Shan language

Shan
ၵႂၢမ်းတႆးယႂ်ႇ Tai Yay language
Pronunciation	[lik.táj]
Native to	Burma, Thailand, China
Region	Shan State
Ethnicity	Shan people
Native speakers	3.3 million (2001)
Language family	Tai–Kadai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Northwestern Shan
Writing system	Mon script (Shan alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	shan1277
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The Shan language ( လိၵ်ႈတႆး , Shan pronunciation: [lik táj](Shan written),  ၵႂၢမ်းတႆး , [kwáːm táj](Shan spoken), or ၽႃႇသႃႇတႆး, [pʰàːsʰàː táj]; ရှမ်းဘာသာ, [ʃáɴ bàðà]; Thai: ภาษาไทใหญ่ Thai pronunciation: [pʰaːsǎː tʰaj jàj]) is the native language of the Shan people and is mostly spoken in Shan State, Burma. It is also spoken in pockets of Kachin State in Burma, in northern Thailand, and decreasingly in Assam. Shan is a member of the Tai–Kadai language family, and is related to Thai. It has five tones, which do not correspond exactly to Thai tones, plus a "sixth tone" used for emphasis. It is called Tai Yai, or Tai Long in the Tai languages.