation temporarily.*20
Lhangsu alveolar nasals correspond to either alveolar or palatal nasals in the otherlanguages, and assigned [−J] irrespective of the correspondence to other NBsh languages.
3.1.3

Stops and nasals: labial

Table 11 shows the correspondence of Lhangsu labial stops and nasals with other NBsh
languages and WB (OWB). Unlike the velars, the split factored by the type of medials
does not occur.

*20 For the data in Table 10, WB {c-, ch-} which precede open rhymes or rhymes with ﬁnal {-y’, -N˜’}

correspond to Bola /t-, th-/. The environments do not seem to constitute a natural class.

395
Table 11 Initials: labial stops/nasals
Lhs.
pp’ph-

Bol.
ppph-

Lhv.
ppph-

Lcd.
ppph-

Zwa.
ppph-

−J

mm’-

mm-

mm-

mm-

mm-

−J

pjp’jphj-

pjpjphj-

pypyphy-

pypyphy-

pjpjphj-

+J

mj-

mj-

my-

my-

mj-

m’j-

mj-

my-

my-

mj-

3.1.4

WB (OWB){p} p{ph} P{m} m{m=h} mH{p=y} pY / {p=r} Rp (< {p=r} Rp, {p=l} p Ç)+J

{ph=y} PY / {ph=r} RP (< {ph=r} RP, {ph=l} P Ç){m=y} mY / {m=r} Rm (< {m=r} Rm, {m=l} m Ç)
{m=h=y} mó / {m=h=r} RmÞ (< {m=h=r} RmÞ, {m=h=l} mH )Ç

Other consonants

Table 12 shows the correspondence of approximants, laterals, fricatives, and the glottal
stop of Lhangsu with other NBsh languages and WB (OWB).
Table 12 Initials: miscellaneous
Lhs. Bol.
jjj’j-

Lhv.
yy-

Lcd.
yy-

Zwa.
j+J
j-

WB (OWB){y} y{@i-} a˘ j’@m53 “house”; j’@p53 “to sleep”

Gx-

Gx-

GG-

yS-

vx-

+J

{r} r
{r=h} ÔH

ll’-

ll-

ll-

ll-

ll-

−J

{l} l
{l=h} lH

wf-

vf-

vf-

vf-

vx-

−J

{w} w
{w=h} wH

s-

sS-

sš-

sš-

sS-

−J
−J (Lhs.)/+J (others)

{s} s

S-

S-

š-

š-

S-

+J

{r=h} ÔH(< {y=h} yH)

h-

h-

h-

h-

x-

−J

P-

∅

P-

P-

∅

−J

Sit53 “eight” 12–13cWB {y=hac’} yH`c¸/{y=hat’} yH`t¸{@} aLhangsu dental fricatives correspond to both dental fricatives and palatal fricatives ofthe other NBsh languages, and assigned [−J] constantly like Lhangsu /n-/.
The only attested native Lhangsu word with palatal fricative is Sit53 “eight”. In Modern
WB, it is written with the letters {r=h-}, and in OWB it was written with the letters {y=h-}.

396

3.2

RhymesIn this section, I classify WB (OWB) rhymes basically by the vowel signs they contain,and examine how rhymes of Lhangsu (and other NBsh languages) correspond to theseclassiﬁed rhymes.
3.2.1

OWB {-a} group

Table 13 shows the rhymes of NBsh languages corresponding to OWB rhyme notations
with “zero” vowel sign transliterated as {-a}.*21 The rhymes with /-N/ corresponding to
OWB {-aN˜’}, and the rhymes with /-k/ corresponding to WB {-ac’} are not included here;
they are mentioned in {-i} group later.
Table 13 Rhymes: OWB {-a} group
Lhs.
-a

Bol.
-a

Lhv.
-o

Lcd.
-o

Zwa.
-o/a

WB (OWB){-a} ß|ß A

-aj
-e

-ai
-E

-ay/e
-ay

-i
-@

-e
-ui

{-ay’} ßy¸|ß˛

Naj21 “to be small”
we21 “to buy”

-am
-om

-Ẽ

-eN

-am
-om

-am
-om

{-am’} ßm¸|ß˙

sam53 so22 “blade”
Gom53 “bear”

-ap

-EP

-eP

-ap

-ap

{-ap’} ßp¸nap21 tS hum55 “morning”

