Jingpo language explained

Jinghpaw
Also Known As:	Kachin
Nativename:	Kachin; Jingpho: Jinghpaw ga Kachin; Jingpho: ဂျိန်ဖော့
Pronunciation:	pronounced as /tɕiŋ˧˩pʰɔʔ˧˩/
States:	Myanmar, China, India
Region:	Kachin State, Yingjiang County
Ethnicity:	Jinghpaw
Date:	1999–2001
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Sino-Tibetan
Fam2:	Tibeto-Burman
Fam3:	Sal
Fam4:	Jingpho–Luish
Script:	Latin alphabet
Dia1:	Singpho
Dia2:	Dzili (Jili)
Minority:	China Myanmar
Iso2:	kac
Lc1:	kac
Ld1:	Jinghpaw
Lc2:	sgp
Ld2:	Singpho
Lc3:	tcl
Ld3:	Taman
Glotto:	jing1260
Glottorefname:	Jinghpaw
Notice:	IPA

Jinghpaw (Kachin; Jingpho: Jinghpaw ga, Kachin; Jingpho: Jìngphòʔ gà, Kachin; Jingpho: ဈိာင်ဖေါစ်) or Kachin (Burmese: ကချင်ဘာသာ, in Burmese pronounced as /kətɕɪ̀ɰ̃ bàðà/) is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sal branch spoken primarily in Kachin State, Myanmar; Northeast India; and Yunnan, China. The Jinghpaw (or Kachin) peoples, a confederation of several ethnic groups who live in the Kachin Hills, are the primary speakers of Jinghpaw language,^[1] numbering approximately 625,000 speakers.^[2] The term "Kachin language" may refer to the Jinghpaw language or any of the other languages spoken by the Jinghpaw peoples, such as Lisu, Lashi, Rawang, Zaiwa, Lhawo Vo, and Achang. These languages are from distinct branches of the highest level of the Tibeto-Burman family.

Jinghpaw is written using a modified Latin alphabet; a Burmese alphabet is used by some speakers, but it has largely been phased out. Jinghpaw syllable finals can consist of vowels, nasals, or oral stops.

The Turung of Assam in India speak a Jingpo dialect with many Assamese loanwords, called Singpho, which shares 50% lexical similarity with Jinghpaw.^[3]

Dialects

There are at least 16 Jingpoish (Kachinic) varieties (Kurabe 2014:59). The demographic and location information listed below is drawn from Kurabe (2014). Standard Jingpo and Nkhum are the best described varieties, whereas the Jingpoish varieties of India have been recently documented by Stephen Morey. Jingpoish varieties in northern Kachin State remain little described.

The Ethnologue lists Duleng (Dalaung, Dulong^[4]), Dzili (Jili), Hkaku (Hka-Hku), and Kauri (Gauri, Guari, Hkauri). According to the Ethnologue, Dzili might be a separate language, whereas Hkaku and Kauri are only slightly different.

Other underdescribed Jingpoish varieties include Mungji and Zawbung.^[5] Shanke is a recently described language closely related to Jingpo, although its speakers identify themselves as Naga.^[6]

Southern

• Standard Jingpo is the standard variety of Jingpo as used among the Kachin people in Myanmar, as well as by non-Kachin ethnic minorities in Kachin State. Most speakers live in Kachin State, though some live in Shan State and Sagaing Division. It is spoken primarily in Myitkyina, Bhamo, and Kutkai. Younger generations tend to pronounce pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ as pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/, contrasting them with pronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/). Standard Jingpo as spoken in Shan State often has ʔə- added to monosyllabic words, and also places the interrogative particle ʔi before verbs.
• Nkhum / Enkun 恩昆 (pronounced as /n̩˧˩kʰum˧ ka˧˩/) is spoken in Lianghe, Ruili, Longchuan, and Luxi counties of Yunnan, China. It is the most widely spoken Jingpo dialect in China. The Nkhum dialect displays tense-lax register contrast, whereas Shadan does not. Although the Shadan dialect frequently has -ŋ, Nkhum often does not. The Tongbiguan 铜壁关 variety of Nkhum is used as the Jingpo standard variety in China. Small pockets of speakers are also found in Gengma County.^[7]
• Shadan / Shidan 石丹 (pronounced as /ʃă˩tan˧˩ ka˧˩/; pronounced as /ʃă˩tam˧˩ ka˧˩/^[8]) is spoken in Yunnan, China.^[9] It is spoken in the townships of Kachang 卡昌 and Taiping 太平 (in Getong 格同 of Mengzhi 蒙支, Zhengtonghong 正通硔,^[10] and Longpen 龙盆^[11]), located in Yingjiang County 盈江县.
• Gauri / Khauri (pronounced as /kau˧ʒi˧˩ ka˧˩/) is spoken in the Gauri Hills, located to the east of Bhamo. Villages include Prang Hkudung, Man Dau, Hkarawm Kawng, Manda, Ka Daw, Lamai Bang, Bum Wa, Ma Htang, Jahkai, and Loi Ming. In China, Gauri is spoken by about 300 people in Hedao 贺岛 and Hongka 硔卡 villages of Longchuan County, and in Kachang 卡场镇 of Yingjiang County.
• Mengzhi 蒙支 (pronounced as /muŋ˧˩tʃi˧˩ ka˧˩/) is spoken by about 200 people in the two villages of Getong 格同 and Zhengtongyou 正通猶 in Mengzhi 蒙支, Yingjiang County 盈江县.
• Thingnai is spoken near Mohnyin, southern Kachin State.

