Kayan, also known as, Padaung of Burma, spoken by the Kayan people. The Kayan dialects share more than 90% lexical similarity. Padaung is 71% to 76% lexically similar to Lahta.
Distribution Pekhon, southern Shan State northwestern Kayah State Thandaung township, Kayin State Pyinmana township, Mandalay Region Kayan Lahwi dialect: Lahwi and northwest Dimawso, Kayah State; southern Pekhon, southern Shan State Kayan Yinbaw/Kangan dialect: Dimawso area, northwestern Kayah State
Internal classification The Kayan languages are spoken in Kayah State, southern Shan State, and northern Karen State. There are four branches according to Shintani (2016),Shintani, Tadahiko. 2016. The Nangki language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 109. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). namely:Shintani, Tadahiko. 2015. The Kadaw language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 106. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Kangan ("lowland dwellers") Kakhaung ("highland dwellers") Lawi ("South") Latha ("North")
Nangki (sometimes called Langki), documented in Shintani (2016), is one of the Kayan languages belonging to the Kakhaung subgroup. It is spoken only in one village.
Pekong Kayan is documented in Manson (2010).
Sonkan Kayan and Dosanbu Kayan are documented in Shintani (2018a, b).Shintani, Tadahiko. 2018. The Sonkan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 118. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).Shintani Tadahiko. 2018. The Dosanbu Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 120. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Shintani has also documented:by families or by villages as below:
Phulon KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Phulon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 122. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Lagu KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Lagu Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 123. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Totan KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Totan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 124. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Dokhoncon KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Dokhoncon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 125. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Natwei KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Natwei Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 128. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Pimon KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Pimon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 129. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Sonplao KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2020. The Sonplao Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 130. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Dolan KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Dolan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 132. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Thaoku KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Thaoku Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 133. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Diklon KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Diklon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 134. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Pulon KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Pulon Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 135. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Kabla KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Kabla Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 136. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Kathan KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Kathan Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 137. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Kalondei KayanShintani, Tadahiko. 2021. The Kalondei Kayan language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 138. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Ramaku, Subao, Kadu, Huason, Hanti, Sonpu Kayan (Shintani 2022)
Dimawso Kayan, a Kayan variety spoken in Wanbanbalo village, Dimawso township, Kayah State, Myanmar, is described in Lew (2018).Lew, Sigrid (2018). Preliminary phonology of Dimawso Kayan, Myanmar. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, held May 17–19, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Ethnologue lists Padaung (Kayan) dialects as: Standard Pekon (prestige dialect) Kayan Lahwi Kayan Kangan (Yeinbaw, Yinbaw)
Phonology
Consonants LabialDental/AlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosivevoicelessaspiratedvoicedFricativeNasalRhoticApproximantlateralcentral
Voiced stops /b, d/ can also range to pre-glottalized stops [ʔb, ʔd] in free variation among speakers. /θ/ shows fluctuation to [s] in some closely related dialects. /ɾ/ is heard as a glide [ɹ] in syllable-medial position. It is heard as a tap [ɾ] elsewhere.
Vowels FrontCentralBackHighHigh-midLow-midLowDiphthongs +Nasal codaFrontCentralBackMidLow Sounds /ɨ, a, ə, u/ phonetically range to [ɨ̠, a̟, ɤ̟, ʊ] in free variation. Breathiness [V̤] is also evenly distributed among all sounds.
References
Shintani, Tadahiko. 2020. A handbook of comparative Kayan languages. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA). Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA). Aung, Wai Lin. 2013. A Descriptive Grammar of Kayah Monu. Master’s thesis, Payap University. Ywar, Naw Hsa Eh. 2013. A Grammar of Kayan Lahta. Master’s thesis, Payap University.