| Tai Lue | |
|---|---|
| ᦅᧄᦺᦑᦟᦹᧉ,ᨣᩤᩴᨴᩱ᩠ᨿᩃᩨᩢ kam tai lue | |
| Pronunciation | [kâm.tâj.lɯ̀] |
| Native to | China,Laos,Thailand,Myanmar,Vietnam |
| Region | Yunnan,China |
| Ethnicity | Tai Lue |
Native speakers | (550,000 cited 2000–2013)[1] |
Kra–Dai
| |
| Tai Tham alphabet,Thai alphabet,New Tai Lue alphabet | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | khb |
| Glottolog | luuu1242 |
 | |
Tai Lue (New Tai Lü:ᦅᧄᦺᦑᦟᦹᧉ,Tai Tham:ᨣᩤᩴᨴᩱ᩠ᨿᩃᩨᩢ,kam tai lue,[kâm.tâj.lɯ̀])[a] orXishuangbanna Dai is aTai language of theLu people, spoken by about 700,000 people inSoutheast Asia. This includes 280,000 people in China (Yunnan), 200,000 in Burma, 134,000 in Laos, 83,000 inThailand and 4,960 inVietnam.[2] The language is similar to otherTai languages and is closely related to Kham Mueang or Tai Yuan, which is also known asNorthern Thai language. In Yunnan, it is spoken in all ofXishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, as well asJiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County inPu'er City.
In Vietnam, Tai Lue speakers are officially recognised as theLự ethnic minority, although in China they are classified as part of theDai people, along with speakers of the otherTai languages apart fromZhuang.
Tai Lue has 21 syllable-initial consonants, 9 syllable-finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in open syllables).
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labial | ||||||
| Nasal | [m] ᦖ,ᦙ | [n] ᦐ,ᦓ | [ŋ] ᦄ,ᦇ | ||||
| Plosive | tenuis | [p] ᦔ,ᦗ | [t] ᦎ,ᦑ | [k] ᦂ,ᦅ | [kʷ] ᦦ,ᦨ | [ʔ] ᦀ,ᦁ | |
| aspirated | [pʰ] ᦕ,ᦘ | [tʰ] ᦏ,ᦒ | |||||
| voiced | [b] ᦢ,ᦥ | [d] ᦡ,ᦤ | |||||
| Affricate | [t͡s] ᦈ,ᦋ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | [f] ᦚ,ᦝ | [s] ᦉ,ᦌ | [x] ᦃ,ᦆ | [xʷ] ᦧ,ᦩ | [h] ᦠ,ᦣ | |
| voiced | [v] ~[w] ᦛ,ᦞ | ||||||
| Approximant | [l] ᦜ,ᦟ | [j] ᦊ,ᦍ | |||||
The initialst͡s- ands- arepalatalized beforefront vowels (which in the language arei,e, andɛ) and becomet͡ɕ- andɕ-, respectively. For example,/t͡síŋ/ "hard" and/si᷄p/ "ten" are pronounced as[t͡ɕiŋ˥] and[ɕip˧˥] respectively. (Some textbooks denotet͡s asc).
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | [m] ᧄ | [n] ᧃ | [ŋ] ᧂ | ||
| Plosive | [p̚] ᧇ | [t̚] ᧆ | [k̚] ᧅ | [ʔ] ᦰ | |
| Approximant | [w] ᧁ |
Each vowel quality occurs in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming distinct words in Tai Lue.
.svg)
| Front | Central-Back | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | [iʔ] ◌ᦲᦰ | [i(ː)] ◌ᦲ | [ɯʔ] ◌ᦹᦰ | [ɯ(ː)] ◌ᦹ | [u(ʔ)] ◌ᦳ | [uː] ◌ᦴ |
| Mid | [eʔ] ᦵ◌ᦰ | [e(ː)] ᦵ◌ | [ɤʔ] ᦵ◌ᦲᦰ | [ɤ(ː)] ᦵ◌ᦲ | [oʔ] ᦷ◌ᦰ | [o(ː)] ᦷ◌ |
| Open | [ɛʔ] ᦶ◌ᦰ | [ɛ(ː)] ᦶ◌ | [aʔ] ◌ᦰ | [aː] ◌ᦱ | [ɔʔ] ◌ᦸᦰ | [ɔ(ː)] ◌ᦸ |
Generally, vowels inopen syllables (without codas) occur as long whereas ones inclosed syllables are short (except/aː/ and/uː/).
