Karenic languages


The Karen or Karenic languages are tonal languages spoken by some seven million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages. The Karen languages are written using the Burmese script. The three main branches are Sgaw, Pwo and Pa'o. Karenni and Kayan are related to the Sgaw branch. They are unusual among the Sino-Tibetan languages in having a subject–verb–object word order; other than Karen, Bai and the Chinese languages, Sino-Tibetan languages have a subject–object–verb order. This is likely due to influence from neighboring Mon and Tai languages.

Classification

Because they differ from other Tibeto-Burman languages in morphology and syntax, Benedict removed the Karen languages from Tibeto-Burman in a Tibeto-Karen branch, but this is no longer accepted.
A common geographical classification distinguishes three groups:
;Northern
;Central
;Southern
Kayan is transitional between the northern and central groups.
The languages with the most speakers are Sgaw, Pwo and Pa’o.

Manson (2011)

Manson classifies the Karen languages as follows, with each primary branch characterized by phonological innovations:
;Karen
The classifications of Geker, Gekho, Kayaw, and Manu are ambiguous, as they may be either Central or Southern.

Shintani (2012)

gives the following tentative classification, proposed in 2002, for what he calls the "Brakaloungic" languages, of which Karen is a branch. Individual languages are marked in italics.
;Brakaloungic
However, at the time of publication, Shintani reports that there are more than 40 Brakaloungic languages and/or dialects, many of which have only been recently reported and documented. Shintani also reports that Mon influence is present in all Brakaloungic languages, while some also have significant Burmese and Shan influence.
The Kayan languages are spoken in Kayah State, southern Shan State, and northern Karen State. There are four branches according to Shintani, namely Kangan, Kakhaung, Lawi, and Latha. Nangki, documented in Shintani, is one of the Kayan languages belonging to the Kakhaung subgroup. It is spoken only in one village.
Kadaw is spoken in Kayah State, and has nasalized vowels but no final nasal consonants. It has more Burmese than Shan influence.

Luangthongkum (2019)

Luangthongkum recognizes three branches of Proto-Karen, namely Northern, Central, and Southern, but is agnostic about how the three branches fit together.
;Karenic
Note: Western Bwe Karen preserves the implosives or preglottalised obstruents ɓ/ʔb and ɗ/ʔd, as well as voiceless sonorants such as hn, hl, and so forth.

Reconstruction