Mok language

Mok
Mok
Region	Shan State, Myanmar and Thailand
Native speakers	4,700 (2018)
Language family	Austroasiatic Khasi–Palaungic Palaungic Angkuic Mok; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mqt
Glottolog	mokk1243
ELP	Mok

Austroasiatic language spoken in Myanmar and Thailand

Mok (/mɔ̀k/ 'mountain people'^[2]), also known as Amok,^[3] Hsen-Hsum, and Muak, is an Angkuic language or dialect cluster spoken in Shan State, Myanmar^[4]

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.^[4] These varieties have some lexical similarity (the lowest being 88%) with each other, but very low lexical similarity with the other Angkuic languages.^[5]

Gloss	Mok A	Mok B	Mok C	Mok D	Mok E	Muak Sa-aak	Pa Xɛp U	Hu
die	[jɛ́m]	[n̩jém]	[jám]	[jɛ́m]	[jɛ̂m]	jâm	jàp	jám
weep	[jàːm]	[jàːm]	[jàːm]	[jàːm]	[jàːm]	jâːm	jâm	jàm
chicken	[ʔèa]	[ʔeàː]	[ʔìa]	[ʔeàː]	[ʔeàː]	ʔɛ̂l	jɛ́	-
silver, money	[mûi]	[nèŋ]^[6]	[ŋə̀n]^[6]	[muí]	[p.sí muî]	mûl	mùn	mm̥úl
fly (v.)	[tʰə̀ːŋ]	[tʰiaŋ] / [pʰiaŋ]	[ntʰíaŋ]	[mpʰîang]	[ntʰîaŋ]	pʰ.jûl	mpʰə̀	phɨ́ʁ
louse	[síʔ] / [nsíʔ]	[síʔ] / [nsíʔ]	[nsíʔ]	[síʔ] / [nsíʔ]	[síʔ] / [nsíʔ]	cʰíʔ	nchí	nsíʔ

Owen (2018) names these varieties Hwe Law, Chieng Kham, Pha Lam, Punglong, and Hwe Koi.^[7]

A Mok dialect of Shan State has been documented by Shintani (2019).^[8]

Geographic distribution

Tannumsaeng (2020)^[5] 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.^[2]

Phonology

Tannumsaeng (2020),^[5] 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 ŋ̩ 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


		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t	c	k	ʔ
Plosive	Aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Fricative		f	s			h
Trill			r
Approximant		w	l	j	(w)

Vowels


	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		ɯ • u
Close-mid	e	ə	ɤ • o
Open-mid	ɛ	ə	ɔ
Open	a

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

^ Mok at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021)
^ a b Tannumsaeng, Phakawee. 2020. A Preliminary Grammar of Mok, Hwe Koi Variety, Chiang Rai, with Special Focus on The Anaphoric Uses of tɤ́ʔ. M.A. dissertation. Chiang Mai: Payap University.
^ OLAC Resources in and about the Mok Language, www.language-archives.org/language.php/mqt.
^ a b Hall, Elizabeth and Shane Devereux (2018). Preliminary Mok Phonology and Implications for Angkuic Sound Change. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, held May 17–19, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
^ a b c Phakawee Tannumsaeng (2020). A Preliminary Grammar of Mok, Hwe Koi Variety, Chiang Rai, With Special Focus on the Anaphoric Use of tɤ́ʔ. Payap University.
^ a b Tai loanword
^ Owen, Robert Wyn. 2018. Initial findings from Mok KIQ and DMT. Unpublished manuscript.
^ Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Sen Tsum (I-Mok) language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 121. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).

External links

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

[e24-1] Mok at Ethnologue (24th ed., 2021)

[Tannumsaeng2020-2] Tannumsaeng, Phakawee. 2020. A Preliminary Grammar of Mok, Hwe Koi Variety, Chiang Rai, with Special Focus on The Anaphoric Uses of tɤ́ʔ. M.A. dissertation. Chiang Mai: Payap University.

[3] OLAC Resources in and about the Mok Language, www.language-archives.org/language.php/mqt.

[Hall2018-4] Hall, Elizabeth and Shane Devereux (2018). Preliminary Mok Phonology and Implications for Angkuic Sound Change. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, held May 17–19, 2018 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

[:0-5] Phakawee Tannumsaeng (2020). A Preliminary Grammar of Mok, Hwe Koi Variety, Chiang Rai, With Special Focus on the Anaphoric Use of tɤ́ʔ. Payap University.

[Tai-6] Tai loanword

[7] Owen, Robert Wyn. 2018. Initial findings from Mok KIQ and DMT. Unpublished manuscript.

[8] Shintani, Tadahiko. 2019. The Sen Tsum (I-Mok) language. Linguistic survey of Tay cultural area (LSTCA) no. 121. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA).