Tai Dam
Black Tai
ꪼꪕꪒꪾ;ไทดำ
Native to	Vietnam,Laos,Thailand,China
Ethnicity	Tai Dam
Native speakers	(760,000 cited 1995–2002)[1]
Language family	Kra–Dai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Chiang Saen Tai Dam
Writing system	Tai Viet
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Vietnam  Thailand
Language codes
ISO 639-3	blt
Glottolog	taid1247

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Tai Dam (simplified Chinese:傣担语;traditional Chinese:傣擔語;pinyin:Dǎidānyǔ), also known asBlack Tai (Thai:ภาษาไทดำ;pronounced[pʰāːsǎːtʰājdām];Vietnamese:tiếng Thái Đen; 'Black Tai language';simplified Chinese:黑傣语;traditional Chinese:黑傣語;pinyin:Hēidǎiyǔ), is aTai language spoken by theTai Dam inVietnam,Laos,Thailand, andChina (mostly inJinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County).

The Tai Dam language is similar toThai andLao (includingIsan), but it is not close enough to be readily understood by most Thai and Lao (Isan) speakers. In particular, the Khmer, Pali and Sanskrit additions to Thai and Lao (Isan) are largely missing from Tai Dam.^[2]

Tai Dam is spoken in Vietnam, China, Laos, and Thailand. In central and western Thailand, it is known asThai Song.

Tai Dam speakers inChina are classified as part of theDai nationality along with almost all the other Tai peoples. But inVietnam they are given their own nationality (with the White Tai) where they are classified (confusingly for English speakers) as the Thái nationality (meaning Tai people).

In China, Tai Dam (Chinese:傣朗姆) people are located in the following townships of Yunnan, with about 20,000 people in Yunnan (Gao 1999).^[3]

• Maguan County 马关县: Muchang Township 木厂乡, Dalishu Township 大栗树乡, and Pojiao Township 坡脚乡
• Wenshan County 文山县: Dehou Township 德厚乡, Panzhihua Township 攀枝花乡
• Hekou County 河口县: Qiaotou Town 桥头镇 (in Baihei Village 白黑村 and Gantianzhai 甘田寨)
• Yuanjiang County 元江县: Dashuiping Township 大水平乡 (in Gaozhai 高寨 and Yangmahe 养马河)

In Vietnam, all Tai peoples are taught a standardized Tai language based on the Tai Dam language, using the standardizedTai Viet script.^[4]

• Sounds/b/ and/d/ can fluctuate to voiced implosive sounds[ɓ],[ɗ]./d/ may also fluctuate to a lateral sound[l]./v/ can fluctuate to sounds[b~ɓ].
• In some rare cases/j/ can be realized as a[z] sound.

• Final plosive sounds/ptk/ can be realized as unreleased[p̚ t̚ k̚].

• There is also/əw/ that corresponds toProto-Tai*aɰ.
• /ɛ/ can tend to fluctuate to a more open sound[æ].
• /ɨ/ fluctuates to a back unrounded sound[ɯ].^[5]

TheKhmer,Pali andSanskrit additions to Thai and Lao (Isan) are generally absent from Tai Dam.^[2] Tai Dam lacks many of the Khmer and Indic (via Khmer) loanwords found in Thai, Lao and Isan.

• ^1 Khmertônlé generally signifies 'lake' or 'large canal'. Similarly, the Tai Dam term for the sea means 'large lake'.
• ^2 Sanskrit source of following Khmer word. Thai and Lao adopted Sanskrit terms via Khmer, but restored their vowels pronunciations.
• ^3 The termrak was borrowed from Proto-Mon-Khmer*r[a]k meaning 'to love, beloved, dear' although now the termraek means 'friendly, cordial, pleasant; intimate, affectionate' in modern Khmer.

For the word "I"

• When addressing parents the word ꪩꪴ꪿ꪀ (luk5) is used instead.
• When addressing grandparents the word ꪨꪰꪣ (lam1) is used instead.

For the word "my"

• When addressing parents the word ꪄꪮꪉ ꪩꪴ꪿ꪀ (xɔng1 luk5) is used instead.
• When addressing grandparents the word ꪄꪮꪉ ꪨꪰꪣ (xɔng1 lam1) is used instead.

Tai Dam uses an SVO word order.

The Tai Dam language has its own system of writing, calledTai Viet, which consists of 31 consonants and 14 vowels. At the beginning, there was no tone marker although the language is tonal. Tone markers emerge in the 1970s in two sets: combining marks like Thai/Lao, and modifiers like New Tai Lue/Tai Nuea which are now less popular. According to Thai authors, the writing system is probably derived from the old Thai writing of the kingdom ofSukhotai.^[2]

• Miyake, Marc. 2014.Black and white evidence for Vietnamese phonological history.
• Miyake, Marc. 2014.*(C).r-usters in Black Tai and Bao Yen.
• Miyake, Marc. 2014.S-implificaition in Black Tai and Bao Yen.

• Tai Dam alphabet
• Tai Dam Language, Literature, and CultureArchived 2014-06-06 at theWayback Machine
• SIL Tai Heritage Pro fonts
• Basic Tai Dam phrasesArchived 2018-05-20 at theWayback Machine
• Tai Viet script notes

• Southwestern Tai languages
• Languages of Vietnam
• Languages of Laos
• Languages of Yunnan
• Languages of Thailand

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• Articles containing Thai-language text
• Pages with Thai IPA
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