Jingpho language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

"Kachin language" redirects here. For other meanings of word "Kachin" see Kachin

The Jingpho language (Jinghpaw, Chingp'o) or Kachin language (Burmese: ကချင်ဘာသာ, [kətɕɪ̀ɴ bàðà]) is a Tibeto-Burman language mainly spoken in Kachin State, Burma (Myanmar) and Yunnan Province, China. The term Kachin language can refer either to the Jingpho language or to a group of languages spoken by various ethnic groups in the same region as Jingpo: Lisu, Lachit, Rawang, Zaiwa, Lhaovo, Achang (Ngo Chang), and Jingpho. These languages are from distinct branches of the highest level of the Tibeto-Burman family.

The ethnic Jingpho (or Kachin) are the primary speakers of Jingpho language, numbering approximately 900,000 speakers.^[1] The Turung of Assam in India speak a Jingpho dialect, called Singpho, mixed with Assamese words.

The Jingpho alphabet is based on the Latin script. Jingpho has verbal morphology that marks the subject and the direct object. Here is one example (the tonemes are not marked). The verb is 'to be' (rai).

Jingpho syllable finals can consist of vowels, nasals, or oral stops.

Tonal[link]

Jingpho (Jinghpaw) language has five tones.

For Example:

• Wa (high short tone) compensate Á
• Wa (middle tone) teeth Ä
• Wa (high tone) father Ã
• Wa (Low tone) come back Ā
• Wa (Low short tone) pig Ą

Tones are not usually marked in writing.

Footnotes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• 景颇语-汉语词典 Jingpoyu - Hanyu cidian / Jingpho–Chinese dictionary, 戴庆夏 Dai Qingxia et al.
• 景颇语语法 Jingpoyu yufa / Jingpho Grammar, 戴庆夏 Dai Qingxia et al.
• Structures élémentaires de la parenté, de Claude Lévi-Strauss, devotes a chapter to the study of parenthood in the Jingpho ethnicity.

Sources[link]

1. Jingpho (Kachin) on ethnologue.com
2. Linguistlist.org
3. Rosetta Project

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