Waic languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Waic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Burma, China |
| Ethnicity | Wa people |
| Linguistic classification | Austroasiatic |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | waic1245 |
The Waic languages are spoken in Shan State, Burma, in Northern Thailand, and in Yunnan province, China.
Gérard Diffloth reconstructed Proto-Waic in a 1980 paper. His classification is as follows (Sidwell 2009). (Note: Individual languages are highlighted in italics.)
The recently discovered Meung Yum and Savaiq languages[1][2] of Shan State, Burma also belong to the Wa language cluster.
Other Waic languages in Shan State, eastern Myanmar are En and Siam (Hsem),[3][4] which are referred to by Scott (1900)[5] as En and Son. Hsiu (2015)[6] classifies En, Son, and Tai Loi in Scott (1900) as Waic languages, citing the Waic phonological innovation from Proto-Palaungic *s- > h- instead of the Angkuic phonological innovation from Proto-Palaungic *s- > s-.