-an
-@n

-Ẽ
-On

-in
-øm

-an
-on

-an
-un

−J

{-an’} ßn’na21 pan21 “ﬂower”
w@n21 “bear on one’s back”

-in

-On

-in

-en

-in

+J

{-an’}{-an˜’} ßf¸ < OWB{-=yan’} ßY`n’tS hin53 “rice”
tS’in53 “to be sour”
13cOWB {kh=yan’}

-at
-@t

-EP

-eP

-at
-ot

-at
-ut

−J

{-at’} ßt¸

sat53 “to kill”
w@t21 “to wear”-it-Ot/EP -it/eP -it/et

-it

+J

{-at’}{-ac’} ßc¸ < OWB{-=yat’} ßY`t¸

phjit53 “to cut”
Sit53 “eight”
cf. tS’i22 “to love”
13cOWB {kh=yat’}

-aN

-ON

-oN

-aN

-aN

{-ang’} ßN¸

mjaN21 “to see”

-aP

-aP

-oP

-oP

-oP/aP{-ak’} ßk¸

N’aP53 “bird”

n’a53 “nose”; kja55 “to fall”

Lhangsu has the maximum number of rhymes with vowel /-a/ in the NBsh languages
examined in this study. Assuming that these rhymes had the vowel *a also in the stage ofProto Burmish, the table means that Lhangsu preserves the Proto Burmish vowel *a themost among the languages.
WB {-an’}, {-at’} correspond to Lhangsu /-in/, /-it/ with [+J] initials, and /-an/,/-at/ with [−J] initials. WB {-an˜’} and {-ac’} traced back to OWB {-an’} and {-at’} also
*21 In Indic scripts, a rhyme notation (and syllable notation, too) without any overt vowel signs notates arhyme (syllable) with a “default vowel” of the script system. In Burmese script (not only modern WB
but also OWB), the “default vowel” is -a, transliterated by {-a} in my own transliteration system.

397
correspond to Lhangsu /-in/, /-it/. Note that OWB initial consonants are accompaniedby the medial consonant letter {=y}.
3.2.2

OWB {-i} group

Table 14 shows the rhymes of NBsh languages corresponding to OWB rhymestransliterated by {-i}.
Table 14 Rhymes: OWB {-i} group
Lhs.
-e
-i/e

Bol.
-E
-i

Lhv.
-e
-i/e

Lcd.
-i
-i

Zwa.
-e
-i

-e
-i

-E
-i/@i/ui

-a

-i
-it

-i

-i/@i

-it

-@m

-am

-@p

WB (OWB)−J+J{-i} ß˘|ß¯

ne21 “to be red”
mji21 “ﬁre”; ă2 si22 “fruit”

-e
-i/ai

−J

{-e} eß <OWB {-iy’} ß˘y¸

we21 “to be distant”
ni21 “to stay”

-it

-i/ui

+J

-am

-om

-um

{-im’} ß˘m¸ă2 tS@m22 “raw thing”

-ap

-ap

-op

-up

{-ip’} ß˘p¸j’@p53 “to sleep”

?

?

?

?

?

{-in’} ß˘n’

-@k

-Ot

-at

-ot

?

{-it’} ß˘t¸

-@N

-aN

-aN

-@N

-iN

{-aN˜’} ßF¸ < PTB *-iN/in/en (Matisoﬀ, 2003)
l@N22 t@N21 “neck”

-@k

-ak

-ak

-@k

-ik

{-ac’} ßc¸ < PTB/PLB *-ik (Matisoﬀ, 2003)
p@k21 “to shoot”

khji53 “leg”

tS h@k53 “goat”

The rhymes with /-N/ corresponding to OWB {-aN˜’}, and the rhymes with /-k/ in
NBsh languages corresponding to OWB {-ac’} are grouped here, based on their PTB forms
presented by Matisoﬀ (2003).
The rhymes corresponding to WB {-i} in the languages except Lacid show the split
factored by the feature [±J] of initials preceding them.*22
Lhangsu tS h@k53 “goat” is peculiar in that it has /-k/ unlike the cognates in other NBsh
languages, which share /-t/ with WB/OWB. The peculiarity might be attributed to the[+J] feature of the initial.
I did not observe any sure instances of rhyme corresponding to WB {-in’} in either
Lhangsu or other NBsh languages.
3.2.3

OWB {-u/-o} group

Table 15 shows the rhymes of NBsh languages corresponding to WB/OWB rhymestransliterated by {-u} or {-o}.*23*22 In Bola, Lhaovo and Lacid, there are several rhymes which correspond to OWB {-iy’}. The distributionsof the rhymes still remain unclear though it might be in some way related to the types of initials.
*23 It might be simply referred to as “{-u} group”, accepting Matisoﬀ’s (2003) PTB forms for {-ong’} and{-ok’}.

