Zaiwa language

Zaiwa is a special language spoken by about 100,000 people in parts of southwest China and eastern Burma. It belongs to a group of languages called Burmish. People who speak Zaiwa also call their language tsau³¹va⁵¹ or sometimes Atsi, which is another name used in the Jingpo language.

Zaiwa can be spelled in different ways, such as 'Tsaiva' or 'Tsaiwa'. It has also been called Atsi-Maru, Szi, or Xiaoshanhua. There is a very small group of speakers, only about 400 people, who once spoke a dialect called Pela (Bola).

In the 1950s, people began writing Zaiwa using the Roman alphabet, which uses letters like A, B, C, and so on. Before that, a book called the Gospel of Mark was printed in Zaiwa in 1938 using the Fraser alphabet and again in 1951 using the Roman script.

Distribution

The Zaiwa language is spoken by more than 70,000 people in Yunnan, China. Some places where it is spoken include Bangwa in Longchuan County and Dehong Prefecture, Zhanxi in Yingjiang County and Dehong Prefecture, and Xishan in Mangshi and Dehong Prefecture.

The Ethnologue mentions dialects such as Bengwa, Longzhun, and Tingzhu. In Myanmar, the Sadon (Sadung) dialect is commonly used.

Phonology

Zaiwa has different sounds that make up its words. The language includes special consonant sounds, vowel sounds that change depending on how tight the throat muscles are, and five different tones. Tones are changes in pitch when saying a word, and they help give meaning to the words in Zaiwa.