Bwe, also known as Bwe Karen and Bghai (Baghi), is a
Karen language of
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
. It shares 82 to 100% lexical similarity with
Geba Karen language
Geba, also known as Eastern Bwe, is a Karen language of Burma.
Distribution
*Northern Kayin State: Thandaunggyi township (140 villages)
*Bago Region
*Mandalay Region: Pyinmana township
*Shan State
Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative d ...
.
Distribution
*
Kayin State
Kayin State (, ; ; , ), formerly known as Karen State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. The capital city is Hpa-An, also spelled Pa-An.
The terrain of the state is mountainous; with the Dawna Range running along the ...
:
Thandaung township (about 100 villages)
*
Kayah State:
Hpruso township
*
Bago Region
Bago Region (, ; formerly Pegu Division and Bago Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the southern central part of the country. It is bordered by Magway Region and Mandalay Region to ...
:
Taungoo
Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ), also spelled Toungoo and formerly Toung-ngú, is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east a ...
and
Hpa-An
Hpa-an (, ; ; , also spelled Pa-an) is the capital and largest city of Kayin State (Karen State), Myanmar (Burma). The population of Hpa-an as of the 2014 census was 421,575. Most of the people in Hpa-an are of the Karen ethnic group.
Legend
Le ...
townships
Dialects
Dialects are Western Bwe Karen and Eastern Bwe Karen. Most comprehend the Western Bwe Karen dialect.
Phonology
* /cʰ/ may be an allophone of /tʰ/, appearing before the vowels /i ɪ/.
* /ʔ/ only appears in the onset when vowels occur word-initially.
* /x/ appears rarely.
* /ə/ only appears in unstressed syllables.
Bwe Karen also has three
tones;
[ high, mid, and low.
]
References
External links
Bwe Karen basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
{{Languages of Burma
Karenic languages