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| Tai Nuea | |
|---|---|
| ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ /ᥖᥭᥰ ᥢᥫᥴ Tai Le / Tai Ne | |
| Pronunciation | [tai˥.lə˧˥] (Mangshi) or[tɑi˥˧.nə˥] (Menglian) |
| Native to | China,Myanmar,Thailand,Laos |
| Region | Southwest China |
| Ethnicity | Tai Nua,Dai |
Native speakers | (720,000 cited 1983–2007)[1] |
Kra–Dai
| |
| Tai Le script | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | China (Dehong, co-official) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tdd |
| Glottolog | tain1252 Tai Nua |
| ELP | Tai Neua |
 | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Tai Nuea orTai Nüa (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ,pronounced[tai˥.lə˧˥] (Mangshi) orᥖᥭᥰ ᥢᥫᥴ,[tɑi˥˧.nə˥] (Menglian);Chinese:傣那语;pinyin:Dǎinàyǔ;တႆးၼိူဝ်;Burmese:တိုင်းနေ;Thai:ภาษาไทเหนือ,pronounced[pʰāːsǎːtʰājnɯ̌a]), also calledDehong Tai (Chinese:德宏傣语;pinyin:Déhóng Dǎiyǔ;Thai:ภาษาไทใต้คง,pronounced[pʰāːsǎːtʰājtâːj.kʰōŋ]) andChinese Shan, is one of the languages spoken by theDai people inChina, especially in theDehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in the southwest ofYunnan Province. It is closely related to the otherTai languages and could be considered a dialect ofShan. It should not be confused withTai Lü (Xishuangbanna Dai).
MostTai Nuea people call themselvesTai Le (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ,Tai Nüa pronunciation:[tai˥.lə˧]), which means 'Upper Tai' or 'Northern Tai'. However, it is not related toTai Lue, which is pronounced[tai˥.lɯ˥˧] in Tai Nuea. This similarity occurs as the result of a merger between [l] and [n] on initial position in the Mangshi dialect of Tai Nuea. It is pronouncedTai Ne (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥢᥫᥴ,[tɑi˥˧.nə˥]) in Menglian dialect.
Another autonym is[tai˥taɯ˧˩xoŋ˥] (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥖᥬᥲ ᥑᥨᥒᥰ), where[taɯ˧˩] means 'bottom, under, the lower part (of)' and[xoŋ˥] means 'theHong River' (Luo 1998). Dehong is a transliteration of the term[taɯ˧˩xoŋ˥]. It should not be confused with the termᥖᥭᥰ ᥖᥬᥲ ([tai˥taɯ˧˩] or[tɑi˥˧tɑ˩]) 'Lower Tai' which is a term used by the Tai Nuea people to refer toShan people.
The language is also known as TaiMau, Tai Kong and Tai Na (傣那语).[2]
Zhou (2001:13) classifies Tai Nuea into the Dehong (德宏) and Menggeng (孟耿) dialects. Together, they add up to a total of 541,000 speakers.
Tai Nuea is a tonal language with a very limited inventory of syllables with no consonant clusters. 16 syllable-initial consonants can be combined with 84 syllable finals and sixtones.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | ||||||
| Nasal | [m] ᥛ | [n] ᥢ | [ŋ] ᥒ | ||||
| Plosive | tenuis | [p] ᥙ | [t] ᥖ | [t͡s] ᥓ | [k] ᥐ | [ʔ] ᥟ | |
| aspirated | [pʰ] ᥚ | [tʰ] ᥗ | ([t͡sʰ])* ᥡ | ([kʰ])* ᥠ | |||
| Fricative | [f] ᥜ | [s] ᥔ | [x] ᥑ | [h] ᥞ | |||
| Approximant | [l] ᥘ | [j] ᥕ | [w] ᥝ | ||||
Notes:
1. *(kʰ)and(tsʰ) occur in loanwords.
2. The consonant [l] and [n] merged to [l] in the initial position in Mangshi (芒市) dialect but not in Menglian (孟连) dialect.
