Min-ga-la-ba
{ } A Myanmar Tapestry of Traditions, Cultures and Languages
or Burma? The confusion begins here. Myanmar is recognised in most countries and in the United Nations (UN), but not in the United Kingdom. As Myanmar’s former colonial rulers, the UK has refused to acknowledge the ruling legitimacy of the Myanmar military regime. Hence, they still say ‘Burma’.
Myanmar
DAWEI
The Dawei tribe is a major sub-group of the Bamar in the coastal part of southern Myanmar, now known as Taninthayi Division. Dawei is now the capital city of the Taninthayi Division. The majority of the Dawei are devoted Buddhists. The word ‘dawei’, in fact, means to ‘sit cross-legged’, as Buddha did. The Dawei people speak Tavoyan, a dialect with many loan words from Malay and Thai. At present, there are approximately 400,000 native speakers of Tavoyan.
KADU (KADO)
The Kadu tribe were Mongoloids who lived in the Himalayan valleys. According to historians, the Kadu is a broken tribe because no significant numbers of their people are found in one place. In 1947, a History professor at Yangon University discovered 691 people who spoke the Kadu language in lower Myanmar. The Kadu language connects ancient Indian languages like Prakrit (Parli) and Sanskrit. English researchers have commented that its structure is similar to that of the Yiddish of Europe, which is a mix of German and Hebrew.
YAW
The Yaw tribe is said to have disappeared around the start of the 20th century. By 1901, only 18 people claimed their Yaw heritage. Researchers assumed that the remaining Yaw people had merged with the Burmese, and are now practically indistinguishable from the latter. Little is known about this sub-group.
MOKEN (SALONI/SALONE)
Known as the sea gypsies or sea nomads of Myanmar, the Moken tribe of between 2,000 to 3,000 members live on wooden boats called kabangs. They are likely to have emigrated from China to regions in Myanmar and Thailand about 4,000 years ago. These reclusive tribespeople speak mutually unintelligible Malay-based dialects. Despite having been given a written script by visiting missionaries, this group of seafarers generally do not write Burmese.
BEIK (BEIKTHANO)
Beik is an ancient Pyu city; its name is translated as ‘Vishnu the Preserver’.the people were accomplished masons, blacksmiths and potters, and spoke in the Pyu language, which is related to Old Burmese. Sanskrit and Pali were the court languages, used alongside the Pyu script.