The Pa'O language (also spelled Pa-O or Pa-oh; , ); ), sometimes called Taungthu, is a Karen language spoken by close to 900,000 Pa'O people in Myanmar. The language is primarily written using a Burmese script alphabet devised by Christian missionaries, and many of the materials now available for it on the Internet derive from Christian missionary involvement, although most of the Pa'O are generally reported to be Buddhists (without real statistics, etc.). The language is also referred to by the exonyms "Black Karen" and "White Karen", both of which are terms used in contrast to " Red Karen" (Karenni), also of Myanmar. Dialects include Taunggyi and Thaton.

Phonology

The following displays the phonological features of the Pa'O (Taungthu) language:

Consonants

* /p, t, k, ʔ/ and /m, n, ŋ/ can occur as final consonants. Stops may also be heard as unreleased ̚, t̚, k̚

Vowels

Writing system

Pa'O is written using a modified version of the Mon-Burmese script. Below are the consonant letters in Pa'O; additional letters in the Burmese letter inventory are used to transcribe

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

References

Karenic languages

Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

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