Lhao Vo (
Burmese: လော်ဝေါ်), also known as Maru (မရူ) and Langsu (
Chinese: 浪速), is a
Burmish language spoken in Burma and by a few thousand speakers in China.
Distribution
Dai Qingxia (2005:3) reports 5,600 Langsu speakers in China. Many thousands more are dispersed across the eastern edge of
Kachin State, Myanmar.
The Langsu people call themselves lɔ̃³¹vɔ³¹ (Chinese: Lang'e 浪峨)[2][3]
Varieties
The standard Lhaovo dialect is that of the Dago’ (tăkoʔ) hill area, on the east side of
N'Mai River valley in
Kachin State.[4]
Sawada (2017) lists the following patois (subvarieties) of Lhaovo.[4]
Gyanno’ (autonym: kjɛn35noʔ21): spoken in the west side of the N'Mai River in
Sawlaw Township.
Tho’lhang (autonym: tʰaʔ21lo̰22): spoken in
Htawlang and a few other villages in northern Sawlaw Township.
Lakin (autonym: lăkɛ̰22): spoken in
Lakin village, northern Sawlaw Township.
Lhangsu (autonym: la̰ŋ53su53; not the same as Langsu 浪速 of Yunnan): spoken in the area between Hkrang Hka and Sanin Hka, which are two tributaries of the Mali Hka. It is spoken in
Sumprabum Township, including in the villages of Hting Tsa, N-gawk Hkyet, and Ma Awng.
Langsong
The Langsong (浪宋) are found in Zaoyang (早阳)[5] in
Yunlong County (in the Chinese province of
Yunnan) as well as in Baocun (表村),[6] Laomo (老末), and Sancha (三岔).[7][8] They reportedly speak a highly endangered language that may be possibly related to Langsu.
Vowels /e, o/ when preceding a word-final /-ŋ/ can also be heard as nasalized [ẽ, õ].
When preceding a final glide /-j/, each vowel has the following allophones:
Phoneme
Allophones
/aj/
[aɪ̆], [ɛ]
/auj/
[auɪ̆], [ɔɪ̆]
/uj/
[uɪ̆], [ʉ], [ʉɪ̆]
/ej/
[əɪ̆]
Tones
Lhao Vo has three
lexical tones: high, low and falling. Low tone may be a different analysis of creaky vowels. In Latin script, falling tone is unmarked, e.g. ⟨lo⟩ etc.; low tone is ⟨lo꞉⟩ etc., and high tone is ⟨loˮ⟩ etc. (or ⟨lobʼ⟩ etc. with a final b, d, g). Final glottal stop is written ⟨lo,⟩ etc. in falling tone, ⟨lo;⟩ etc. in low tone, and ⟨loʼ⟩ in high tone.[10]
^Zhongguo shao shu minzu shehui lishi diaocha ziliao congkan xiuding bianji weiyuanhui 中国少数民族社会历史调查资料丛刊修订编辑委员会 (2009). Jǐngpǒzú shèhuì lìshǐ diàochá 景颇族社会历史调查 (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe. p. 57.
^
abHideo, Sawada (1999). Outline of Phonology of Lhaovo (Maru) of Kachin State. In Linguistic & Anthropological Study of the Shan Culture Area, report of research project, Grant-in-Aid for International Scientific Research (Field Research): Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. pp. 97–147.
Dai, Qingxia 戴慶廈 (2005). Làngsùyǔ yánjiū 浪速语研究 [Study of the Maru Language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
ISBN9787105068159.
Dai, Qingxia 戴庆厦 (2010). Piànmǎ Cháshānrén jí qí yǔyán 片马茶山人及其语言 [The Chashan People of Pianma and Their Language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan.
Yabu Shirō 藪司郎 (1988). "A Preliminary Report on the Study of the Maru, Lashi and Atsi Languages of Burma". In Yoshiaki Ishizawa (ed.). Historical and Cultural Studies in Burma. Tokyo: Institute of Asian Studies, Sophia University. pp. 65–132.