398
Table 15 Rhymes: OWB {-u/-o} group
Lhs.
-u
-u

Bol.
-u
-u

Lhv.
-au
-u

Lcd.
-u
-u

Zwa.
-u
-u

-we
-wi

-ui/ø
-ui

-auy
-a

-@/u
-wit

-@m

-am

-am

-@p

-ap

-un

WB (OWB)−J+J{-u} ßu|ßUPu55 “egg”
phju21 “to be white”-ui{-=we} eßW < OWB {-uy’} ßuy¸

l’aN53 mwe22 “snake”
khwi22 “dog”

-om

-um

{-um’} ßum¸|ßuMp@m22 “mountain”

-ap

-op

-up

{-up’} ßup¸

tS’@p53 “to suck”

-On

-an

-on

?

{-un’} ßun’kun21 “to be lost”

-ut

-Ot

-at

-ot

-ut

{-ut’} ßut¸

n’ut53 “mouth”

-uN

-auN

-auN

-uN

-uN

{-ong’} eß AN¸ < PTB *-uN (Matisoﬀ, 2003)
kuN22 laP21 “body”

-uP

-auP

-auk

-uk

-uP

{-ok’} eß Ak¸ < PTB *-uk (Matisoﬀ, 2003)
kjuP21 “to fear”

The factor of the split of rhymes of Lhangsu (and also Bola, Lhaovo and Lacid)corresponding to OWB {-uy’} are unclear, similar to that of {-iy’}.
In Lhangsu, Bola, Lacid and Zaiwa, more than one rhymes correspond to WB {-ut’}. I
suspect that it is another case of splitting factored by [±J], but it is hardly conﬁrmed dueto the rarity of instances.
3.2.4

OWB {-wa} group

Table 16 presents the rhymes of NBsh languages corresponding to OWB rhymestransliterated as {-wa}.
Table 16 Rhymes: OWB {-wa} group
Lhs.
-o

Bol.
-O

Lhv.
-u

Lcd.
-o/u

Zwa.
-o

WB (OWB){-=wa} ßW|ßW A

no21 tSuN22 “cow, bull”

-wi

-ui

-auy

-@

-ui

{-=way’} ßWy¸|ßWXtwi22 “tooth”

?

?

?

?

?

{-=wam’} ßWm¸

?

?

?

?

?

{-=wap’} ßWp¸-@n/un

-On

-øm

-on

-un

{-=wan’} ßWn’t@n22 “eagle”

-@t
-ut

-Ot
-Ot

-øP
-at

-ot
-ot

-ut
-ut

{-=wat’} ßWt¸

p@t21 “to rub”
khjut53 “to take oﬀ”

-oN

-uN

-uN

-aN

-oN

{-=wang’} ßWN¸

phoN55 “to open”

-oP

-OP

-uk

-uP

-oP

{-=wak’} ßWk¸

GoP21 “rat”−J+J

The split of Lhangsu rhymes corresponds to WB {-=wat’} is factored by the feature [±J]of initials. This also applies to Lhaovo.

399
No instances of rhyme corresponding to WB {-=wam’} and {-=wap’} is attested in either
Lhangsu or other NBsh languages.
3.2.5

OWB {-ui} group

Finally, Table 17 shows the rhymes of NBsh languages corresponding to OWB rhymestransliterated by {-ui}.
Table 17 Rhymes: OWB {-ui} group
Lhs.
-aw
-u

Bol.
-au
-u

Lhv.
-uk
-uk

Lcd.
-ok
-ok

Zwa.
-au
-ui

WB (OWB)

?-@N

?

?

?

?

{-uing’} ßuiN¸< PTB *-u:Nk’@N53 “to be hard”;
t’@N53 “to sit”

?-@k

?