3. The consonant [pʰ] and [f] merged to [pʰ] in Menglian (孟连) dialect but not in Mangshi (芒市) dialect.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | [m] ᥛ | [n] ᥢ | [ŋ] ᥒ | |
| Plosive | [p] ᥙ | [t] ᥖ | [k] ᥐ | |
| Approximant | [w] ᥝ | [j] ᥭ |
Tai Nuea has ten vowels and 13 diphthongs:
| Front | Central-Back | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | [i]⟨◌ᥤ⟩ | [ɯ]⟨◌ᥪ⟩ | [u]⟨◌ᥧ⟩ |
| Mid | [e]⟨◌ᥥ⟩ | [ə]⟨◌ᥫ⟩ | [o]⟨◌ᥨ⟩ |
| Low | [ɛ]⟨◌ᥦ⟩ | [a]⟨◌⟩ ~[aː]⟨◌ᥣ⟩ (Mangshi) [ɑ] ~[a] (Menglian) | [ɔ]⟨◌ᥩ⟩ |
◌ IPA:[a]/[ɑ] (closed syllable) | ᥣ IPA:[aː] | ᥤ IPA:[i] | ᥥ IPA:[e] | ᥦ IPA:[ɛ] | ᥧ IPA:[u] | ᥨ IPA:[o] (closed syllable) | ᥩ IPA:[ɔ] | ᥪ IPA:[ɯ] | ᥫ IPA:[ə] |
◌ᥭ IPA:[ai] | ᥣᥭ IPA:[aːi] | ᥧᥭ IPA:[ui] | ᥨᥭ IPA:[oi] | ᥩᥭ IPA:[ɔi] | ᥪᥭ IPA:[ɯi] | ᥫᥭ IPA:[əi] | |||
ᥝ IPA:[au] | ᥣᥝ IPA:[aːu] | ᥤᥝ IPA:[iu] | ᥥᥝ IPA:[eu] | ᥦᥝ IPA:[ɛu] | ᥨᥝ IPA:[o] (open syllable) | ᥪᥝ IPA:[ɯu]* | ᥫᥝ IPA:[əu] | ||
ᥬ IPA:[aɯ] (Mangshi) IPA:[ɑ] (Menglian) |
* Only in Mangshi dialect.
Tai Nuea has six tones:
| Classification | Mangshi | Menglian | Tai Le | Tai Le (1963) | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 阴平 | 35[˧˥] | 55[˥] | ◌ᥴ | ◌́ | 1 |
| 阳平 | 55[˥] | 53[˥˧] | ◌ᥰ | ◌̈ | 2 |
| 阴上 | 31[˧˩] | 11[˩] | ◌ᥲ | ◌̀ | 3 |
| 阳上 | 53[˥˧] | 31[˧˩] | ◌ᥳ | ◌̇ | 4 |
| 阴去 | 11[˩] | 35[˧˥] | ◌ᥱ | ◌̌ | 5 |
| 阳去 | 33[˧] | ◌ | ◌ | 6 | |
Syllables with[p],[t], and[k] final can have only one of three tones in Mangshi (芒市) Dialect or four tones in Menglian (孟连) Dialect.
| Description | Contour | Tai Le | Tai Le (1963) | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rising | 35[˧˥] | ◌ᥴ | ◌́ | 7 |
| high falling | 53[˥˧] | ◌ᥳ | ◌̇ | 8 |
| ◌ | ◌ | |||
| low | 11[˩] or 21[˨˩] | ◌ᥱ | ◌̌ | 9 |
In Mangshi (芒市) Dialect, the high falling tone mark (◌ᥳ) is usually left unmarked.
