ဖျိၣ်
Pwo Karen
Sino-Tibetan (Karen, Pwo)
Pwo Karen — often subdivided into Eastern and Western Pwo as distinct languages — is one of the two major branches of Karenic, alongside S'gaw Karen (ksw); the two are not mutually intelligible. Pwo speakers live in Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta and Karen State, and in border refugee communities in Thailand. Karenic languages are unusual within Sino-Tibetan for SVO word order, attributed to long contact with Mon and Burmese in the lowlands of Lower Burma.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Pwo Karen
Water
ထံ
/tʰi˧/
Fire
မ့ၣ်
/me˨˩/
Sun
မုန်
/mu˧/
Moon
လး
/la˧/
Mother
မိ
/mu˧˥/
Father
ဖါ
/pa˧/
Eat
အၢင်
/ai˧˩/
Drink
အူ
/ɔ˧/
Love
အဲင်
/ai˧kʰe˧/
Heart
သး
/tʰa˧/
Tree
သုၣ်
/tʰoŋ˧/
House
ဟံၣ်
/hi˧/
Dog
ထွဲ
/tʰwi˧/
Cat
ဖၣ်
/pə˧/
Hand
စူ
/sɔ˨/
Eye
မဲာ်
/mɛ˧/
Hello
နာမှၤ
/na˧ʃi˧/
Thank you
တၢ်ဘျုး
/ta˧blu˧/
One
တ
/ta˧˩/
Good
ဂ့ၤ
/ɣai˧/
Words compared
Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Karen, Pwo) languages
| Meaning | Pwo Karen | Jingpo (Kachin) | Tangut | Tujia | Akha | Azhe | Iu Mien |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ထံ /tʰi˧/ | hka /kʰaː˧/ | 𗀚 /tjɨ˧/ | zi /t͡sɨ˥˧/ | i tsi /i˧tsɨ˧/ | ʑɿ /ʑɿ˧˧/ | wuom /wuom˧/ |
| Fire | မ့ၣ် /me˨˩/ | wan /waːn˧/ | 𘎩 /me˧/ | mi /mi˥˧/ | mji /mji˧/ | mi /mi˧˧/ | douz /dou˨˧/ |
| Sun | မုန် /mu˧/ | jan /dʒan˧/ | 𘂴 /pjij˧˥/ | ni /ni˧˥/ | nyi ma /ɲi˧ma˧/ | ŋni /ŋnʲi˧˧/ | hnoi /hnoi˧/ |
| Moon | လး /la˧/ | shata /ʃata˧/ | 𗏯 /lja˧˥/ | nie /nie˧˥/ | ba la /ba˧la˧/ | ɬɛ /ɬɛ˧˧/ | hlaax /hlaː˨˧/ |
| Mother | မိ /mu˧˥/ | nu /nu˧/ | 𘎒 /ma˧˥/ | a-mie /a˧mie˧/ | a ma /a˧ma˧/ | amo /amo˧˧/ | maa /maː˧/ |
| Father | ဖါ /pa˧/ | wa /wa˧/ | 𗥃 /pa˧/ | a-pa /a˧pa˧/ | a da /a˧da˧/ | ada /ada˧˧/ | diex /die˨˧/ |
| Eat | အၢင် /ai˧˩/ | sha /ʃa˧/ | 𗅋 /dzjij˧˥/ | za /t͡sa˨˩/ | za /dza˧/ | dza /dza˧˧/ | nyanc /ɲan˨˩/ |
| Drink | အူ /ɔ˧/ | lu /lu˧/ | 𘉞 /tʰjij˧˥/ | da /ta˧/ | tu /tu˧/ | du /du˧˧/ | hopv /hop˦/ |
| Love | အဲင် /ai˧kʰe˧/ | tsaw ra /tsau˧ra˧/ | 𗙊 /lhjij˧˥/ | aci /a˧˥t͡si˥/ | gaq /ɡaʔ˧/ | ŋa /ŋa˧˧/ | hnamv /hnam˦/ |
| Heart | သး /tʰa˧/ | salum /salum˧/ | 𘃠 /njij˧˥/ | xin /ɕin˧/ | ne ma /ne˧ma˧/ | si /si˧˧/ | mba'y-fim /mbai˧fim˧/ |
| Tree | သုၣ် /tʰoŋ˧/ | hpun /pʰun˧/ | 𘀇 /sji˧/ | si /sɨ˧˥/ | aq xeu /aʔ˧ɕeu˧/ | sɿ /sɿ˧˧/ | ndiangx /ndiaŋ˨˧/ |
| House | ဟံၣ် /hi˧/ | nta /nta˧/ | 𗩴 /kʰjwa˧˥/ | li /li˧˥/ | nyma /ɲma˧/ | ɣɯ /ɣɯ˧˧/ | biauv /biau˦/ |
| Dog | ထွဲ /tʰwi˧/ | gwi /ɡwi˧/ | 𗋒 /kʰwjɨ˧/ | kvʼ /kʰə˨˩/ | jia /tɕa˧/ | kʰɯ /kʰɯ˧˧/ | juv /d͡ʒu˦/ |
| Cat | ဖၣ် /pə˧/ | nyaung /ɲauŋ˧/ | 𗦷 /mji˧˥/ | mau /mau˧/ | a yi /a˧ji˧/ | vi /vi˧˧/ | mbao /mbao˧/ |
| Hand | စူ /sɔ˨/ | lata /lata˧/ | 𘀔 /lje˧/ | lo /lo˨˩/ | la pa /la˧pa˧/ | la /la˧˧/ | buoz /buo˨˧/ |
| Eye | မဲာ် /mɛ˧/ | myi /mji˧/ | 𗞴 /mjij˧/ | mie /mie˨˩/ | nyaq /ɲaʔ˧/ | ȵi /ȵi˧˧/ | m'zing /m̩ziŋ˧/ |
| Hello | နာမှၤ /na˧ʃi˧/ | kaja i /kadʒa˧i˧/ | — /—/ | shu shu /ʃu˧ʃu˧/ | u du la /u˧du˧la˧/ | mosu /mosu˧˧/ | yiem-longx /jiem˧loŋ˨˧/ |
| Thank you | တၢ်ဘျုး /ta˧blu˧/ | chyeju kaba /tʃedʒu˧kaba˧/ | — /—/ | angzai /aŋ˧˥t͡sai˥/ | gv ya /ɡɯ˧ja˧/ | katɕʰɿ /katɕʰɿ˧˧/ | laengz /laŋ˨˧/ |
| One | တ /ta˧˩/ | langai /laŋai˧/ | 𘈩 /lew˧˥/ | lao /lao˧˥/ | ti /ti˧/ | tsʰɿ /tsʰɿ˧˧/ | yietc /jiet˨˩/ |
| Good | ဂ့ၤ /ɣai˧/ | kaja /kadʒa˧/ | 𗏁 /tsji˧/ | ngaq /ŋaʔ˧˥/ | jau /tɕau˧/ | mu /mu˧˧/ | longx /loŋ˨˧/ |
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