?

-uk

?

{-uik’} ßuik¸< PTB *-u:kG@k21 “to beat”
cf. Lcd. yukL−J+J{-ui}<OWB{-uiw’/-uw’/-iw’}<PLB *-@wßuißuiw¸ ßuw¸ ß˘w¸

khaw22 “to steal”
khju22 “to break”

Again, the split in Lhangsu, Bola and Zaiwa are factored by [±J].
A few forms that correspond to WB {-uing’} and {-uik’} were found in Lhangsu. Amongthem, G@k “to beat” has a cognate form in Lacid.
3.3

Tones

Table 18 summarizes the tonal correspondence between the languages. Note that thecreaky phonation of vowels and the aspiration of consonants equally function as a factor
of tonal split in not only Lhangsu but also other NBsh languages. The fact favors the“consonantal” solution over “vocalic” solution of creaky phonation.
Table 18 Tones

-V#/
-VN#2

Lhs.
22(N) /21(V) C53
C’-, Ch-Bol.

55

F (21)

21
22

31
35

L (22)
L, H #3

35
31
55

CC’-, Ch-

55
-VC#2

21
53

C
C’-, Ch-

Lhv.

Lcd.
F (21)L (22)

Zwa.

WB

51

C
C- , Ch

Tone 1

L (22)H (44)

21C
C- , Ch

Tone 2H (44)H (44)
HF (42)55

CC- , Ch

Tone 3F (21)H (44)F (21)
HF (42)

21
55

C
C- , Ch{-V#}/{-VN}#1{-VC}#1#1 {-N} = {-ng’, -N˜’, -n˜’, -n’, -m’(-M), -y’(-Y)}; {-C} = {-k’, -c’, -t’, -p’}#2 -N = nasal and approximant ﬁnals; -C = stop ﬁnals, but rhymes ending with /-t, -k/ in Lhv. andLcd. corresponding to WB {-e}(<OWB {-iy’}) and {-ui} (<{-uiw’}) fall in -VN class.
#3 Lhv. syllables containing rhymes ending with /-t, -k/ but counted as -VN bear tone H , not L .

(20)–(23) show the tonal correspondence of Lhangsu syllables with creaky or aspirated
initials with Lhaovo and Written Burmese.

400
(20)

V#/VN, creaky/aspirated initials: Lhs. 53; Lhv. F; WB Tone 1ăk’om53
N’an53j’@m53l’aN53 mwe22
khjin53
tham53thwi53f@n53
sam53 pjaN22(21)“to set, to put”
“ﬁnger”“to be thin”“pan, pot”
“dog”
“to bend”“salt”“to be cool”“meat, ﬂesh”“blood”

WB {chaM}
WB {saM} “iron”

Lhv. toL¯
Lhv. loPF ñukH
Lhv. poL ¯¯
Lhv. PukH
Lhv. khaL
Lhv. khyukH
Lhv. tshoL
Lhv. cheNL
Lhv. šoL
Lhv. saL

WB {thaa:}
WB {lak’N˜=hui:}
WB {phaa:}
WB {@ui:}
WB {kh=we:}
WB {kh=yui:}
WB {chaa:}
WB {kh=yam’:}
WB {@a saa:}
WB {s=we:}

V#/VN, creaky/aspirated initials: Lhs. 55; Lhv. H; WB Tone 3

k’jin55 tap21
t’a55
t’@m55
m’a55
m’@N55Pu55
waP21 -khja55
tS haN55
j’@m53 s@N53 pha55
phoN55(23)

WB {@im’}

V#/VN, creaky/aspirated initials: Lhs. 22; Lhv. L(H); WB Tone 2

waP21 -t’a22
laP21 n’u22
p’a22
Paw22
khwi22khju22tha22
tS ham22
sa22
swi22

(22)

Lhv. PăkømF
Lhv. NinF¯
Lhv. yamF¯
Lhv. loNF mauyF¯
F
Lhv. khyin
F
Lhv. tsheN
Lhv. thøF
Lhv. vinF ∼finF¯
Lhv. šeNFpyoNF“to be empty”“mist/frost”“house”“snake”“to choose”“hair”“sound, voice”“to send”“sword”“to attach”“to rise”“to forbid”“to teach”“to get ripen”“egg”“to drop”“to run after”“husband”“to open”