Additionally, Tai Lue uses several diphthongs:
| New Tai Lue | IPA |
|---|---|
| ᦺ◌ | [aj] |
| ◌ᦻ | [aːj] |
| ◌ᦼ | [uj] |
| ◌ᦽ | [oj] |
| ◌ᦾ | [ɔj] |
| ◌ᦿ | [ɯj] |
| ᦵ◌ᧀ | [ɤj] |
The table below presents six phonemic tones in unchecked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending insonorant sounds such as[m],[n],[ŋ],[w], and[j] and open syllables.There are six tones for unchecked syllables, although only three are allowed in checked syllables (those ending with -p, -t or -k).
| Description | Contour | Transcription | Number | Example | Old Tai Lue | New Tai Lue script | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | 55 | á | 1 | /káː/ | ᨠᩣ | ᦂ | crow |
| low rising | 13 | a᷅ | 3 | /ka᷅ː/ | ᨠᩢᩣ | ᦂᧉ | rice shoots |
| high rising | 35 | a᷄ | 5 | /ka᷄ː/ | ᨠ᩵ᩣ | ᦂᧈ | to go |
| falling | 51 | â | 2 | /kâː/ | ᨣᩤ | ᦅ | to be stuck |
| low | 11 | à | 4 | /kàː/ | ᨣᩢᩤ | ᦅᧉ | to do business |
| mid | 33 | a (not marked) | 6 | /kaː/ | ᨣ᩵ᩤ | ᦅᧈ | price |
The table below presents two phonemic tones in checked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in aglottal stop[ʔ] andobstruent sounds which are[p],[t], and[k].
| Tone | Contour | Number | Example | New Tai Lue | Phonemic | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | 55 | 7 | ᩉᩖᩢᨠ | ᦜᧅ | /lák/ | post |
| high-risinɡ | 35 | 9 | ᩉᩖᩣ᩠ᨠ | ᦜᦱᧅᧈ | /la᷄ːk/ | differ from others |
| mid | 33 | 8 | ᩃᩢ᩠ᨠ | ᦟᧅ | /lāk/ | steal |
| Singular Familiar | Singular | Deferential | Plural Familiar | Plural | Deferential | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | exclusive | ᦕᦴᧉᦃᦱᧉ ᨹᩪᩢᨡᩢᩣ pʰuu3xaa3 | ᦃᦱᧉ ᨡᩢᩣ xaa3 | ᦃᦱᧉᦓᦾᧉ ᨡᩢᩣᨶᩢᩭ xaa3nɔj6 | – | ᦎᦴ ᨲᩪ tuu1 | ᦎᦴᦃᦾᧉ ᨲᩪᨡᩢᩭ tuu1xɔj3 |
| inclusive | ᦣᧁ ᩁᩮᩢᩣ haw4 | – | |||||
| 2nd person | ᦈᧁᧉᦙᧃ ᨧᩮᩢᩢᩣᨾᩢ᩠ᨶ caw3man4 | ᦆᦲᧂ ᨤᩥ᩠ᨦ xiŋ4 | ᦎᦳᧃᦈᧁᧉ ᨲᩫ᩠ᨶᨧᩮᩢᩢᩣ tun1caw3 | ᦉᦴ ᩈᩪ suu1 | ᦉᦴᦑᦱᧃᧈ ᩈᩪᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ suu1taan5 | – | |
| 3rd person | ᦎᦳᧃᦑᦱᧃᧈ ᨲᩫ᩠ᨶᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ tun1taan5 | ᦙᧃ ᨾᩢ᩠ᨶ man4 | – | ᦎᦳᧃᦑᦱᧃᧈ ᨲᩫ᩠ᨶᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ tun1taan5 | ᦃᧁ ᨡᩮᩢᩣ xaw1 | ᦃᧁᦈᧁᧉ ᨡᩮᩢᩣᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ xaw1caw3 | |
Word order is usuallysubject–verb–object (SVO); modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ᦉᧂ (saŋ1) | What |
| ᦌᦹ (sɯɯ4) | Why |
| ᦂᦲᧈ (kii1) | How many |
| ᦺᦕ (pʰaj1) | Who |
| ᦺᦐ (naj1) | Where |
As in Thai and Lao, Tai Lue has borrowed manySanskrit andPali words andaffixes. Among the Tai languages in general, Tai Lue has limited intelligibility withShan andTai Nua and shares much vocabulary with, the otherSouthwestern Tai languages. Tai Lue has 95%lexical similarity withNorthern Thai (Lanna), 86% with Central Thai, 93% with Shan, and 95% withKhun.[1]
Below, some Thai Lue words are given with standard Central Thai equivalents for comparison. Thai words are shown on the left and Tai Lue words, written inTai Tham script, are shown on the right.