Small pockets of Jingpo speakers are also scattered across Gengma County 耿马县, including the following villages (Dai Qingxia 2010). Dai (2010) also includes 1,000-word vocabulary lists of the Yingjiang 盈江, Xinzhai 新寨, and Caoba 草坝 dialects.

• Jingpo Xinzhai 景颇新寨, Mangkang Village 芒抗村, Hepai Township 贺派乡^[12]
• Nalong 那拢组, Nongba Village 弄巴村, Gengma Town 耿马镇^[13]
• Hewen 贺稳组, Jingxin Village 景信村, Mengding Town 孟定镇^[14]
• Hebianzhai 河边寨, Qiushan Village 邱山村, Mengding Town 孟定镇^[15]
• Caobazhai 草坝寨, Mang'ai Village 芒艾村, Mengding Town 孟定镇^[16]

Northeastern

• Dingga: a recently discovered Jingpo variety spoken near Putao, Kachin State, in the villages of Ding Ga, Ding Ga Gabrim, Tsa Gung Ga, Layang Ga, Dai Mare, and Mărawt Ga. These villages are all located between the Shang Hka and Da Hka rivers in northern Kachin State. There are between 2,000 and 3,000 speakers.
• Duleng (pronounced as /tu˧˩leŋ˧/) is spoken near Putao, in Machanbaw, and in the Nam Tisang valley of Kachin State. The only published description is that of Yue (2006).^[17]
• Dingphan is spoken near Putao, Kachin State.
• Jilí / Dzili
• Khakhu is spoken near Putao, Kachin State.
• Shang is spoken near Putao, Kachin State.
• Tsasen is spoken in northwestern Kachin State.

Northwestern

Singpho (Northwestern Jingpoish) varieties of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, India include the following.

• Diyun is spoken in India.
• Numphuk is spoken by about 2,000 speakers in 20 villages, including Ingthong, Ketetong, Inthem, Kumsai, Bisa, Wagun 1, Wagun 2, Wagun 3, Wakhet Na, Kherem Bisa, Guju, and Giding. These villages are situated along the Burhi Dihing river in Assam, which is called the Numhpuk Hka river in Numphuk.
• Tieng is spoken in India.
• Turung is spoken by about 1,200 speakers mainly in the Titabor area (in the 3 villages of Pathargaon (Na Kthong), Tipomia, and Pahukatia) and the Dhonsiri river valley (in the villages of Balipathar, Rengmai, and Basapathar). There are many Tai loanwords in Turung. Some Turung speakers also self-identify as ethnic Tai.

Internal classification

Kurabe (2014) classifies seven Jingpoish dialects as follows.

• Proto-Jingpo
  • Southern
    • Gauri (Khauri)
    • Standard Jingpo, Nkhum (Enkun)
  • Northern
    • Northwestern
      • Numphuk
      • Turung
    • Northeastern
      • Duleng
      • Dingga

The Southern branch is characterized the loss of Proto-Jingpo final stop *-k in some lexical items. The Northern branch is characterized by the following mergers of Proto-Jingpo phonemes (Kurabe 2014:60).

