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Article published In:
Ethnolinguistic contact across the Indo-Myanmar-Southwestern China mountains
Edited by Alexander R. Coupe, Randy J. LaPolla and Hideo Sawada
[Asian Languages and Linguistics 4:2] 2023
► pp. 167–193

An attempt to plot the source languages of village names on a map of Kachin State, Myanmar

| 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.

Keywords: mapping, source languages, village names, Kachin State, Myanmar
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Data for plotting
    • 1.1Geographic name databases
    • 1.2Coordinates (longitude and latitude)
    • 1.3Names of administrative units
      • 1.3.1Notations in Burmese script
        • 1.3.1.1Initials (+medial)
        • 1.3.1.2Rhymes
        • 1.3.1.3Tone
      • 1.3.2Roman transcription
  • 2.Data for determining source languages
    • 2.1Place name resources by the speakers of the language
    • 2.2Family name resources
  • 3.Jinghpaw
  • 4.Lhaovo and Lacid
  • 5.Tai languages
  • 6.Burmese
  • 7.Summary and problems
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 April 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/alal.00011.saw
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