| Description | Contour | Tai Le | Tai Le (1963) | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | 55[˥] | ◌ᥴ | ◌́ | 7 |
| low falling | 31[˧˩] | ◌ᥳ | ◌̇ | 8 |
| rising | 35[˧˥] | ◌ᥱ | ◌̌ | 9 |
| mid | 33[˧] | ◌ | ◌ | 10 |
| Tai Le | Mangshi (芒市) | Menglian (孟连) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ᥜᥣᥳ | fa4 | pʰa4 | sky |
| ᥘᥣᥝ | laːu6 | lau6 | star |
| ᥢᥛᥳ | lam4 | nɑm4 | water |
| ᥑᥭᥱ | xai5 | xɑi5 | egg |
| ᥢᥣᥰ | la2 | na2 | field |
| ᥜᥨᥢᥴ | fon1 | pʰon1 | rain |
| ᥛᥨᥭᥴ | moi1 | məi1 | frost |
| ᥙᥣᥲ ᥖᥬᥲ | pa3 taɯ3 | pɑ3 tɑ3 | under |
Due to the irregular checked tones correspondence, the Tai Le used will be written in Mangshi dialect.
| Tai Le | Mangshi (芒市) | Menglian (孟连) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ᥖᥙᥴ | tap7 | tɑp7 | liver |
| ᥘᥨᥐ | lok8 | lok8 | bird |
| ᥞᥐ | hak8 | hɑk8 | love |
| ᥛᥩᥐᥱ | mɔk9 | mɔk9 | flower |
| ᥔᥨᥙᥱ | sop9 | sop9 | mouth |
| ᥚᥐᥴ | pʰak7 | pʰɑk10 | vegetable |
| ᥒᥫᥐ | ŋək8 | ŋək10 | dragon |
| ᥓᥫᥐ | tsək8 | tsək10 | rope |
| ᥓᥥᥙᥱ | tsep9 | tsep10 | pain |
| ᥚᥥᥖᥱ | pʰet9 | pʰet10 | spicy |
| ᥙᥥᥖᥱ | pet9 | pet10 | duck |
| ᥘᥧᥐᥴ | luk7 | luk9 | bone |
| ᥞᥧᥖᥴ | hut7 | hut9 | inhale |
| ᥐᥣᥙ | kaːp8 | kap9 | bite |
TheTai Le script is part of theMon-Burmese family of writing systems and is closely related to theAhom script. The script is thought to date back to the 14th century.
The original Tai Nuea spelling did not generally mark tones and failed to distinguish several vowels. It was reformed to make these distinctions, and diacritics were introduced to mark tones. The resulting writing system was officially introduced in 1956. In 1988, the spelling of tones was reformed; special tone letters were introduced instead of the earlier Latin diacritics.
The modern script has a total of 35 letters, including the five tone letters.
The transcription below is given according to the Unicode tables.
ᥐ k IPA:[k] | ᥑ x IPA:[x] | ᥒ ng IPA:[ŋ] |
ᥓ ts IPA:[ts] | ᥔ s IPA:[s] | ᥕ y IPA:[j] |
ᥖ t IPA:[t] | ᥗ th IPA:[tʰ] | ᥘ l IPA:[l] |
ᥙ p IPA:[p] | ᥚ ph IPA:[pʰ] | ᥛ m IPA:[m] |
ᥜ f IPA:[f] | ᥝ v IPA:[w] | |
ᥞ h IPA:[h] | ᥟ q IPA:[ʔ] | |
ᥠ kh IPA:[kʰ] | ᥡ tsh IPA:[tsʰ] | ᥢ n IPA:[n] |
Consonants that are not followed by a vowel letter are pronounced with the inherent vowel [a]. Other vowels are indicated with the following letters:
ᥣ a IPA:[aː] | ᥦ eh IPA:[ɛ] | ᥥ ee IPA:[e] | ᥤ i IPA:[i] | ᥧ u IPA:[u] | ᥨ oo IPA:[o] | ᥩ o IPA:[ɔ] | ᥪ ue IPA:[ɯ] | ᥫ e IPA:[ə] | ᥬ aue IPA:[aɯ] | ᥭ ai IPA:[ai] |
Diphthongs are formed by combining some vowel letters with the consonantᥝ [w] and some vowel letters with ᥭ [ai]/[j].
In the Thai and Tai Lü writing systems, the tone value in the pronunciation of a written syllable depends on the tone class of the initial consonant, vowel length and syllable structure. In contrast, the Tai Nuea writing system has a very straightforward spelling of tones, with one letter (or diacritic) for each tone.