Many words differ from Thai greatly:
Some words differ in tone only:
Some words differ in a single sound and associated tone. In many words, the initial ร (/r/) in Thai is ฮ (/h/) in Tai Lue, as is also the case in Lao and Tai Yuan:
Aspirated consonants in the low-class consonant group(อักษรต่ำ/ʔàksɔ̌ntàm/) become unaspirated:
(Note that the vowels also differ greatly between Tai Lue and Thai in many words, even though they are etymologically related and share the same root.)
Though many aspirated consonants often become unaspirated, when an unaspirated consonant is followed by ร (/r/) the unaspirated consonant becomes aspirated:
Other differences:
| 0 | ᧐ | ᦉᦳᧃ | sun1 | |
| 1 | ᧚ | ᦓᦹᧂᧈ | ᨶᩧ᩠᩵ᨦ | nɯŋ6 |
| 2 | ᧒ | ᦉᦸᧂ | ᩈᩬᨦ | sɔŋ1 |
| 3 | ᧓ | ᦉᦱᧄ | ᩈᩣ᩠ᨾ | sam1 |
| 4 | ᧔ | ᦉᦲᧈ | ᩈᩦ᩵ | siː5 |
| 5 | ᧕ | ᦠᦱᧉ | ᩉᩢᩣ | haː3 |
| 6 | ᧖ | ᦷᦠᧅ | ᩉᩫ᩠ᨠ | hok7 |
| 7 | ᧗ | ᦵᦈᧆ | ᨧᩮ᩠ᨯ | t͡ɕet7 |
| 8 | ᧘ | ᦶᦔᧆᧈ | ᨸᩯ᩠ᨯ | pɛt9 |
| 9 | ᧙ | ᦂᧁᧉ | ᨠᩮᩢᩢᩣ | kaw3 |
| 10 | ᧚᧐ | ᦉᦲᧇ | ᩈᩥ᩠ᨷ | sip7 |
| 20 | ᧒᧐ | ᦌᦱᧁ | ᨪᩣ᩠ᩅ | saːw2 |
| 100 | ᧚᧐᧐ | ᦣᦾᧉ | ᩁᩢᩭ | hɔi4 |
| 1,000 | ᧚᧐᧐᧐ | ᦗᧃ | ᨻᩢ᩠ᨶ | pan2 |
| 10,000 | ᧚᧐᧐᧐᧐ | ᦖᦹᧃᧈ | ᩉ᩠ᨾᩨ᩵ᩁ | mɯn5 |
| 100,000 | ᧚᧐᧐᧐᧐᧐ | ᦶᦉᧃ | ᩈᩯ᩠ᨶ | sɛn1 |
| 1,000,000 | ᧚᧐᧐᧐᧐᧐᧐ | ᦟᦱᧃᧉ | ᩃᩢᩣ᩠ᨶ | lan4 |
Tai Lue is written in three different scripts. One is theFak Kham script, a variety of the Thai script ofSukhothai. The second is theTham script, which was reformed in the 1950s, but is still in use and has recently regained government support. The new script is a simplified version of the old script.
An ancient script, also used inKengtung,Northern Thailand and Northern Laos centuries ago.
TheTham script is called老傣文lao dai wen (Old Dai script) in Chinese. Readable by the most people in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
_Tai_L%25C3%25BC_script_in_Mohan%2c_Yunnan.jpg){kind=logo}
New Tai Lue is a modernization of the Lanna alphabet (also known as theTai Tham script), which is similar to theThai alphabet, and consists of 42 initial consonant signs (21 high-tone class, 21 low-tone class), seven final consonant signs, 16 vowel signs, two tone letters and one vowel shortening letter (or syllable-final glottal stop). Vowels signs can be placed before or after the syllable initial consonant.
Similar to the Thai alphabet, the pronunciation of the tone of a syllable depends on the class the initial consonant belongs to, syllable structure andvowel length, and the tone mark.
The Bajia people (八甲人), who number 1,106 individuals in Mengkang Village (勐康村), Meng'a Town (勐阿镇),Menghai County, Yunnan, speak a language closely related to Tai Lue.[citation needed] There are 225 Bajia people living in Jingbo Township 景播乡,Menghai County (You 2013:270).[4] The Bajia are also known as the Chinese Dai汉傣.
Links to related articles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
