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Zaiwa (autonym: tsau³¹va⁵¹; 载瓦; Burmese: ဇိုင်ဝါး/အဇီး) is a Burmish language spoken in parts of southwest China and eastern Burma. There are around 100,000 speakers. It is also known as Atsi, its name in Jingpo. Zaiwa may be spelled 'Tsaiva' or 'Tsaiwa', and Atsi may be spelled 'Aci', 'Aji', 'Atshi', 'Atzi' or 'Azi'. Other names include Atsi-Maru, Szi and Xiaoshanhua. Pela (Bola), with 400 speakers, was once classified as a dialect. From the 1950s Zaiwa was written using the Roman script. A Gospel of Mark was published in Zaiwa in 1938 in the Fraser alphabet and in 1951 in the Roman script.

Distribution

There are more than 70,000 Zaiwa speakers in Yunnan, China, including in:

• Bangwa (邦瓦), Longchuan County, Dehong Prefecture
• Zhanxi (盏西), Yingjiang County, Dehong Prefecture
• Xishan (西山), Mangshi, Dehong Prefecture

The Ethnologue lists Bengwa, Longzhun and Tingzhu as dialects.

In Myanmar, the Sadon (Sadung) dialect is the standard variety.

Phonology

Consonants

Zaiwa has the following consonant sounds:

Vowels

Zaiwa distinguishes between tense throat and lax throat vowel sounds:

Tones

Zaiwa has five tones. Three of these five tones are in unchecked syllables and the remaining two are in checked syllables. The tones are distinguished through a numbering system of one to five; one being the lowest pitch and five the highest pitch.

References

1. ^ Zaiwa at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
2. Marku Mau Sau (The Gospel According to St. Mark in Atsi). British & Foreign Bible Society, Burma Agency. 1951.
3. ^ "Zaiwa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
4. Xu, Xijian 徐悉艰; Xu, Guizhen 徐桂珍, Jǐngpǒzú Zàiwǎyǔ jiǎnzhì 景颇族载瓦语简志 (in Chinese)
5. Yabu (1982), p. .
6. Zhu, Yanhua (2017). "Zaiwa". In Graham Thurgood; Randy J. LaPolla (eds.). The Sino-Tibetan Languages (2nd ed.). London & New York: Routledge. pp. 877–884.
7. Lustig (2010), p. .

Further reading

• Cheng, Mei 程黙 (1956). "Zàiwǎyǔ jiǎnjiè" 載瓦語簡介 [Introduction to the Zaiwa Language]. Zhōngguó yǔwén 中国語文. 53: 41–44.
• Hill, Nathan; Cooper, Douglas (2020). "A Machine Readable Collection of Lexical Data on the Burmish Languages" (Data set). Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3759030.
• Lustig, Anton (2010). A Grammar and Dictionary of Zaiwa. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-18489-3.
• Yabu, Shirō 藪 司郎 (1982). アツィ語基礎語彙集 / Atsigo kiso goishū / Classified Dictionary of the Atsi or Zaiwa Language (Sadon Dialect) with Atsi, Japanese and English Indexes. Tokyo: 東京外国語大学アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所 Tōkyō Gaikokugo Daigaku Ajia Afurika Gengo Bunka Kenkyūjo.
• Yabu, Shirō 藪 司郎 (1988). "A Preliminary Report on the Study of the Maru, Lashi and Atsi Languages of Burma". In Ishizawa, Yoshiaki (ed.). Historical and Cultural Studies in Burma. Tokyo: Institute of Asian Studies, Sophia University. pp. 65–132.
• Zhu, Yanhua 朱艳华; Lepaizaosha 勒排早扎著 Dai, Qingxia 戴庆厦 (2013). Zhēfàng Zàiwǎyǔ cānkǎo yǔfǎ 遮放载瓦语参考语法 [Reference Grammar of Zhefang Zaiwa] (in Chinese). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe. ISBN 978-7-5161-2257-0.

v t e Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)	West Himalayish Tamangic Newaric Newar Baram–Thangmi Kiranti Dhimalish Dhimal Toto Lhokpu Lepcha Greater Magaric Magaric Magar Kham Chepangic Chepang Bhujel Raji–Raute Dura–Tandrange
Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)	Bodish Tibetic East Bodish Tshangla Basum Nam? Gongduk ʼOle Tani Chamdo
Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border	Karbi Kuki-Chin Mruic Mru Hkongso Pyu Taman "Naga" Ao Angami–Pochuri Meitei Tangkhulic Zeme Sal Boro–Garo Konyak Jingpho–Luish
East and Southeast Asia	Sinitic Bai Tujia Nungish Karenic Gong Kathu Cai–Long Caijia Longjia Luren Burmo-Qiangic Qiangic Gyalrongic Ersuic Naic Lolo-Burmese Mondzish Burmish Loloish
Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal)	Hrusish Hruso Mijiic Kho-Bwa Puroik Miju–Meyor Songlin Greater Siangic Siangic Koro Milang Idu–Taraon
Proposed groupings	Central Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin–Naga Macro-Bai Mahakiranti Rung Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri
Proto-languages	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman Proto-Loloish Proto-Karenic Proto-Min Proto-Hakka
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.

• Burmish languages
• Languages of Myanmar
• Languages of Yunnan