Shö language

Shö
Native to	Myanmar, Bangladesh, India
Ethnicity	Asho Chin
Native speakers	(50,000 cited 1983–2011) plus an unknown number of Shendu
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman (?) Kuki-Chin–Naga Kuki-Chin Southern Shö
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: cnb – Chinbon Chin csh – Asho Chin shl – Shendu
Glottolog	chin1478  Chinbon Chin asho1236  Asho Chin shen1247  Shendu
ELP

Shö is a Kuki-Chin language dialect cluster of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India. There are perhaps three distinct dialects, Asho (Khyang), Chinbon, and Shendu.

Mayin and Longpaw are not mutually intelligible, but have been subsumed under the ISO code for Chinbon because Mayin-Longpaw speakers generally understand Chinbon. Minkya is similarly included because most Minkya speakers understand Mayin. A written script was developed by Rev. Lyman Stilson in 1842.

Geographical distribution

Chinbon (Uppu) is spoken in the following townships of Myanmar.

• Chin State: Kanpetlet and Paletwa townships
• Magway Region: Saw and Sidoktaya townships
• Rakhine State: Minbya township

Asho is spoken in Ayeyarwady Region, Bago Region, and Magway Region, and Rakhine State, Myanmar.

VanBik (2009:38) lists the following Asho dialects.

• Settu (spoken from Sittwe to Thandwe — mostly Sittwe to Ann)
• Laitu (spoken in Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myepon and Ann townships, Rakhine state)
• Awttu (spoken in Mindon Township)
• Kowntu (spoken in Ngaphe, Minhla, Minbu)
• Kaitu (spoken in Pegu, Mandalay, Magway)
• Lauku (spoken in Myepone, Kyauk Phyu, Ann)

Shendu is spoken in Mizoram, India.

Phonology

The Asho dialect (K’Chò) has 26 to 30 consonants and ten to eleven vowels depending on the dialect.

Asho consonant phonemes in the Hill dialect

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	plain	p	t̪		k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	t̪ʰ		kʰ
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Nasal	voiced	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
	voiceless	m̥	n̥	ɲ̊	ŋ̊
Fricative	plain		s	ʃ		h
	aspirated		sʰ			ɦ
	lateral		ɬ
Approximant		w	l	j

• Voiced plosives /b d ɡ z/ are only heard in the Plains dialect.
• In the Plains dialect, dental plosives /t̪ t̪ʰ/ are pronounced as alveolar [t tʰ], along with /d/ being only alveolar.
• Velar plosives /k kʰ/ may be palatalized as affricates [tʃ tʃʰ] before front vowels.
• In some dialects a voiceless [j̊] is heard in place of /ʃ/.
• /j/ may also be heard as a fricative [ʒ] in free variation among dialects.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i / ˠi		ʉ	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e		(ə̆)	ɤ	o
Open-mid	ɛ			ɔ
Open			a

Diphthongs: ei, ai, au

• Sounds /ʏ ʉ/ only occur in the Hill dialect. In the Plains dialect, /ʊ u/ is heard in place of /ʏ ʉ/.
• A shortened [ə̆] is heard in unstressed syllables.
• /ɤ/ can sometimes be heard as more central [ɘ].
• A prevelarized /ˠi/ occurs in the Plains dialect.

Morphology

Similar to other Kukish languages, many Asho verbs have two distinct stems. This stem alternation is a Proto-Kukish feature, which has been retained to different degrees in different Kukish languages.