A Practical Handbook of the Kachin or Chingpaw Language

PART I.

SYSTEM FOR SPELLING AND WRITING KACHIN.

Powers of Vowei^. Examples.

1 d Represents an almost suppressed vowel Kfilaw = to do.

sound.

2 a The sound of a as ill father ... La = to take.

NOTE.—A final a retains its full sound ; between
consonants it is sounded slightly shorter.

3 e Short sound oi e as in ten, met ...

4 c Sound of ai in fair

5 c Sound of ay in pray ... ...

6 i ii) Sound of f as in machine or ee in

meet, when standing alone or at
the end of a word or syllable,
(ii) As initial or in the middle of a
syllable it takes the short sound of
i as in tin ; but to this rale there
are a few exceptions.

7 o Nearly the long sound of o as in old ...

8 o Its nearest equivalent is the German o

in schon. It is used only in words
derived from alien languages,

9 w (i) About the same sound as oo in wool

or u in bull when in the middle of
a syllable,
(ii) As initial, by itself, or at the end of
a word or syllable like oo in moon.

10 ti U as in tub, plum

1 1 ai Long sound of i as in ice ...

12 au Sound of ow as in cow

13 aw Sound of azaas in law

Note. — ^There is a long a%v and a short auu
but the distinction between them is so slight
that it does not seem worth while tj distinguish
them by symbols. Practice alone will decide
when one or tlie other should be used. As a
rule axv is long when at the end of a syllable or
word and short elsewhere, having then some-
times much the sound of o in *' long."

Rem = to keep,

tend.
Share = brave.
Bebe = in vain.
Kaiaw nga i ? =

Are you doing ?
Lasi = thin.
Ing = to overflow.
Kcining = how.

Wora=that, there.
Mong = country.

Numsha = woman.

Uri = a pheasant ;

u = bird : lu = to

have (or can).
Guwut = to blow.
Mai = good ; rai =

thing.
Kau = to throw

away.
Baw = the head.

14 oi Sound of oi as in oil

Roi = to deride.

Powers of Consonants.

b AsinEiigUsh ...
chy No equivalent in Englisli ...
ch As in child
d As in English
g Always hird, as in give, go
fiy A combination of ihe g and y sonnds ...
h As in Entilish
As in English

As initial almost like gk ; when linal it
is like k in English.
10 ky A combination of the k and y sounds ...

J
k

11
12

kh
kh

13 hky

14
15

16

17 ng

Aspirated k ,.,

A harsh guttural sound, stronger than

the German ch in machen.
A combination of /j, k and y
, As in English ...
m (i) Sound of m as in English

(ii) Before consonants it is sounded as
I a sonant as m in prism.

n (i) Sound ot n as in English when pre-
ceding a vowel.
(ii) When standing alone or immediately
preceding another consonant it is
sounded as a sonant.
Note.— When n precedes g in the same word a
hyphen will be inserted when ihe n and the g
are meant to be sounded separately and dis-
tinctly, as //-^(im - precipice ; otherwise they
will have the sound of tlnal iii{ as in English
{sec No. 17).
As ng in king or tongue ...

Examples,

Ba = to be tired.
Chya = io paint,
Che = to save.
Du==the neck.
Ga = the earth.
Gyit = to tie.
Haw = to preach,
Jum = salt.
Iva = to write.

Ky em = to put

aside.
Hka=a river.
Makha wn = a

maiden.
Hkyet = a valley.
Lam = road.
Ma = child.
Mba = a cover,

blanket.
Nam = a jungle.

N kala w = not to
do; Nta = house.

18

19
20
21

22
23
24
25
26
27
28

29
30
31

ny

P
hp

Pf

r

s
sh

I
ts
ht

V

w

y

. No equivaleui in English

the Spmish Seiior.
Almost a bp sound
Aspirated i> ...
A blending of p and /

As in English ...
As in English ...
As in English ...
Almost a dt sound
A blending of t and s
Aspirated /
As in English

like the n in

As in English
As in English
As in English

Ngai= I ; nga =

fish.
Nyei = to deny.

Pat = to obstruct.

Hpai = to carry.

Pfun = wood (also
pronounced
hpun).

Ri = rattan,

Sa = to go.

Sha = toeat.

Tai = to become.

Tsi = Medicine.

Htu = to dig.

Vi==a paddy-field
(genenilly pro-
nounced yi).

Wa = to return.

Ya = now.

Zup (or) sup = to
join.

13)

General Remarks.

la) N standing alone is always the sign of tlie negative : Ngai

D sa na = l will not go.
ib) All particles are written separatelj : Ngai gaw sa na = I will

go. Ngai hpe jaw rit = Give to me.

Accent.
,J5^/'*5""*.-''? =5:"'« 'fsts on the last syllable in dissyllabic words

nr,nr'L*'"'!?K°"' '^•*^'' ''"'•' =""^ ^^'^ ^"'' °<=*-'"^ chiefly in compound
E?. °a™^ ''"" '"^*''''"°""'''* ''"'"'' "^'- "•"«' ''• '«^' «"•'

The exceptions also occur in some adverbs as phawf ni, hbra' m*
hlo ra,wo ra and in those adverbs formed by the duplicition of
monosyllabic adjectives as moi moi, Isawm' Isa^m vaf rn^ltc M
are, however, often pronounced in a monotone

Hert2, H. F. 1954. A Practical Handbook of hte Kachin or
Chingpaw Language. Rangoon: Government Printing Office.