| Karenni | |
|---|---|
| Kayah | |
| ꤊꤢꤛꤢ꤭ ꤜꤟꤤ꤬ ကယး လီူး; ကရင်နီ | |
| Native to | Burma, Thailand |
| Ethnicity | Karenni |
Native speakers | 187,000 (2000–2007)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Kayah Li (eky,kyu) Latin (kyu,kxf) Myanmar (kyu,kxf) unwritten (kvy) | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:eky – Eastern Kayahkyu – Western Kayahkvy – Yintalekxf – Manumanaw (Manu) |
| Glottolog | kaya1317 Kayahyint1235 Yintale Karenmanu1255 Manumanaw Karen |
Karenni or Red Karen (Kayah Li: ꤊꤢꤛꤢ꤭ ꤜꤟꤤ꤬; Burmese: ကရင်နီ), known in Burmese as Kayah (Burmese: ကယား), is a Karen dialect continuum spoken by over half a million Kayah people (Red Karen) in Burma.
The name Kayah has been described as "a new name invented by the Burmese to split them off from other Karen".[2]
Eastern Kayah is reported to have been spoken by 260,000 in Burma and 100,000 in Thailand in 2000, and Western Kayah by 210,000 in Burma in 1987. They are rather divergent. Among the Western dialects are Yintale and kayahManu (Manumanaw in Burmese).
- ^ Eastern Kayah at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Western Kayah at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Yintale at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Manumanaw (Manu) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Christopher Beckwith, International Association for Tibetan Studies, 2002. Medieval Tibeto-Burman languages, p. 108.