Shö language

Shö
Native to	Myanmar, Bangladesh
Ethnicity	Asho Chin Khyang (in Bangladesh)
Native speakers	180,000 (2024)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman (?) Kuki-Chin–Naga Kuki-Chin Southern Shö
Writing system	Mon-Burmese and Latin script in Myanmar Bengali-Assamese script in Bangladesh
Language codes
ISO 639-3	csh – Asho Chin
Glottolog	asho1236  Asho Chin

Shö, or Asho, is a Kuki-Chin language of Myanmar, with a few thousand speakers in Bangladesh. This language is known as Asho Khyang in Bangladesh.

A written script was developed by Rev. Lyman Stilson in 1842.

Geographical distribution

Asho is spoken in Ayeyarwady Region, Bago Region, and Magway Region, and Rakhine State, Myanmar. VanBik (2009:38) lists the following Asho dialects.

• Settu (spoken from Sittwe to Thandwe — mostly Sittwe to Ann)
• Laitu (spoken in Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myepon and Ann townships, Rakhine state)
• Awttu (spoken in Mindon Township)
• Kowntu (spoken in Ngaphe, Minhla, Minbu)
• Kaitu (spoken in Pegu, Mandalay, Magway)
• Lauku (spoken in Myepone, Kyauk Phyu, Ann)

Phonology

Asho (K'Chò) has 26 to 30 consonants and ten to eleven vowels depending on the dialect.

Asho consonant phonemes in the Hill dialect

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
						-v	+v
Plosive	plain	p	t̪		k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	t̪ʰ		kʰ
	implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Nasal	voiced	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
	voiceless	m̥	n̥	ɲ̊	ŋ̊
Fricative	plain		s	ʃ		h	ɦ
	aspirated		sʰ
	lateral		ɬ
Approximant		w	l	j

• Voiced plosives /b d ɡ z/ are only heard in the Plains dialect.
• In the Plains dialect, dental plosives /t̪ t̪ʰ/ are pronounced as alveolar [t tʰ], along with /d/ being only alveolar.
• Velar plosives /k kʰ/ may be palatalized as affricates [tʃ tʃʰ] before front vowels.
• In some dialects a voiceless [j̊] is heard in place of /ʃ/.
• /j/ may also be heard as a fricative [ʒ] in free variation among dialects.

Vowels

	Front		Central	Back
Close	i / ˠi		ʉ	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e		(ə̆)	ɤ	o
Open-mid	ɛ			ɔ
Open			a

Diphthongs: ei, ai, au

• Sounds /ʏ ʉ/ only occur in the Hill dialect. In the Plains dialect, /ʊ u/ is heard in place of /ʏ ʉ/.
• A shortened [ə̆] is heard in unstressed syllables.
• /ɤ/ can sometimes be heard as more central [ɘ].
• A prevelarized /ˠi/ occurs in the Plains dialect.

Morphology

Similar to other Kukish languages, many Asho verbs have two distinct stems. This stem alternation is a Proto-Kukish feature, which has been retained to different degrees in different Kukish languages.