• *ts- and *c-
• *dz- and *j-
• *ʔy- and *∅- (before front vowels)
• merger of Proto-Jingpo plain and preglottalized sonorants

Grammar

Jingpo has verbal morphology that marks the subject and the direct object. Here is one example (the tonemes are not marked). The verb is 'to be' (rai).

		present	past
1st person	singular	rai n ngai	rai sa ngai
	plural	rai ga ai	rai sa ga dai
2nd person	singular	rai n dai	rai sin dai
	plural	rai ma dai	rai ma sin dai
3rd person	singular	rai ai	rai sai
	plural	rai ma ai	rai ma sai

Phonology

The following is in Standard Jingpo:

Consonants

		Labial			Dental/ Alveolar		(Alveolo-) palatal	Retroflex	Velar			Glottal
		plain	pal.	fric.	plain	pal.			plain	pal.	fric.
Nasal	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
	glottalized	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
Plosive	voiceless	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	aspirated	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	voiced	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Affricate	voiceless				pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
	voiced				pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Fricative					pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/					(pronounced as /link/)
Approximant	central	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	glottalized	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

• pronounced as //h// is only marginal and often appears in loanwords.
• pronounced as //ɻ// can also be heard as a fricative pronounced as /[ʐ]/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Low		pronounced as /link/

Tones

Jingpo has four tones in open syllables, and two tones in closed syllables (high and low).^[18] Tones are not usually marked in writing, although they can be transcribed using diacritics as follows:

!Tone!Orthography

High	á
Mid	a
Low	à
Falling	â

Vocabulary

The Jingpo lexicon contains a large number of words of both Tibeto-Burman and non-Tibeto-Burman stock, including Burmese and Shan.^[19] Burmese loan words reflect two stratas, an older stratum reflecting the phonology of conservative written Burmese, and a newer stratum reflecting words drawn from modern Burmese phonology. The older strata consist of vocabulary borrowed from Burmese via Shan, which also exhibits the pre-modern phonology of Burmese vocabulary. Jingpo has also borrowed a large number of lexical items from Shan, with which it has been in close ethnolinguistic contact for several centuries.^[20] Jingpo, as the lingua franca in the northern highlands of Myanmar, has in turn been the source language of vocabulary into other regional languages like Rawang and Zaiwa.

Latin orthography

The Jingpo writing system is a Latin-based alphabet consisting of 23 letters, and very little use of diacritical marks, originally created by American Baptist missionaries in the late 19th century. Ola Hanson, one of the people who created the alphabet, arrived in Myanmar in 1890, learnt the language and wrote the first Kachin–English dictionary.

Jinghpaw alphabet^[21]
A pronounced as /ink/	Ă pronounced as /ink/	E pronounced as /ink/	Ē pronounced as /ink/	È pronounced as /ink/
I pronounced as /ink/	O pronounced as /ink/	U pronounced as /ink/	AI pronounced as /ink/	AU pronounced as /ink/
AW pronounced as /ink/	OI pronounced as /ink/	B pronounced as /ink/	CHY pronounced as /ink/	D pronounced as /ink/
G pronounced as /ink/	GY pronounced as /ink/	H pronounced as /ink/	J pronounced as /ink/	K pronounced as /ink/
KY pronounced as /ink/	HK pronounced as /ink/	HKY pronounced as /ink/	L pronounced as /ink/	M pronounced as /ink/
N pronounced as /ink/	NG pronounced as /ink/	NY pronounced as /ink/	P pronounced as /ink/	HP pronounced as /ink/
HPY pronounced as /ink/	R pronounced as /ink/	S pronounced as /ink/	SH pronounced as /ink/	T pronounced as /ink/
TS pronounced as /ink/	HT pronounced as /ink/	W pronounced as /ink/	Y pronounced as /ink/	Z pronounced as /ink/

Burmese orthography

Jingpo is also written in the Burmese alphabet.^[22]

Consonants

Burmese	ဗ	ပ	ဖ	မ	ဝ	ဒ	တ	ထ	န	ည	စ	ၡ	ရ	လ	ယ	ဇ	ဆ	ချ	ဂျ	ဂ	က	ခ	င	ဟ	အ	ပ်	ဖွ	ွ	ြ	ျ
Latin	b	p	hp	m	w	d	t	ht	n	ny	s	sh	r	l	y	z	ts	ch	j	g	k	hk	ng	h	'	pf	f	w	r	y
IPA	[b]	[p]	[pʰ]	[m]	[w]	[d]	[t]	[tʰ]	[n]	[ɲ]	[s~sʰ]	[ɕ]	[ɻ~ʒ]	[l]	[j]	[t͡s]	[t͡sʰ]	[t͡ɕ]	[d͡ʑ]	[ɡ]	[k]	[kʰ]	[ŋ]	[h]	[ʔ]	[pf~ʰp]]	[f]	[-ʷ-]	[-ᶼ-]	[-ʲ-]

Vowels

[-a] is the inherent vowel in every syllable.

