Myeik dialect

Myeik
Mergui, Merguiese
Region	Southeast
Native speakers	(250,000 cited 1997)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) Lolo–Burmese Burmish Southern Burmese Myeik
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	merg1238

The Myeik dialect, also known as Beik in Burmese, Mergui and Merguiese in English, and Marit (มะริด) in Thai, is a divergent dialect of Burmese, spoken in Myeik, the second largest town in Tanintharyi Region, the southernmost region of Myanmar.^[2] Beik shares many commonalities with the Tavoyan dialect, although there are substantial differences especially with regard to phonology.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Beik possesses 27 consonant phonemes:^[3]

	Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar and palatal	Velar and labiovelar	Glottal	Placeless
Plosive and affricate	pʰ p b	tʰ t d t̪		tɕʰ tɕ dʑ	kʰ k ɡ	ʔ
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	ŋ		ɴ
Fricative			sʰ s z			h ɦ
Approximant				j	w
Lateral		l

Unlike Standard Burmese, the Myeik dialect does not have any preaspirated consonants.^[4] Phonemes unique to the Myeik dialect include /ɦ/ and /t̪/.^[4]

Mergui Archipelago

Mergui Archipelago^[5]

Vowels

The Myeik dialect has three types of vowels: plain, nasalized and glottalized, with each type having seven vowels.^[6]

	Monophthongs		Diphthongs
	Front	Back	Front offglide	Back offglide
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o	ei	ou
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open		a	ai	au

Notes

1. Burmese at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
2. Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 118.
3. Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 119.
4. Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 120.
5. Mergui, Archipelago (November 9, 2021). "Mergui Archipelago". Mergui Archipelago. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
6. Kato & Khin Pale 2012, p. 121.

References

• Kato, Atsuhiko; Khin Pale (2012). "The Myeik (Beik) Dialect of Burmese sounds, conversational texts, and basic vocabulary". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 83: 117–160.