An attempt to plot the source languages of village names on a map of Kachin State, Myanmar
Hideo Sawada | Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
The Kachin State of Myanmar is home to a variety of ethnic groups, including Kachin, Tai, and Burmese. This is a result of the ethnic migrations and expansions that have occurred in the area. Determining the source language of a village name and plotting it on a map could provide clues to the present and past distribution of the ethnic groups, and also supporting evidence for presumed ethnic migrations and expansions. In this paper, I will outline methods for determining the source languages of village names in Kachin State based on the resources such as descriptions on maps, information gathered through interviews, names of families and clans and so on. I will also present the results of an attempt to plot the source languages on a map at the current stage.
Cushing, Josiah Nelson. (1914). A Shan and English dictionary, 2nd ed. American Baptist Mission Press.
Dureng Hkauka Zau Gam (2011). Pawng Jinghpaw ni a bawpa mying (10) hte htinggaw mying 2337 [10 clan names and 2337 family names of the Jinghpaw people] (in Jinghpaw).
Fernquest, Jon. (2006). Crucible of war: Burma and the Ming in the Tai frontier zone (1382–1454). SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research4.2
1, 27–81.
Kurabe, Keita. (2016). A grammar of Jinghpaw, from Northern Burma. Doctoral dissertation, Kyoto University.
Maran La Raw (1979). A dictionary of modern spoken jingpho. Unpublished ms.
Myat Wai Toe (2014). Ma no mre ka lā khyidʻ tuiṅʻʺ raṅʻʺ sāʺ [Lacid ethnic race in Manau land] (in Burmese). Sarpay Beikman.
Sawada, Hideo. (2011). Kachin-shū no Tai-kei kigen chimei oboegaki [Notes on place names of Tay origin in Kachin State] (in Japanese). Fujishiro, Setsu and Shogaito Masahiro (Eds.) Dynamics of Eurasian Languages-II: Studies on Languages in Multilingul Areas, (Contribution to the Studies of Eurasian Languages (CSEL) series, vol.17) (pp. 127–152). Kobe: Kobe City College of Nursing.
Scott, James George. (1900). Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, vol.1–11. The superintendent, Government Printing.
Secretariat of Kachin State Department of Culture (ed.) (1977). Jinghpaw wunpawng amyu sha ni a amyu lakung htinggaw mying [Family name of Jinghpaw races] (in Jinghpaw). Htung Hking Ningli Hkringmang Dap [Secretariat of Culture], Jinghpaw Mungdaw Htung Hking Ningli Dap [Kachin State Department of Culture].
Takatani, Michio. (1998). Shan no yukue [Who are the Shan?: An ethnological perspective] (in Japanese). Japanese Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 35–41, 38–56.
Vomo” Gyung” Leim (2017). Zaw Buk laqu Lhaovo amyu sha ni a ginru ginsa labau laika buk [Generalogy (sic) of the Lhaovo Zaw Buk clan] (in Jinghpaw).
Za Khung” Yeing” Kei’ (n.d.). Lacid byu myu khoin thui moug soug pug [Lacid language book] (in Lacid).
Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) (2020). Myanmar P-Codes release 9.2 Mar 2020 Kachin. [URL] (This release is no longer available.)
SEAlang Library (2008). Shan dictionary resources (based on Sao Tern Moeng (1995). The Shan-English Dictionary. Dunwoody Press). [URL]