Burmese	ိ	ု	ေ	ေါ	ဝ်	ယ်
Latin	i	u	e	o
IPA	[i]	[u]	[e]	[o]	[-u]	[-i]

Other diacritics

• ာ – tone
• ် – marks final consonant by silencing [-a]

Bibliography

• 景颇语-汉语词典 Jingpoyu – Hanyu cidian / Jingpo–Chinese dictionary, 戴庆夏 Dai Qingxia et al.
• 景颇语语法 Jingpoyu yufa / Jingpo Grammar, 戴庆夏 Dai Qingxia et al.
• Structures élémentaires de la parenté, de Claude Lévi-Strauss, devotes a chapter to the study of parenthood in the Jingpo ethnicity.
• Inglish, Douglas. 2005. A Preliminary Ngochang – Kachin – English Lexicon. Payap University, Graduate School, Linguistics Department.
• Kurabe, Keita. 2014. "Phonological inventories of seven Jingpoish languages and dialects." In Kyoto University Linguistic Research 33: 57–88, Dec 2014.
• Kurabe, Keita. 2013. Kachin folktales told in Jinghpaw. Collection KK1 at catalog.paradisec.org.au [Open Access]. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/59888e8ab2122
• Kurabe, Keita. 2017. Kachin culture and history told in Jinghpaw. Collection KK2 at catalog.paradisec.org.au [Open Access]. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/5fa1707c5e77c

External links

• Glottolog | Jingpo http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/jing1260
• Ethnologue | Jingpo https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kac
• OLAC resources | Kachin http://www.language-archives.org/language/kac
• PARADISEC | Kachin folktales told in Jinghpaw http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK1
• PARADISEC | Kachin culture and history told in Jinghpaw https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK2
• Akyu Hpyi Laika: Jinghpaw Service Book (Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Jinghpaw, 1957) digitized by Richard Mammana