Lhv. kyinHtePF
Lhv. toH¯¯
Lhv. tamH¯
Lhv. moH¯
Lhv. maNH¯H
Lhv. Pau
Lhv. khyoH
Lhv. choNH
Lhv. yamF saNF phoH¯
Lhv. phuNH

WB {tha}
WB {m=haN˜’.}
WB {u}
WB {khya}
WB {@a pha} “male”
WB {ph=wang’.}

VC, creaky/aspirated initials: Lhs. 53; Lhv. H

k’juP53
t’@p53n’@k53tS’@p53
khjuP53
thoP53tS hit53
phjit53
Sit53
xaP53

“to dry”“to seize”“heart”“to suck”“six”“to exit”“to be dark”“to cut”“eight”“to be ashamed”

Lhv. kyaukH¯¯
Lhv. tsapH¯
Lhv. nakH¯
Lhv. capH¯
Lhv. khyaukH
Lhv. thukH
Lhv. chatH
Lhv. phyitH
Lhv. šePH
Lhv. GoPH¯

WB {kh=rok’}
WB {chup’}
WB {n=hac’luM:}
WB {cup’}
WB {kh=rok’}
WB {th=wak’}
WB {chit’} “to be quiet”
WB {ph=rat’}
WB {r=hac’}
WB {r=hak’}(24)–(28) show the tonal correspondence of Lhangsu syllables with plain initials with
Lhaovo and Written Burmese.
Lhangsu syllables with plain initials corresponding to Lhaovo F syllables and WB Tone

401
1 syllables show a peculiarity: They have 21 if they are verbs, and 22 if they are nouns.
Note that there are a few exceptions in verbs.
(24)
kaj21
Naw21
na21
ne21
pan21
pe21
mju21
GaN21
lam21
we21

(25)

V#/VN, plain initials: Lhs. 21; Lhv. F; WB Tone 1“to be good”“to weep”“to ache”“to be red”
“to end”“to know”“to bury”“to be hard”“to be broad”“to buy”

Lhv. kayF
Lhv. NukF
Lhv. noF
Lhv. neF
Lhv. pinF
Lhv. paF
Lhv. myukF
Lhv. GoNF
Lhv. leNF
Lhv. vayF

cf. Naw22 pji22 “tear”
cf. a2 na22 “illness”
cf. xu22 ne22 “onion”

WB {ngui}
WB {naa}
WB {nii}

cf. WB {@a laM} “unit of length”
WB {way’}

V#/VN, plain initials: Lhs. 22; Lhv. F; WB Tone 1

Gi22
Go22

“to laugh”“to rain”

Lhv. GiF
Lhv. GuF

WB {ray’}
WB {r=waa}

kun22
Na22
tan22
taN22 k’aN55
naN22
mji22
ja22
a2 jam22-Ga22
s@2 Gi22“net”“I”“year”“back”“you”“ground”“hundred”“surrounding”“place”“skin”

Lhv. kømF
Lhv. NoF
Lhv. tsinF
Lhv. toNFkauNF
Lhv. noNF
Lhv. myitF
Lhv. yoF
Lhv. PăyeNF
Lhv. -GoF
Lhv. šŏL GitF

WB {k=wan’}
WB {ngaa}(26)

V#/VN, plain initials: Lhs. 21; Lhv. L; WB Tone 2

kja21
Na21
ta21
na21
na21 pan21
maw21 Go22n’ut53 mwe21
li21
no21 lwi21
we21

(27)
kja55
nu35
tSwe35
Ga55 -V
la35
laj35

WB {nang’}
WB {m=re}<OWB {m=liy’}
WB {raa}<OWB {r=yaa}
WB {@a po’yaM} “surface”
WB {-raa}
WB {sa re}“to hear”“ﬁsh”“to eat”“ear”“ﬂower”“to rain”“beard”“to be heavy”“buﬀalo”“to be distant”

Lhv. kyoL
Lhv. NoL
Lhv. tsoL
Lhv. noL
Lhv. pinL
Lhv. mukL GuL
Lhv. natH mauyL¯
Lhv. laL
Lhv. nuNL lauyL
Lhv. vaL

WB {k=raa:}
WB {ngaa:}
WB {caa:}
WB {naa:}
WB {pan’:}
WB {mui: r=waa}
WB {mut’chit’mwe:}
WB {le:}WB {k=l=waY}
WB {we:}

