Achang language

Achang
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

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.^[1]

Distribution

Achang is spoken in the following locations:

The three main dialects of Achang in China are:^[2]

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

Consonant phonemes^[5]
		Labial	Alveolar		Post-Alv.	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
		Labial	plain	sibilant	Post-Alv.	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tsʰ	tʃʰ	cʰ	kʰ	ʔ
Stop	voiced	b	d	dz	dʒ	ɟ	ɡ	ʔ
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.

/i, ɛ, aˑ/ can also have tense vowel counterparts as [ɪ, æ, ʔaˑ].^[5]

Achang word order is subject–object–verb. There is no dominant order for nouns and their adjective modifiers.^[6]

^ ^a ^b Achang at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ 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.
^ "Yíngjiāng Xiàn Nòngzhāng Zhèn Mángmiǎn Cūn Xiāndǎo Zìráncūn" 盈江县弄璋镇芒缅村仙岛自然村 [Xiandao Natural Village, Mangmian Village, Nongzhang Town, Yingjiang County]. ynszxc.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-05.
^ "Yíngjiāng Xiàn Nòngzhāng Zhèn Mángxiàn Cūn Měngé Zìráncūn" 盈江县弄璋镇芒线村勐俄自然村 [Meng'e Natural Village, Mangxian Village, Nongzhang Town, Yingjiang County]. ynszxc.gov.cn (in Chinese). 2016-03-09. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c Inglis & Inglis (2003)
^ "Language Achang". The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Retrieved 2019-02-06.