TheKam–Tai languages, also calledDong–Tai (Chinese:侗台语支) orZhuang–Dong (Chinese:壮侗语族) in China, are a proposed primary branch of theKra–Dai language family. However, since the 2000s in China, the namesDong–Tai (Chinese:侗台语支) andZhuang–Dong (Chinese:壮侗语族) have been used to refer to the entireKra–Dai language family, including theKra languages, due to the extensive documentation and comparative work done on Kra languages in China starting from the 2000s.
In Western scholarship, a Kam–Tai group consisting ofKam–Sui andTai is accepted byEdmondson & Solnit (1988).[2][3] Hansell (1988)[4] considers Be to be asister of theTai branch based on shared vocabulary, and proposes aBe–Tai grouping within Kam–Tai. This classification is also followed byNorquest (2015).[5]
However, Ostapirat (2005)[6] and various other linguists do not make use of the Kam–Tai grouping.
^Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1988. Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vii, 374 p.
^Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vi, 382 p.
^Hansell, Mark. 1988. The Relation of Be to Tai: Evidence from Tones and Initials. InComparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Edited by Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit. Summer Institute of Linguistics and The University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics No. 86: 239–288.
^Norquest, Peter. 2015.A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Leiden: Brill.
^Ostapirat, Weera. (2005). "Kra–Dai and Austronesian: Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution", pp. 107–131 in Sagart, Laurent, Blench, Roger & Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia (eds.),The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. London/New York: Routledge-Curzon.
^Liang Min 梁敏 & Zhang Junru 张均如. 1996.Dongtai yuzu gailun 侗台语族概论 /An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社.ISBN9787500416814
Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (eds.) (1988).Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. Arlington, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.ISBN0-88312-066-6
Liang Min 梁敏 & Zhang Junru 张均如. 1996.Dongtai yuzu gailun 侗台语族概论 /An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社.ISBN9787500416814
Ni Dabai 倪大白. 1990.Dongtai yu gailun 侗台语概论 /An introduction to the Kam-Tai languages. Beijing: Central Nationalities Research Institute Press 中央民族学院出版社.