V#/VN, plain initials: Lhs. 55–35; Lhv. H; WB Tone 3“to descend”“(plant) to be young”“to arrive”“to be possible to V”“to go”“to come”

Lhv. kyoH
Lhv. nauH
Lhv. cøH
cf. Lhv. Go-H “to get”
Lhv. loH
Lhv. liH

WB {k=ya}
WB {nu}cf. WB {ra} “to get”

402
(28)

VC, plain initials: Lhs. 21; Lhv. F

kuP21
taP21
naP21
tSuP21
p@k21
mjuP21
jaP21
GaP21
laP21
waP21

“puddy”“to ascend”“to be black”“pubes”“to shoot”“monkey”“to lick”“fowls”“hand”“pig”

Lhv. kaukF
Lhv. toPF
Lhv. noPF
Lhv. caukF
Lhv. pakF
Lhv. myaukF
Lhv. yoPF
Lhv. GoPF
Lhv. loPF
Lhv. voPF

WB {kok’}
WB {tak’}
WB {nak’}
WB {cok’}
WB {pac’}
WB {m=yauk’}
WB {l=yak’}
WB {k=rak’}
WB {lak’}
WB {wak’}

4 SummaryThe characteristics of Lhangsu observed in this study are summarized as follows.
Initials Merger of dental aﬀricates and alveolar stops occurred.

The palatal nasal
converged with the alveolar nasal. The palatal fricative converged with dental fricative(with an exception Sit53 “eight”).

Rhymes Vowel *-a, perhaps in the stage of Proto-Burmish, is well preserved.
Tones Tone 1 as well as Tone 2 in WB does not correspond to a single tone in Lhangsu,

and the tonal split is factored by the series to which the initial of the syllable belongs. A
partial tonal ﬂip-ﬂop occurs with plain initials.
I conclude that Lhangsu is a distinct NBsh language and not a dialect of Lhaovo,
although Lhangsu people are a sub-group of Lhaovo people. The main reason for this
distinction is tonal correspondence, which is also supported by other characteristics.*24
I adopted the “consonantal” solution rather than the “vocalic” solution of creaky
phonation. I also introduced a consonantal feature of palatalness, [±J], which functions
as a factor of split in rhymes in not only Lhangsu but also other NBsh languages.
Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Linguistic Dynamics Science Project 2 (LingDy2),
ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2013–2015AY).
References
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*24 The conclusion also leads to the claim that Lhangsu cannot be equated (and confused) with “Làngsù” inChina. Most notably, “Làngsù” can never be the autonym, whereas “Lhangsu” certainly is.

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404๺෦ϏϧϚԼҐ‫܈ޠ‬ͷະ‫ه‬ड़‫ޠݴ‬ϥϯεʔ‫ޠ‬ͷԻӆ࿦The Phonology of Lhangsu, an Undescribed Northern-Burmish Languageᖒా ӳ෉ຽ଒จԽूஂΧνϯΛߏ੒͢Δຽ଒ͷҰͭͰ͋Δϩϯ΢Υʔ LhaovoʢϚϧ Maruʣਓͷ࿩͢‫ޠݴ‬ͷதʹ͸஍ཧత͋Δ͍͸ԼҐ෦଒తͳมҟ͕‫ݟ‬ΒΕΔ͕ɺͦͷશମ૾ʹ͍ͭͯ͸͜Ε·Ͱ΄ͱΜͲ໌Β͔ʹ͞Εͯ͜ͳ͔ͬͨɻචऀ͸ 2013 ೥Ҏདྷɺϩϯ΢Υʔਓͷ࿩͢‫ޠݴ‬มछͷௐࠪΛɺΧνϯभͷभ౎ϛονʔφʔʹ‫͢ॅډ‬Δ࿩ऀͷ‫ྗڠ‬Λಘͯߦ͖ͬͯͨɻຊߘ͸ɺϩϯ΢ΥʔਓͷԼҐ෦଒ͱΈͳ͞ΕΔʮϥϯεʔ Lhangsuʯͱ‫ݺ‬͹ΕΔਓʑ͕࿩͢‫ޠݴ‬ͷԻӆ࿦ͷ༧උతͳ‫ه‬ड़Ͱ͋Δɻ