Notes and References

1. News: Chyauhpa Brang Li . 2015 . Jinghpaw ngu ai kadai . Who are the Jinghpaw . 1 . 37 . The Kachin Times . 4.
2. Web site: ISO 639 Code: kac . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071210032351/http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_iso639.asp?code=kac . 2007-12-10 . 2008-06-08 . Ethnologue . en.
3. Web site: 2016 . Myanmar . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010180533/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages . 2016-10-10 . Ethnologue: Languages of the World.
4. Not to be confused with "Dulong", the Mandarin transcription of Derung people. the Chinese transcription of Duleng is "杜连" Dulian
5. Web site: Kurabe . Keita . Kurabe Keita . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925090141/http://researchmap.jp/kur1/?lang=english . 2015-09-25 . Researchmap . Field research on the Mungji and Zawbung dialects of Jingpho in Burma.
6. Book: Shintani, Tadahiko . The Shanke Language . 2015 . Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA) . Linguistic Survey of Tay Cultural Area (LSTCA), No. 104 . Tokyo . en.
7. Book: Dai, Qingxia 戴庆厦 . Gěngmǎ xiàn jǐngpǒzú yǔyán shǐyòng xiànzhuàng jíqí yǎnbiàn . 2010 . Shangwu yinshuguan . 978-7-100-07152-9 . Beijing . zh . zh:耿马县景颇族语言使用现状及其演变 . The Status Quo and Evolution of Language Use of the Jingpo Nationality in Gengma.
8. Book: Yúnnán shěngzhì, Juǎn wǔshíjiǔ: shǎoshù mínzú yǔyán wénzì zhì . 1998 . Yunnan renmin chubanshe . Yunnan sheng difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui . Kunming . 391 . zh . zh:云南省志. 卷五十九, 少数民族语言文字志 . Yunnan Provincial Gazetteer, Vol. 59: Minority Languages Orthographies Gazetteer.
9. Book: Liu, Lu 刘璐 . Jǐngpǒzú yǔyán jiǎnzhì . 1984 . Minzu chubanshe . Beijing . 121–122 . zh . zh:景颇族语言简志 . A Brief Description of the Jingpo Language.
10. Web site: Yíngjiāng Xiàn Tàipíng Zhèn Kǎyá Cūn Zhèngtōng Gǒng Zìráncūn . zh:盈江县太平镇卡牙村正通拱自然村 . Zhengtong Gong Natural Village, Kaya Village, Taiping Town, Yingjiang County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925102450/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=150088 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
11. Web site: Yíngjiāng Xiàn Tàipíng Zhèn Lóngpén Cūn . zh:盈江县太平镇龙盆村 . Longpen Village, Taiping Town, Yingjiang County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925102446/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=150091 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
12. Web site: Gěngmǎ Dǎizú Wǎzú Zìzhìxiàn Hèpài Xiāng Mángkàng Cūnmín Wěiyuánhuì Jǐngpǒ Zìráncūn . zh:耿马傣族佤族自治县贺派乡芒抗村民委员会景颇自然村 . Jingpo Natural Village, Mangkang Village Committee, Hepai Township, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925110931/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=117803 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
13. Web site: Gěngmǎ Dǎizú Wǎzú Zìzhìxiàn Gěngmǎ Zhèn Nòngbā Cūnwěihuì Nòngbā Dàzhài (Nàlǒng) Zìráncūn . zh:耿马傣族佤族自治县耿马镇弄巴村委会弄巴大寨(那拢)自然村 . Nongba Dazhai (Nalong) Natural Village, Nongba Village Committee, Gengma Town, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925110923/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=80594 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
14. Web site: Gěngmǎ Dǎizú Wǎzú Zìzhìxiàn Mèngdìng Zhèn Jǐngxìn Cūnwěihuì Hèwěn Zìráncūn . zh:耿马傣族佤族自治县孟定镇景信村委会贺稳自然村 . Hewen Natural Village, Jingxin Village Committee, Mengding Town, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925105313/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=78065 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
15. Web site: Gěngmǎ Dǎizú Wǎzú Zìzhìxiàn Mèngdìng Zhèn Qiūshān Cūnwěihuì Hébiānzhài Zìráncūn . zh:耿马傣族佤族自治县孟定镇邱山村委会河边寨自然村 . Hebianzhai Natural Village, Qiushan Village Committee, Mengding Town, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925110928/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=61347 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
16. Web site: Gěngmǎ Dǎizú Wǎzú Zìzhìxiàn Mèngdìng Zhèn Mángài Cūnwěihuì . zh:耿马傣族佤族自治县孟定镇芒艾村委会 . Mang'ai Village Committee, Mengding Town, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925102757/http://www.ynszxc.gov.cn/villagePage/vIndex.aspx?departmentid=61335 . 2015-09-25 . 2015-09-24 . ynszxc.gov.cn . zh.
17. Yue . Ma La . 2006 . Jingpo Dulianhua gaikuang . An Overview of Duleng Jingpo . Minzu yuwen . zh . 2006 . 4 . 68–81.
18. Kurabe . Keita . 2014 . Phonological Inventories of Seven Jingphoish Languages and Dialects . Kyōtodaigaku gengogaku kenkyū / Kyoto University Linguistic Research . en . 33 . 57–88 . 10.14989/196278 . free . free . 2433/196278.
19. Kurabe . Keita . 2016 . Phonology of Burmese Loanwords in Jinghpaw . Kyōtodaigaku gengogaku kenkyū / Kyoto University Linguistic Research . en . 35 . 91–128 . 10.14989/219015 . free . free . 2433/219015.
20. Kurabe . Keita . 2017 . A Classified Lexicon of Shan Loanwords in Jinghpaw . Asian and African Languages and Linguistics . en . 2017 . 11 . 129–166 . free . 10108/89212.
21. https://kachinportal.aa-ken.jp/en/languages/#jinghpaw
22. Web site: Jingpho (Jìngphòʔ gà / ဈိာင်ေဖါစ်) . https://web.archive.org/web/20210207093648/https://www.omniglot.com/writing/jingpho.htm . 7 February 2021 . 8 February 2021 . Omniglot.