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The Shan language ( , -shnlɪ̀k tɑ́ɪIPA or , -shnpʰàː sʰàː tái; , -myʃáɴ bàðà; ) is the native language of Shan people and spoken mostly in Shan State, Burma. It is also used in pockets of Kachin State in Burma, in northern Thailand, and in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Shan is a member of the Tai � Kadai language family, and is related to Thai. It has five tones, which do not correspond exactly to Thai tones, plus a "sixth tone" used for emphasis. It is called Tai Yai, or Tai Long in the Tai languages. The term "Shan" is an exonym believed to be a Burmese derivative of "Siam".
The number of Shan speakers is not known in part because that of the Shan population is unknown. Estimates of Shan people range from four million to 30 million, though the true number is somewhere around six million, with about half speaking the Shan language; 3.3 million is the number generally estimated. Many Shan speak local dialects as well as the language of their trading partners. Due to the civil war in Burma, few Shan today can read or write in Shan script, which was derived from the Burmese script.
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