The phonetics of Wa: Experimental
phonetics, phonology, orthography and sociolinguistics
Watkins, Justin
Pl 531
This is a linguistic phonetic
study of the Northern Mon-Khmer language Wa, spoken by about
one million people in an area on the border between China's
Yúnán Province and Burma's (Myanmar's) Shan State. The aim
of this book is to describe the phonetic facts of the sounds
of Wa in terms of the simplest segment types without compromising
detail, and to illustrate the types of contrasts which distinguish
them from one another, so that they may be viewed in a wider,
phonetic linguistic, context. It is hoped that sufficient
material is presented here to inform a comparison of dialectal
variants of Wa and that the instrumental data may be of value
in comparing a sound in Wa with similar sounds in other languages.
This study aims to be accessible to all those who are interested
by the relevance of phonetics to linguistics. It is hoped
that certain sections, in particular the background information
and the discussion of topics relating to the historical phonology
of Wa may be of interest to a wider readership, namely Mon-Khmerists,
those working on other minority languages of South East Asia
or elsewhere, or those with a general interest in Wa language,
culture or society.
2002
ISBN 0 85883 486 3
xxvii + 226 pp
Prices: Australia A$47.85 (inc. GST), Overseas
A$43.50
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