Muak language

Muak Sa-aak
Muak Sa-aak
Region	Burma, China
Native speakers	4,500 (2007)
Language family	Austroasiatic Khasi–Palaungic Palaungic Angkuic Muak Sa-aak; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ukk
Glottolog	tail1246

Muak Sa-aak (autonym: mùak sɤ́ʔàak, meaning 'mountain slope') is an Angkuic language spoken in the Burma-China border region by over 4,000 people.

Demographics

There are some 4,460 Muak Sa-aak in Burma and China. Muak Sa-aak speakers are located primarily in Mong Yawng Township, Shan State, Burma (Hall 2010:4). There are at least 2 villages in China, with speakers possibly located in Thailand as well, though it would be nearly extinct there (Hall 2010).

Hall (2010) analyzes phonological data from the Muak Sa-aak village of Wan Fai, eastern Shan State, Burma, which has 620 people and is located very close to the Chinese border.

Phonology

The following content is from Hall (2010)'s MA Thesis, consisting of her field work documentation and materials gathered from Muak Sa-aak speakers at Wan Fan village, Eastern Shan State.

Word structure

There are eight presyllables /p t k ʔ pʰ kʰ s m/, typically accompanied by a short vowel (either [ă] or [ɤ̆]) nucleus when realized, eg. /smɤɲ³/ [sɤ̆ˈmɤɲ³] 'star'. The phonological word in Muak Sa-aak is C₁.ˈC_i(C_m)V(C_f)^T.

Suprasegmentals (tones)

The Wan Fan variety of Muak Sa-aak has three tones: low, checked, and falling.

Tone	Note	Example
V̀	With long vowel, diphthongs, + short nuclei with sonorant codas	kjeː¹ 'root'
V́	High tone on vowel and a high falling tone on long vowel	kak² 'to bite'
V̂	High falling tone, only on live syllables	kʰraːŋ³ 'eagle'

Consonants

Hall (2010) describes the following onset clusters /pr pw pʰr pʰw (tr) kr kw kʰr kʰw/ in Muak Sa-aak. /tr/ is limited in Tai Lue borrowed words.

Onsets

Muak onsets
		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	plain	p	t	c	k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	cʰ	kʰ
	voiced	b	d		g
Fricative		f	s			h
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant		w	l r	j

Codas

Muak codas
	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p	t	c	k	ʔ
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant	w	l	j

Vowels

Muak vowels
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː	ɯ ɯː	u uː
Mid	e eː	ɤ ɤː	o oː
Open	ɛ	a	ɔ
Diphthongs	[iə]	[uə]

References

↑ Hopple, Paulette. 2007. Notes re: the visit of Plang from Mong Yawng. Unpublished ms (quoted in Hall 2010).
1 2 Sidwell 2015, p. 53.
1 2 Sidwell 2015, p. 52.
1 2 Hall 2014b, p. 25.

Hall, Elizabeth (2014a). "Impact of Tai Lue on Muak Sa-aak phonology" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 43 (1): 24–30.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Hall, Elizabeth (2014b). "An Analysis of Muak Sa-aak Tone". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 7: 1–10.
Hall, Elizabeth (2013). "A phonological description of Muak Sa-aak". Mon-Khmer Studies. 42: 26–39.
Hall, Elizabeth (2019). "Muak Sa-aak: Challenges of an Extensive Phoneme Inventory for a Contained Latin-Based Orthography". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 12 (2): i–viii.

[1] Hopple, Paulette. 2007. Notes re: the visit of Plang from Mong Yawng. Unpublished ms (quoted in Hall 2010).

[FOOTNOTESidwell201553-2] 1 2 Sidwell 2015, p. 53.

[FOOTNOTESidwell201552-3] 1 2 Sidwell 2015, p. 52.

[FOOTNOTEHall2014b25-4] 1 2 Hall 2014b, p. 25.