Description and Study of Sociolinguistic Situation of Palaung Language in Northeast Myanmar

本研究的目的如下：首先，对缅甸东北部巴隆语的语音进行描述和音位分析。第二，在实地调查的基础上，对上述地区的双语或多语种情况进行调查。第一年，语音分析和田野调查所需的设备已经准备就绪。11月份进行了研究双语情况的实地工作。还在东京的一名语言顾问的帮助下进行了语音说明，由于该国政治不稳定，第二年在该地区的实地工作被取消。取而代之的是，我们在泰国北部进行了一次实地考察，那里观察到了缅甸语、少数民族语言和当地泰国方言的多种语言。另一方面，我们利用前一年的数据进行音素分析，根据田野调查获得的信息，我们了解到，该地区的巴隆语人在家里和小学教育的早期阶段一直使用巴隆语，直到五六岁。直到这个年龄段的教育都只在巴隆进行。当地教师是巴隆族人，但很少有缅族人。只有在六岁左右，巴隆儿童才开始将缅甸语作为国语学习。

The objectives of this research is as follows.Firstly, to describe phonetics and to analyze phonology of Palaung language spoken in the northeast part of Myanmar. Secondly, to investigate the bilingual or multilingual situation in the above area based on fieldwork.In the first year, the equipment required for the phonetic analysis and the fieldwork was prepared. Fieldwork for studying the bilingual situation was done in November. Phonetic description was also done with the help of a language consultant available in Tokyo.Fieldwork in the area for the second year was cancelled due to the political instability during the period in the country. Instead, we conducted a field trip in the northern Thailand where multilingualism of Burmese, minority languages and local Thai dialects is observed. On the other hand, we concentrated on phonemic analysis using the data obtained in the previous year.According to the information obtained from the fieldwork, we learned that Palaung people in the region continuously use Palaung language at home and in the early stage of their elementary education up to five or six years old. The education up to this age is done using Palaung only. The local teachers are ethnic Palaung people, except few are ethnic Burmese. Only after around six years old, the Palaung children start learning Burmese language as the national language.