Intha and Danu constitute southern
Burmish languages of
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...
, Burma, spoken by the
Danu and
Intha people
The Intha (, ; , also spelt Innthar) are members of a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman ethnic group living around Inle Lake. There are around 100,000 to 200,000 Intha.
Origins
The origins of the Intha are disputed; the Intha believe the ...
. They are considered
dialects of Burmese by the
Government of Myanmar
Myanmar ( also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests.
P ...
.
Danu is spoken by the
Danu people
The Danu people ( my, ဓနု) are a government-recognized ethnic group in Myanmar, predominantly populating the areas near the Pindaya Caves in Shan State. They speak the Danu language. , Intha by the
Intha, a group of
Bamar
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of th ...
descendants who migrated to
Inle Lake
Inle Lake (, ), a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of , and one of the highest at an elevation of . D ...
in Shan State. Both are spoken by about 100,000.
[ Both are characterized by a retention of the medial (for the following consonant clusters in Intha: ). Examples include:
*"full": Standard Burmese () → (), from old Burmese
*"ground": Standard Burmese () → (), from old Burmese
There is no voicing with the presence of either aspirated or unaspirated consonants. For instance, (Buddha) is pronounced in standard Burmese, but in Intha. This is probably due to influence from the ]Shan language
The Shan language (written Shan: , , spoken Shan: , or , ; my, ရှမ်းဘာသာ, ; th, ภาษาไทใหญ่, ) is the native language of the Shan people and is mostly spoken in Shan State, Myanmar. It is also spoken in p ...
.
Furthermore, ( in standard Burmese) has merged to () in Intha.
Rhymes
Rhyme correspondences to standard Burmese follow these patterns:
Vocabulary
Danu has noticeable vocabulary differences from standard Burmese, spanning areas such as kinship terms, food, flora and fauna, and daily objects. For example, the Danu term for 'cat' is ' (), not ''kyaung'' (ကြောင်) as in standard Burmese.
Kinship terms
References
{{Languages of Burma
Burmese language