Alternate Names: Samtau, Samtuan
Genealogy:
Demographics: 9,550 in Myanmar (2000). Population total all countries: 13,180.
Language Use: Vigorous. Home, village, community affairs. All ages. Positive attitudes.
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%.
Nation of Origin: Myanmar
Other Comments: Samtao is used among the Palaungic peoples to refer to unintelligible dialects of Plang ,. In China, Samtao refers to Plang in Burma and occasionally to Plang from other China-based varieties with low intelligibility. ‘Samtao’, also refers to south Mong La area in East Shan State between the China border and Nam Lwe River. A third meaning refers to Plang who live in the Samtao area. Wan Phii Plang is a Samtao variety similar to and intelligible with Wan Sen and Wan Nyet, ancient Plang villages along Mong La-Kentung Road further west. A fourth meaning of ‘Samtao’ refers to Palaungic varieties more similar to Wa, such as the Wa, Pangloh, who also refer to themselves as Samtao. 1 Samtao village in Veng Phu Kha insists they speak the ancient Samtao language, but lexically it is Lao , with Mon-Khmer phonology. Traditional religion.