Mok language
Austroasiatic language spoken in Myanmar and Thailand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mok (/mɔ̀k/ 'mountain people'[2]), also known as Amok,[3] Hsen-Hsum, and Muak, is an Angkuic language or dialect cluster spoken in Shan State, Myanmar[4]
Seven speakers in Lampang province, Thailand, were reported by Wurm & Hattori (1981).
Varieties
Hall & Devereux (2018) report that five varieties of Mok are spoken in Shan State, Myanmar, providing the following comparative vocabulary table.[4] These varieties have some lexical similarity (the lowest being 88%) with each other, but very low lexical similarity with the other Angkuic languages.[5]
| Gloss | Mok A | Mok B | Mok C | Mok D | Mok E | Muak Sa-aak | Pa Xɛp U | Hu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| die | [jɛ́m] | [n̩jém] | [jám] | [jɛ́m] | [jɛ̂m] | jâm | jàp | jám |
| weep | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | [jàːm] | jâːm | jâm | jàm |
| chicken | [ʔèa] | [ʔeàː] | [ʔìa] | [ʔeàː] | [ʔeàː] | ʔɛ̂l | jɛ́ | - |
| silver, money | [mûi] | [nèŋ][6] | [ŋə̀n][6] | [muí] | [p.sí muî] | mûl | mùn | mm̥úl |
| fly (v.) | [tʰə̀ːŋ] | [tʰiaŋ] / [pʰiaŋ] | [ntʰíaŋ] | [mpʰîang] | [ntʰîaŋ] | pʰ.jûl | mpʰə̀ | phɨ́ʁ |
| louse | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | [nsíʔ] | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | [síʔ] / [nsíʔ] | cʰíʔ | nchí | nsíʔ |
Owen (2018) names these varieties Hwe Law, Chieng Kham, Pha Lam, Punglong, and Hwe Koi.[7]
A Mok dialect of Shan State has been documented by Shintani (2019).[8]
Geographic distribution
Tannumsaeng (2020)[5] describes three locations for Mok: between Mong Khet and Mong Yang and south of Kengtung in Myanmar, and on the Thai-Burmese border in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. The main Mok-speaking areas in Shan State include an area just to the south of Kengtung, and another area situated between Mong Khet and Mong Yang.[2]
Phonology
Tannumsaeng (2020),[5] citing Hall & Devereux (2018), provides the following phonology for Mok.
The consonants are /pʰ p m f w tʰ t n s l r c ɲ j kʰ k ŋ ʔ h/, with reduced /m̩ n̩ ɲ̩ ŋ̍ pə tə kə sə/. /f/ and /r/ only appear in certain varieties. The vowels are /i e ɛ u ɯ o ɤ ɔ a/, with the diphthongs /ia ɯa ua/. Mok has two tones, one low and one high.
Consonants
Vowels
Where there are two vowels separated by a dot •, the one on the left is unrounded and the one on the right is rounded.
