Pa'o Karen

The Pa'O language (also spelled Pa-O or Pa-oh; Pa'o Karen: ပအိုဝ်ႏဘာႏသာႏ, ; Burmese: ပအိုဝ်းဘာသာ), sometimes called Taungthu, is a Karenic language spoken by close to 900,000 Pa'O people in Myanmar. Although spoken in both northern and southern parts of the areas covered by the Karenic languages, Pa-O is typically classified as a Northern Karenic language alongside the Kayan language.

The language is primarily written using a Mon-Burmese script 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.

The language is also referred to by the exonyms "Black Karen" and "White Karen", both of which are terms originally based on traditional clothing colours used in contrast to "Red Karen" (Karenni), also of Myanmar. While most of the community resides in Myanmar, a small number settled across the Thai border as early as 1837.

From Wikipedia · Pa'O language · CC BY-SA 4.0