Vāx
Wa
Austroasiatic (Palaungic)
Wa (Vāx) is the largest Palaungic language and the dominant language of the de facto independent Wa State in Myanmar. Non-tonal (unusual for the region), with rich consonant clusters and glottal-stop final syllables. Closely related to Lawa, De’ang, and Bulang.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Wa
Water
rom
/rɔm/
Fire
ngo
/ŋo/
Sun
cangaiʔ
/tʃaŋaiʔ/
Moon
khaiʔ
/kʰaiʔ/
Star
si-ngai
/səŋaɪ/
Mother
yaʔ
/jaʔ/
Father
paiʔ
/paiʔ/
I
ex
/ʔɤ/
You
maix
/maɯ/
Name
yum
/jɔm/
Eye
ngai
/ŋai/
Hand
tai
/tai/
Heart
nuim
/nuim/
Love
hak
/hak/
Tree
maiʔ
/maiʔ/
House
nyiex
/ɲiɛʔ/
Dog
so
/so/
Cat
meo
/meo/
Eat
cha
/tʃa/
Drink
ɔk
/ɔk/
One
ti
/ti/
Two
ra
/raɯ/
Hello
sao
/sao/
Thank you
ban prix
/ban priʔ/
Good
dim
/dim/
Words compared
Compared with related Austroasiatic (Palaungic) languages
| Meaning | Wa | Shwe Palaung | Khmu | Mlabri | Parauk Wa | Old Mon | Qʼeqchiʼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | rom /rɔm/ | ʔoːm /ʔoːm/ | ɔm /ʔɔm/ | om /om/ | tʃɔː /tʃɔː/ | ဍာက် /ɗaːk/ | haʼ /haʔ/ |
| Fire | ngo /ŋo/ | ŋal /ŋal/ | ʔus /ʔus/ | ʔus /ʔus/ | miː /miː/ | ပ်ၟ /pmaʔ/ | xam /ʃam/ |
| Sun | cangaiʔ /tʃaŋaiʔ/ | saŋi /saŋi/ | maŋ /maŋ/ | ŋay /ŋai/ | waː /waː/ | တ္ၚဲ /tŋai/ | saqʼe /saqʼe/ |
| Moon | khaiʔ /kʰaiʔ/ | kɨr /kɨr/ | kee /keː/ | thel /tʰel/ | lɔː /lɔː/ | ဂျိုၚ် /klɔŋ/ | poo /poː/ |
| Star | si-ngai /səŋaɪ/ | hərngɔ /hərŋɔ/ | sənʔaang /sənʔaːŋ/ | smaːŋ /smaːŋ/ | si-ngai /sŋaɪ/ | ကၟာဲ /həmoa/ | chahim /tʃahim/ |
| Mother | yaʔ /jaʔ/ | mɛʔ /mɛʔ/ | mɔɔʔ /mɔːʔ/ | mɛʔ /mɛʔ/ | maː /maː/ | မိ /mi/ | naʼ /naʔ/ |
| Father | paiʔ /paiʔ/ | paʔ /paʔ/ | ʔaaʔ /ʔaːʔ/ | paʔ /paʔ/ | pʰaː /pʰaː/ | ဖ /pʰɛʔ/ | yuwaʼ /juwaʔ/ |
| I | ex /ʔɤ/ | ʔɔ /ʔɔ/ | oʔ /ʔoʔ/ | oh /ʔoh/ | ê /ʔɤʔ/ | အဲ /ʔua/ | laʼin /laʔin/ |
| You | maix /maɯ/ | miʔ /miʔ/ | meʔ /meʔ/ | meh /meh/ | mêh /mɤʔ/ | ဗှ်ေ /peh/ | laʼat /laʔat/ |
| Name | yum /jɔm/ | yum /jum/ | hmɔh /hmɔh/ | cmɔh /cmɔːh/ | yaom /jɔm/ | ယု /jəmu/ | kʼabaʼ /kʼaɓaʔ/ |
| Eye | ngai /ŋai/ | ŋai /ŋai/ | ŋtaa /ŋtaː/ | mɔt /mɔt/ | miːn /miːn/ | မတ် /mat/ | xnaqʼ ru /ʃnaqʼ ru/ |
| Hand | tai /tai/ | tiː /tiː/ | tii /tiː/ | tiʔ /tiʔ/ | miːk /miːk/ | တၟုိ /toi/ | ruqʼ /ruqʼ/ |
| Heart | nuim /nuim/ | rɔŋ /rɔŋ/ | kruɛŋ /kruɛŋ/ | kɛm /kɛm/ | sɛɛ /sɛɛ/ | စိုတ် /cət/ | chʼoolej /tʃʼoːlej/ |
| Love | hak /hak/ | ʔiŋ /ʔiŋ/ | kɔɔh /kɔːh/ | kraʔ /kraʔ/ | rəŋ /rəŋ/ | ဆာန် /cʰan/ | rahok /rahok/ |
| Tree | maiʔ /maiʔ/ | siʔ /siʔ/ | cmuul /tʃmuːl/ | tɔn /tɔn/ | tʰɔː /tʰɔː/ | ဆု /tɕu/ | cheʼ /tʃeʔ/ |
| House | nyiex /ɲiɛʔ/ | ɲɛh /ɲɛh/ | kaaŋ /kaːŋ/ | tu /tu/ | miː /miː/ | သ္ၚိ /sŋiʔ/ | ochoch /otʃotʃ/ |
| Dog | so /so/ | so /so/ | cɔ /tʃɔ/ | cɛn /tɕɛn/ | kʰɔː /kʰɔː/ | ခၠဵု /kʰlou/ | tzʼiʼ /tsʼiʔ/ |
| Cat | meo /meo/ | mioʔ /mioʔ/ | meeo /meːo/ | meo /meo/ | mɛː /mɛː/ | ဂျိ /kluj/ | mes /mes/ |
| Eat | cha /tʃa/ | cha /tʃa/ | caa /tʃaː/ | ʔiʔ /ʔiʔ/ | sɛː /sɛː/ | စိ /tɕiʔ/ | taawaʼ /tawaʔ/ |
| Drink | ɔk /ɔk/ | ʔoːk /ʔoːk/ | ɲɔɔp /ɲɔːp/ | ʔaa /ʔaː/ | pə /pə/ | သုက် /sok/ | ukʼ /ukʼ/ |
| One | ti /ti/ | mu /mu/ | muei /muei/ | mɔy /mɔi/ | tʃit /tʃit/ | မွဲ /mwɛ/ | jun /hun/ |
| Two | ra /raɯ/ | ar /ʔar/ | baar /baːr/ | bɛr /bɛːr/ | rao /ra̤ɯ/ | ၜါ /ɓa/ | wiibʼ /wiːɓ/ |
| Hello | sao /sao/ | vaː piə /vaː piə/ | lɔh /lɔh/ | hahɔ /haho/ | sawʔdiː /sawʔdiː/ | — /—/ | ma saʼ laachʼool /ma sa laːtʃʼoːl/ |
| Thank you | ban prix /ban priʔ/ | kun cɔm /kun tʃɔm/ | ɔrkun /ʔɔrkun/ | knɔŋ /knoŋ/ | tʰɔk /tʰɔk/ | — /—/ | bantyox /bantjoʃ/ |
| Good | dim /dim/ | ʔɔm /ʔɔm/ | gee /ɡeː/ | laʔ /laʔ/ | jɔː /jɔː/ | ခိုဟ် /kʰɔh/ | us /us/ |
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