Mok (/mɔ̀k/ 'mountain people'), also known as Amok, Hsen-Hsum, and Muak, is an Angkuic language or dialect cluster spoken in Shan State, Myanmar

Seven speakers in Lampang province, Thailand, were reported by Wurm & Hattori (1981).

Varieties

Hall & Devereux (2018) report that five varieties of Mok are spoken in Shan State, Myanmar, providing the following comparative vocabulary table. These varieties have some lexical similarity (the lowest being 88%) with each other, but very low lexical similarity with the other Angkuic languages.

GlossMok AMok BMok CMok DMok EMuak Sa-aakPa Xɛp UHu
die[jɛ́m][n̩jém][jám][jɛ́m][jɛ̂m]jâmjàpjám
weep[jàːm][jàːm][jàːm][jàːm][jàːm]jâːmjâmjàm
chicken[ʔèa][ʔeàː][ʔìa][ʔeàː][ʔeàː]ʔɛ̂ljɛ́-
silver, money[mûi][nèŋ][ŋə̀n][muí][p.sí muî]mûlmùnmm̥úl
fly (v.)[tʰə̀ːŋ][tʰiaŋ] / [pʰiaŋ][ntʰíaŋ][mpʰîang][ntʰîaŋ]pʰ.jûlmpʰə̀phɨ́ʁ
louse[síʔ] / [nsíʔ][síʔ] / [nsíʔ][nsíʔ][síʔ] / [nsíʔ][síʔ] / [nsíʔ]cʰíʔnchínsíʔ

Owen (2018) names these varieties Hwe Law, Chieng Kham, Pha Lam, Punglong, and Hwe Koi.

A Mok dialect of Shan State has been documented by Shintani (2019).

Geographic distribution

Tannumsaeng (2020) describes three locations for Mok: between Mong Khet and Mong Yang and south of Kengtung in Myanmar, and on the Thai-Burmese border in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. The main Mok-speaking areas in Shan State include an area just to the south of Kengtung, and another area situated between Mong Khet and Mong Yang.

Phonology

Tannumsaeng (2020), citing Hall & Devereux (2018), provides the following phonology for Mok.

The consonants are /pʰ p m f w tʰ t n s l r c ɲ j kʰ k ŋ ʔ h/, with reduced /m̩ n̩ ɲ̩ ŋ̍ pə tə kə sə/. /f/ and /r/ only appear in certain varieties. The vowels are /i e ɛ u ɯ o ɤ ɔ a/, with the diphthongs /ia ɯa ua/. Mok has two tones, one low and one high.

Consonants

LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
PlosiveVoicelessptckʔ
Aspiratedpʰtʰkʰ
Nasalmnɲŋ
Fricativefsh
Trillr
Approximantwlj(w)

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Closeiɯ • u
Close-mideəɤ • o
Open-midɛɔ
Opena

Where there are two vowels separated by a dot •, the one on the left is unrounded and the one on the right is rounded.

References and notes

Further reading

  • Hall, Elizabeth. 2010. . M.A. thesis. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Payap University.

External links

  • (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
  • http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-9671-C@view Mok in RWAAI Digital Archive