The objectives of this research are: 1) to study history of the Shan and its loanwords, 2) to analysis Burmese loanwords found in Shan language and 3) to study the factors of borrowing loanwords from the Burmese language.
Collecting data of the research study is consisted of two methods namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data was directly collecting information from A Shan – English Dictionary and Shan – Myanmar Dictionary. Secondary data was collecting information from documentary survey like thesis, academic books, academic articles and journals.
The analysis was divided into two parts: types of loanwords and semantic changes. There are four main types of loanwords: transliteration, loan translation, loan blend, and loan shift; and the second part is related to four main kinds of loanwords according to semantic changes. The data were analyzed according to the method of assimilation into Burmese and Shan context.
The units for this study were 309 Burmese loanwords in Shan have found from the data collections, which has been divided into four types: (1) transliteration, (127) 41.10%, (2) Loan blended, (120) 57.14%, (3) Loan shift (20) 9.52%, and (4) Loan translation, (13) 6.19%. Data analysis of the research study was shown and discussed with illustrations.
Based on the findings, it was found that transliteration was used most. Besides, original meaning was used most in the contexts according to semantic changes. To conclude, this study offers insight into Burmese loanwords in the Shan language.
