Achang language

The Achang language (Achang: Ngachang; Chinese: 阿昌, Burmese: အာချန်) is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Achang (also known as Maingtha and Ngochang) in Yunnan, China, and northern Myanmar.

Achang
Ngachang အာချန် / ငါချန်
Pronunciation	[ŋa˨˩tʂhaŋ˨˩]
Native to	China, Myanmar
Ethnicity	Achang
Native speakers	(60,000 cited 1990–2007)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Lolo–Burmese Burmish Achang
Language codes
ISO 639-3	acn
Glottolog	acha1252
ELP	Xiandao

Distribution

Achang is spoken in the following locations:

• Longchuan County, Dehong Prefecture
  • Husa 户撒
• Lianghe County, Dehong Prefecture
  • Zhedao 遮岛
  • Xiangsong 襄宋
  • Dachang 大厂
• Luxi City, Dehong Prefecture
  • Jiangdong 江东
• Longling County, Baoshan

The three main dialects of Achang in China are:

• Longchuan 陇川方言
• Lianghe 梁河方言
• Mangshi 芒市方言 (formerly known as Luxi 潞西方言)

The Xiandao dialect (100 speakers; autonym: Chintaw /kʰan³¹tau³¹/) is spoken in the following two locations in Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture (Xiandaoyu Yanjiu).

• Xiandaozhai 仙岛寨, Mangmian Village 芒面村, Jiemao Township 姐冒乡
• Meng'ezhai 勐俄寨, Mangxian Village 芒线村, Jiemao Township 姐冒乡

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

		Labial	Alveolar		Post-Alv.	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			plain	sibilant
Stop	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tsʰ	tʃʰ	cʰ	kʰ	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	dz	dʒ	ɟ	ɡ
Fricative			s		ʃ	ç		h
Nasal		m	n				ŋ
Approximant		w	l			j

Voiced sounds /b, d, dz, dʒ, ɟ, ɡ/ can also be heard as voiceless [p, t, ts, tʃ, c, k] in free variation among speakers.

Vowels

Monophthongs

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɯ	u
Mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		aˑ a
Syllabic		ŋ̩

/i, ɛ, aˑ/ can also have tense vowel counterparts as [ɪ, æ, ʔaˑ].

Syntax

Achang word order is subject–object–verb. There is no dominant order for nouns and their adjective modifiers.

Further reading

• Inglis, Douglas; Inglis, Connie (2003), A Preliminary Phonology of Ngochang – via Academia.edu
• Nasaw Sampu; Wilai Jaseng; Thocha Jana; Douglas Inglis (2005), A Preliminary Ngochang – Kachin – English Lexicon (PDF) – via SIL.org
• Yabu, Shirō 藪 司郎 (1990). "The Achang Language of Burma". In Sakiyama, Osamu 崎山 理 (ed.). Ajia no shogengo to ippan gengogaku アジアの諸言語と一般言語学 [Asian Languages and General Linguistics]. Tokyo: Sanseidō. pp. 124–141.
• Xie, Hongmei 谢红梅 (2019). Achangyu fangyan cihuiji 阿昌语方言词汇集. Kunming: Yunnan Ethnic Publishing House 云南民族出版社. ISBN 978-7-5367-7568-8. (3,023-item comparative word list of the Longchuan, Lianghe, and Mangshi dialects)
• Yang, Lu 杨露 (2020). Achangyu yuyin de fangyan dilixue yanjiu 阿昌语语音的方言地理学研究. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press 中国社会科学出版社. OCLC 1232141802.