Kachin
Kachin is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar and China, by about 940 thousand people.
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Jinghpaw (Kachin: Jinghpaw ga, Jìngphòʔ gà, ဈိာင်ဖေါစ်) or Kachin (Burmese: ကချင်ဘာသာ, [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, numbering approximately 625,000 speakers. 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.
From Wikipedia · Jingpo language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Kachin
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| woman | num | |
| eye | myi | |
| water | hka | |
| moon | shata | |
| sky | lamu | |
| wind | nbung | |
| river | hka | |
| leaf | lap | |
| dog | guì | |
| horse | gumra | |
| pig | wa' | |
| hundred | läca | |
| I | ngai | |
| what | hpa | |
| drink | lu | |
| die | si | |
| sleep | yup | |
| sugar | jum dwi | |
| salt | jum | |
| bread | muk | |
| milk | chyu | |
| honey | lagat jahku | |
| thank you | chyeju kaba sai yaw | |
| I love you | nang hpe ngai tsaw ra ai | |
| book | laika buk | |
| new | nnan | |
| black | chyang |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- Nocte NagaSino-Tibetan27% alike
- Pangwa NagaSino-Tibetan26% alike
- ManipuriSino-Tibetan23% alike
- Wancho NagaSino-Tibetan22% alike
- KochSino-Tibetan21% alike
- HmarSino-Tibetan21% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · kach1280 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · kac