The Achang language (Achang: ; , ) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Achang (also known as Maingtha and Ngochang) in Yunnan, China, and northern Myanmar.

Distribution Achang is spoken in the following locations:

Longchuan County, Dehong Prefecture Husa Lianghe County, Dehong Prefecture Zhedao Xiangsong Dachang Luxi City, Dehong Prefecture Jiangdong Longling County, Baoshan

The three main dialects of Achang in China are:

Longchuan 陇川方言 Lianghe 梁河方言 Mangshi 芒市方言 (formerly known as Luxi 潞西方言)

The Xiandao dialect (100 speakers; autonym: Chintaw //) is spoken in the following two locations in Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture (Xiandaoyu Yanjiu).

Xiandaozhai , Mangmian Village , Jiemao Township Meng'ezhai , Mangxian Village , Jiemao Township

Phonology

Consonants + Consonant phonemesLabialAlveolarPost-Alv.PalatalVelarGlottalStopFricativeNasalApproximant Voiced sounds can also be heard as voiceless in free variation among speakers.

Vowels +MonophthongsFrontCentralBackCloseMidOpen Syllabic

can also have lax vowel counterparts as .

Syntax Achang word order is subject–object–verb. There is no dominant order for nouns and their adjective modifiers.

References

Further reading

Shí, Jiàn; Jiǎng, Guāngyǒu; Zhào, Yànzhēn [时建,蒋光友,赵燕珍] (2019). Yúnnán Mángshì Lùxī Āchāngyǔ [云南芒市潞西阿昌语]. Beijing: Commercial Press [商务印书馆].

(3,023-item comparative word list of the Longchuan, Lianghe, and Mangshi dialects)

External links

Bible in Achang Listen to a sample of Achang from Global Recordings Network