Editing Mon language (section)

==History==
Mon is an important language in Burmese history. Until the 12th century, it was the [[lingua franca]] of the [[Irrawaddy River|Irrawaddy valley]]—not only in the Mon kingdoms of the lower Irrawaddy but also of the upriver [[Pagan Kingdom]] of the [[Bamar people]]. Mon, especially written Mon, continued to be a [[prestige language]] even after the fall of the Mon [[Thaton Kingdom|kingdom of Thaton]] to Pagan in 1057. King [[Kyansittha]] of Pagan (r. 1084–1113) admired Mon culture and the Mon language was patronized. 
[[File:Myazedi-Inscription-Mon.JPG|left|thumb|236x236px|The Mon [[Myazedi Inscription]] (AD 1113) is Myanmar's oldest surviving stone inscription.]]
Kyansittha left many inscriptions in Mon. During this period, the [[Myazedi inscription]], which contains identical inscriptions of a story in [[Pali]], [[Pyu language (Burma)|Pyu]], Mon and Burmese on the four sides, was carved.<ref name="tarling"/> However, after Kyansittha's death, usage of the Mon language declined among the Bamar and the [[Burmese language]] began to replace Mon and Pyu as a [[lingua franca]].<ref name="tarling">{{cite book | first=Paul | last=Strachan | year=1990 | title=Imperial Pagan: Art and Architecture of Burma | publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]] | pages=66 | isbn=0-8248-1325-1}}</ref>

Mon inscriptions from [[Dvaravati]]'s ruins also litter [[Thailand]]. However it is not clear if the inhabitants were Mon, a mix of Mon and Malay or Khmer. Later inscriptions and kingdoms like [[Lavo Kingdom|Lavo]] were subservient to the [[Khmer Empire]].

After the fall of Pagan, Mon again became the lingua franca of the [[Hanthawaddy Kingdom]] (1287–1539) in present-day [[Lower Myanmar]], which remained a predominantly Mon-speaking region until the 1800s, by which point, the [[Burmese language]] had expanded its reach from its traditional heartland in [[Upper Myanmar|Upper Burma]] into [[Lower Myanmar|Lower Burma]].

The region's language shift from Mon to Burmese has been ascribed to a combination of population displacement, intermarriage, and voluntary changes in self-identification among increasingly Mon–Burmese bilingual populations in throughout Lower Burma.{{sfn|Lieberman|2003|p=202-206}} The shift was certainly accelerated by the fall of the Mon-speaking [[Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom]] in 1757. Following the fall of Pegu (now Bago), many Mon-speaking refugees fled and resettled in what is now modern-day Thailand.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wijeyewardene|first=Gehan|title=Ethnic Groups Across National Boundaries in Mainland Southeast Asia|year=1990|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-3035-57-7}}</ref> By 1830, an estimated 90% of the population in the Lower Burma self-identified as Burmese-speaking Bamars; huge swaths of former Mon-speaking areas, from the [[Irrawaddy Delta]] upriver, spanning Bassein (now Pathein) and Rangoon (now Yangon) to Tharrawaddy, Toungoo, Prome (now Pyay) and Henzada (now Hinthada), were now Burmese-speaking.{{sfn|Lieberman|2003|p=202-206}} Great Britain's gradual annexation of Burma throughout the 19th century, in addition to concomitant economic and political instability in Upper Burma (e.g., increased tax burdens to the Burmese crown, British rice production incentives, etc.) also accelerated the migration of Burmese speakers from Upper Burma into Lower Burma.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adas|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Czd7xXIf3MC&pg=PA67|title=The Burma Delta: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852–1941|date=2011-04-20|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=9780299283537|pages=67–77}}</ref>

The Mon language has influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Jenny|first=Mathias|date=2013|title=The Mon language:recipient and donor between Burmese and Thai|url=http://www.lc.mahidol.ac.th/lcjournal/|journal=Journal of Language and Culture|volume=31|issue=2|pages=5–33|doi=10.5167/uzh-81044|issn=0125-6424}}</ref> In Lower Burmese varieties, the verb ပေး ("to give") is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, like in other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in other Tibeto-Burman languages.<ref name=":1" /> This usage is hardly employed in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct.<ref name=":1" />

In 1972, the [[New Mon State Party]] (NMSP) established a Mon national school system, which uses Mon as a [[medium of instruction]], in rebel-controlled areas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Lall|first1=Marie|last2=South|first2=Ashley|date=2014-04-03|title=Comparing Models of Non-state Ethnic Education in Myanmar: The Mon and Karen National Education Regimes|journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia|volume=44|issue=2|pages=298–321|doi=10.1080/00472336.2013.823534|s2cid=55715948|issn=0047-2336}}</ref> The system was expanded throughout Mon State following a ceasefire with the central government in 1995.<ref name=":0" /> Mon State now operates a multi-track education system, with schools either using Mon as the primary medium of instruction (called Mon national schools) offering modules on the Mon language in addition to the government curriculum (called "mixed schools").<ref name=":0" /> In 2015, Mon language courses were launched state-wide at the elementary level.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-03-11|title=Mon language classes to launch at state schools|url=https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/13452-mon-language-classes-to-launch-at-state-schools.html|access-date=2020-06-03|website=The Myanmar Times}}</ref> This system has been recognized as a model for [[mother-tongue]] education in the Burmese national education system, because it enables children taught in the Mon language to integrate into the mainstream Burmese education system at higher education levels.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-08-20|title=Mother tongue education: the Mon model|url=https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/187-mother-tongue-education-the-mon-model.html|access-date=2020-06-03|website=The Myanmar Times}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

In 2013, it was announced that the [[Mawlamyine]]-based ''Thanlwin Times'' would begin to carry news in the Mon language, becoming Myanmar's first Mon language publication since 1962.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kun Chan|date=2013-02-13|title=First Mon language newspaper in 50 years to be published|url=http://archive-2.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8898-first-mon-language-newspaper-in-50-years-to-be-published.html|access-date=2013-02-16|archive-date=2014-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714203800/http://archive-2.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8898-first-mon-language-newspaper-in-50-years-to-be-published.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>