Daai language: Difference between revisions

Kuki-Chin language of Myanmar

Daai (also known as Daai Chin), which borders the Mün and Ütbü language groups, is a Kuki-Chin of Myanmar. It is spoken in 142 villages in Kanpetlet, Matupi, Mindat, and Paletwa townships in Chin State, Burma (Ethnologue). A written script for Daai was created in 1976 by U Khine Sho and Ms. Halga So Hart Manno.^[2]

Mutual intelligibility among Nghngilo (Yang), Daai Yindu, and Mkui groups is high, but is lower among other groups.^[3] Daai has greater than 90% lexical similarity with Daai

Yindu, Yang, Mkui, Duk, and Msang, 81%–88% with Ngxang (Paletwa township) and Kheng, 80% with Shiip (Matupi township), 91%–94% with Gah/Ng-Gha (part of Mün), and 81%–87% with Mün.[3]

Ethnologue lists the following dialects of daai Chin.

• Ngxang
• Nghngilo (Yang)
• Ma-Tu
• Shiip
• Duk-Msang
• Kheng
• Mkuui
• Yet

Daai has twenty-four consonant phonemes.

Daai has seven vowel phonemes, each with a phonemic length contrast.

Dai Chin is an isolating or analytic language. There is no inflectional morphology at the word level; case, number, and tense are marked by clitics.