Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Eastern Pwo language

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Native to
  
Burma, Thailand

Native speakers
  
1 million (1998)

Ethnicity
  
Kayah people

ISO 639-3
  
kjp

Language family
  
Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Karen languages Pwo Eastern Pwo

Writing system
  
Burmese script (various alphabets) Leke script

Eastern Pwo, or Phlou, is a Karen language spoken by over a million people in Burma and by about 50,000 in Thailand, where it has been called Southern Pwo. It is not intelligible with other varieties of Pwo.

Contents

A script called Leke was developed between 1830 and 1860 and is used by members of the millenarian Leke sect of Buddhism. Otherwise a variety of Burmese alphabets are used, and refugees in Thailand have created a Thai alphabet which is in limited use.

Distribution

  • Kayin State and Tanintharyi Region: long contiguous area near Thai border
  • Bago Region: Bago and Toungoo townships

    • Dialects

  • Pa’an (Inland Eastern Pwo Karen, Moulmein)
  • Kawkareik (Eastern Border Pwo Karen)
  • Tavoy (Southern Pwo Karen)

    • References

    Eastern Pwo language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA