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Bwe Karen language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Brek language.
Bwe
Bghai
Native toBurma
EthnicityBwe people
Native speakers
(17,000 cited 1997)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bwe
Glottologbwek1238

Bwe, also known as Bwe Karen and Bghai (Baghi), is a Karen language of Burma. It shares 82 to 100% lexical similarity with Geba Karen language.[2]

Distribution

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Dialects

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Dialects are Western Bwe Karen and Eastern Bwe Karen. Most comprehend the Western Bwe Karen dialect.

Phonology

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Consonants[6]
Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d c ɟ k g (ʔ)
Aspirated pʰ tʰ (cʰ) kʰ
Implosive ɓ ɗ
Fricative θ ʃ x h
Nasal m n
Approximant w ˀw l r j ˀj ɰ
  • /cʰ/ may be an allophone of /tʰ/, appearing before the vowels /i ɪ/.
  • /ʔ/ only appears in the onset when vowels occur word-initially.
  • /x/ appears rarely.
Vowels[6]
Front Central Back
High i u
Near-high ɪ ʊ
Mid-high e (ə) o
Mid-low ɛ ɔ
Low a
  • /ə/ only appears in unstressed syllables.

Bwe Karen also has three tones;[6] high, mid, and low.

References

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  1. ^ Bwe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  3. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  4. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  5. ^ "Myanmar". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-10-10.
  6. ^ a b c Namkung, Ju (1996). Matisoff, James A. (ed.). "Phonological Inventories of Tibeto-Burman Languages" (PDF). Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus Monograph Series (3). University of California, Berkeley.
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