The Myeik dialect, also known as Beik in Burmese, Mergui and Merguiese in English, and Marit (มะริด) in Thai, is a divergent dialect of Burmese, spoken in Myeik, the second largest town in Tanintharyi Region, the southernmost region of Myanmar.[2] Beik shares many commonalities with the Tavoyan dialect, although there are substantial differences especially with regard to phonology.[2]
| Myeik | |
|---|---|
| Mergui, Merguiese | |
| Region | Southeast |
Native speakers | (250,000 cited 1997)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | merg1238 |
Phonology
editConsonants
editBeik possesses 27 consonant phonemes:[3]
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar and palatal |
Velar and labiovelar |
Glottal | Placeless | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive and affricate | pʰ p b | tʰ t d t̪ | tɕʰ tɕ dʑ | kʰ k ɡ | ʔ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ɴ | ||
| Fricative | sʰ s z | h ɦ | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
Unlike Standard Burmese, the Myeik dialect does not have any preaspirated consonants.[4] Phonemes unique to the Myeik dialect include /ɦ/ and /t̪/.[4]
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Vowels
editThe Myeik dialect has three types of vowels: plain, nasalized and glottalized, with each type having seven vowels.[6]
| Monophthongs | Diphthongs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Back | Front offglide | Back offglide | |
| Close | i | u | ||
| Close-mid | e | o | ei | ou |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Open | a | ai | au | |
Notes
edit- ^ Burmese at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
- ^ a b Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 118.
- ^ Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 119.
- ^ a b Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 120.
- ^ Mergui, Archipelago (November 9, 2021). "Mergui Archipelago". Mergui Archipelago. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 121.
References
edit- Kato, Atsuhiko; Khin Pale (2012). "The Myeik (Beik) Dialect of Burmese sounds, conversational texts, and basic vocabulary". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 83: 117–160.