Karenn.adj.
/kəˈrɛn/, /kaˈrɛn/, U.S. /kəˈrɛn/ A. n.
1. One of a group of Sino-Tibetan language-speaking peoples scattered throughout Burma (Myanmar), esp. to the east; a member of one of these peoples.
ΘΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Burma > [noun] > Mongol peoples
Karenc1759
Lai1896
c1759 in A. Dalrymple Oriental Repertory (1793) I. 100 This Country contains two Nations, the Bûraghmahns, and Peguers... There is another People in this Country called Carianners, whiter than either.
1800 M. Symes Acct. Embassy to Ava vi. 207 Carayners, or Carianers..inhabit different parts of the country.
1833 W. Tandy tr. V. Sangermano Descr. Burmese Empire vi. 34 The Carian, a good and peaceable people.
1833 Bennett Let. 11 Nov. in F. Mason Karen Apostle (1847) v. 45 Four of the Karens were yesterday baptized.
1885 Science 7 Aug. 108/2 We clambered over the hills and spurs in the usual crow-flight of the Karens.
1910 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 58 701/2 The Karen undoubtedly had his original home in China.
1922 W. G. White Sea Gypsies of Malaya i. 18 Upon the ‘backbones’ of Burma live the Karens... The Karens are..monolatrists, if not monotheists.
1937 R. H. Lowie Hist. Ethnol. Theory (1938) vii. 84 He [sc. Tylor] definitely ascribes the latter view only to Algonkians, Fijians, and Karens.
1962 Listener 25 Oct. 646/1 Some of these hill peoples—such as the Karens, Kachins, and Chins—have a long tradition of feuding and fighting with the Burmese of the plains.
1965 B. Sweet-Escott Baker St. Irregular viii. 236 Hitherto we had been compelled to discourage widespread guerrilla activity among the loyal tribes such as the Karens.
1972 National Geographic Feb. 270/1 I knew that a handful of Karens had moved into these hills about 125 years ago and now far outnumbered the native Lua.
2. The language of these peoples.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Sino-Tibetan > [noun] > Tibeto-Karen
Karen1861
1861 J. Wade Karen Vernacular Gram. p. iii Without this knowledge no one can determine, with confidence, what is good..Karen, and what is mere colloquial jargon.
1871 C. M. Yonge Pioneers & Founders vi. 161 She tried to learn Karen, but never had time, and..she could always have an interpreter.
1887 D. M. Smeaton Loyal Karens Burma ii. 73 Reduplication of words in Karen conveys an adverbial signification.
1961 Dental Practitioner XI. 369/1 Indeed, ‘PAT’ has now been programmed to produce phrases in English, Swedish, Polish, and Karen (a language of Burma).
1970 M. Pereira Pigeon's Blood vii. 81 I can speak ten dialects of Chinese, but not a word of Karen or Shan.
B. adj.
Of or relating to the Karens or their language.
ΘΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > peoples of Burma > [adjective] > Mongol peoples
Karen1839
the mind > language > languages of the world > Sino-Tibetan > [adjective] > of or relating to Karen
Karen1887
1839 H. Malcom Trav. I. ii. 37 Friends who wish to make little presents to the Karen Christians, might send fine-tooth combs.
1885 A. R. Colquhoun Burma & Burmans i. 11 The White Karen chief of Western Karennee.
1887 D. M. Smeaton Loyal Karens Burma ii. 73 The Karen language is monosyllabic.
1892 W. R. Winston Four Years Upper Burma x. 99 I have..listened in Upper Burma to..glees, choruses and solos, rendered by Karen young men and maidens.
1948 D. Diringer Alphabet vii. 412 The Karen character is a modern adaptation of the Burmese script to the Karen tongue.
1959 Listener 30 Apr. 746/1 The Karen rebels.
1972 National Geographic Feb. 270/1 We found our Karen neighbors bore their troubles in a cheery, resilient, and generally relaxed way.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.c1759