Riang language

Riang
Native to	Burma, China
Ethnicity	Palaung
Native speakers	(28,000 cited 1995–2008)
Language family	Austroasiatic Khasi–Palaungic Palaungic Palaung–Riang Riang
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: ril – Riang Lang yin – Riang Lai
Glottolog	rian1260
ELP	Riang (Myanmar)
Riang is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Riang is a Palaungic language of Burma and China. Speakers are culturally assimilated with the Karen, but are Palaung by ancestry and their language is unrelated. Riang Lang (Yinnet) and Riang Lai (Yinchia) are sometimes considered distinct languages.

Phonology

Riang Lang (Yinnet) dialect's consonants described by Hall (2018):

• [q, qʰ] are allophones of initials /k kʰ/ when co-occur with /a, aː, ɔ/. Eg. [qáʔ] "fish", [qʰrɔ́] "rust".
• [χ] is the realization of /k/ in final position.

Riang Lang vowels (Hall 2018):

Riang Lang is sesquisyllabic and has two tones. Its typical word template is ((C)ə̆(C)).(C)(C)V(C)t.

References

• Shintani Tadahiko. 2014. The Riang language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 101. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).