Lahta Scripture Portions
Overview
The Lahta scripture portion is the Gospel of Luke (with audio) in the Lahta (Kangan) language of Myanmar's Shan State, published by the Dhamma Mate Swe Association (DMS) in 2024 and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 4165; abbreviation: LTPV-RV). This publication is part of DMS's 2024 initiative producing Gospel of Luke portions across 18 or more Myanmar ethnic minority languages. Lahta is a member of the Kayan people complex — the broader grouping of "Padaung" peoples — found in southern Shan State.
Language and People
Lahta (ISO 639-3: kvt; autonym: Kangan; also called Lahta Karen or Zayein Lahta) is a Karenic language in the Sino-Tibetan family: Sino-Tibetan → Tibeto-Burman → Karenic branch. The Karenic languages are spoken primarily in Myanmar's Kayin (Karen) State, the Kayah (Karenni) highlands, and in southern Shan State; Lahta belongs to the southern Shan State cluster sometimes called the Kayan languages (which include Kayan Lahwi, Kayan Khamae, and others in addition to Lahta). A variant, Zayein Lahta, is spoken between Mobye and Phekon towns.
The Lahta people live primarily in Southern Shan State, in Pekhon and Pinlaung Townships (Pekon and Pinlaung). Some Lahta communities are also found in Mandalay Region (Pyinmana Township). The Lahta are one of the constituent groups within the broader Kayan people complex — the same cultural sphere as the Kayan Lahwi people known internationally for their brass neck-ring tradition, though the Lahta themselves do not practice this.
Estimated speakers: approximately 20,000 (Ethnologue, 2000–2017 data). The language is classified as stable, with full community use across generations.
Religiously, the Lahta community practices primarily ethnic/traditional religion alongside some Buddhism, with a small Christian minority — consistent with other Kayan-complex peoples of southern Shan State.
About Dhamma Mate Swe Association
Dhamma Mate Swe Association (DMS) is a Myanmar-based Bible translation organization whose name means "Friends of Scripture Association" (Pali dhamma = scripture/teaching; Burmese mate swe = friend/companion). In 2024, DMS published Gospel of Luke portions with audio across at least 18 Myanmar ethnic minority languages covering diverse families: Karenic, Palaungic (Austro-Asiatic), Kadu, Mon, Tai, Naga, and others. All 2024 DMS publications carry the © Dhamma Mate Swe Association copyright.