Zaiwa language


Zaiwa is a Burmish language spoken in parts of China and Burma. There are around 100,000 speakers. It is also known as Atsi, its name in Jingpo. Other names for the language include Atzi, Azi, Aci, Aji, Atshi, Atsi-Maru, Maru, Zi, Tsaiwa, Szi and Xiaoshanhua. Pela , with 400 speakers, was once classified as a dialect. From the 1950s Zaiwa was using Roman script. A Gospel of Mark was published in Zaiwa in 1938 in the Fraser alphabet, and in 1951 in Roman script.

Distribution

There are more than 70,000 Zaiwa speakers in Yunnan, China, including in:
The Ethnologue lists Bengwa, Longzhun, and Tingzhu as dialects.
In Myanmar, the Sadon dialect is the standard variety.

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.