Sgaw

S'gaw Karen
စှီၤ
Pronunciation	[sɣɔʔ]
Native to	Myanmar, Thailand
Region	Eastern Burma, Western Thailand
Ethnicity	S'gaw
Native speakers	(4 million cited 1983–2011)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Karen Sgaw–Bghai S'gaw Karen
Writing system	Myanmar script S'gaw Karen Script (Karen alphabet) Latin script Karen Braille
Official status
Official language in	Kayin State
Recognised minority language in	Thailand  Myanmar
Language codes
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	– inclusive code Individual codes: ksw – S'gaw jkp – Paku jkm – Mopwa wea – Wewaw
Glottolog	sout1554
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S'gaw (S'gaw Karen: စှီၤ pronounced [sɣɔʔ], also known as S'gaw Karen and S'gaw Kayin, is a Karen language spoken by over four million S'gaw Karen people in Burma, and 200,000 in Thailand. S'gaw Karen is spoken in Tanintharyi Region's Ayeyarwady Delta, Yangon Division, Bago Division, Western Thailand, Northern Thailand, and Kayin State. It is written using the Mon script. A Bible translation was published in 1853.

Various divergent dialects are sometimes seen as separate languages: Paku in the northeast, Mopwa (Mobwa) in the northwest, Wewew, and Monnepwa.

S'gaw is spoken in Ayeyarwady delta area, in the Ayeyarwady, Bago, Kayin, and Rangon regions. S'gaw speakers are frequently interspersed with Pwo Karen speakers.

S'gaw dialects are:

Paku is spoken in:

Paku dialects are Shwe Kyin, Mawchi, Kyauk Gyi, Bawgali, the names of which are based on villages.

Mobwa is spoken in 9 villages at the western foot of the Thandaung Mountains in Thandaung township, Kayin State. There are also some in Taungoo township, Bago Region.

Mobwa dialects are Palaychi (Southern Mobwa) and Dermuha (Southern Mobwa).

The Karen alphabet consist of 25 consonats, 9 vowels, 5 tones and 5 medials. The Karen alphabet was adopted from the Burmese script. it wad created by the help of the English missionaries around the early 1960s. The Karen alphabet was created for the reason of translating the Bible into the Karen language. Karen script is written from left to right and requires no spaces between words, although modern writing usually contains spaces after each clause to enhance readability.