Tone marks were presented via the third reform (1963) as diacritics. Then the fourth reform (1988) changed them into tone letters. The tone letter is placed at the end of syllable. Examples in the table show the syllable [ta] in different tones.
| Number | New (1988) | Old (1963) | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ᥖᥴ | ᥖ́ | mid rise˨˦ |
| 2. | ᥖᥰ | ᥖ̈ | high fall˥˧ |
| 3. | ᥖᥱ | ᥖ̌ | low˩ |
| 4. | ᥖᥲ | ᥖ̀ | low fall˧˩ |
| 5. | ᥖᥳ | ᥖ̇ | mid fall˦˧ |
| 6. | ᥖ | ᥖ | mid˧ |
Only three tones occur in checked syllables [syllables with a final -p, -t or -k]. The sixth tone (mid level) is not written in open syllables, and the third is not written in checked syllables.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mangshi | Menglian | Menglian (formal) | Mangshi | Mangshi | Menglian | ||
| 1st person | exclusive | ᥐᥝ (kau6) | ᥐᥬ (kɑ6) | ᥖᥧ ᥑᥬᥲ (tu6 xɑ3) | ᥞᥣᥒᥰ ᥞᥫᥴ (haːŋ2 xə1) | ᥖᥧ (tu6) | ᥖᥧ (tu6) |
| inclusive | ᥞᥣᥒᥰ ᥞᥣᥰ (haːŋ2 ha2) | ᥞᥝᥰ (hau2) | ᥞᥝᥰ (hɑu2) | ||||
| 2nd person | ᥛᥬᥰ (maɯ2) | ᥛᥬᥰ (mɑ2) | ᥔᥧᥴ ᥓᥝᥲ (su1 tsɑu3) | ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥞᥫᥴ (sɔŋ1 xə1) | ᥔᥧᥴ (su1) | ᥔᥧᥴ (su1) | |
| 3rd person | ᥛᥢᥰ (man2) | ᥛᥢᥰ (mɑn2) | ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥞᥣᥴ (sɔŋ1 xa1) | ᥑᥝᥴ (xau1) | ᥑᥬᥴ (xɑ1) | ||
| Mangshi | Menglian | |
|---|---|---|
| Reflexive | ᥙᥪᥴ ᥓᥝᥲ (pɯ1 tsau3) | ᥐᥩᥭᥰ ᥘᥥᥝ (kɔi2 leu6) |
| Interrogative | ᥚᥬᥴ (pʰaɯ1) | ᥙᥧᥱ ᥘᥬ (pu5 lɑ6) |
| Everyone | ᥙᥫᥝ (pən6) | ᥙᥫᥝ (pən6) |
| Other people | ᥖᥒᥰ ᥘᥣᥭᥴ (taŋ2 laːi1) | ᥖᥒᥰ ᥘᥣᥭᥴ (tɑŋ2 lai1) |
Tai Nuea word order is usuallysubject–verb–object (SVO); modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.
| Mangshi | Menglian | |
|---|---|---|
| This | ᥘᥭᥳ (lai4) | ᥢᥭᥳ (nɑi4) |
| That | ᥘᥢᥳ (lan4) | ᥢᥢᥳ (nɑn4) |
| Here | ᥖᥤ ᥘᥭᥳ (ti6 lai4) | ᥖᥤ ᥢᥭᥳ (ti6 nɑi4) |
| There | ᥖᥤ ᥘᥢᥳ (ti6 lan4) | ᥖᥤ ᥢᥢᥳ (ti6 nɑn4) |
| Mangshi | Menglian | |
|---|---|---|
| What | ᥔᥒᥴ (saŋ1) | ᥖᥤ ᥔᥒᥴ (ti6 sɑŋ1) |
| Why | ᥐᥩᥙ ᥖᥤ ᥔᥒᥴ (kɔp6 ti6 saŋ1) | |
| Who | ᥚᥬᥴ (pʰaɯ1) | ᥙᥧᥱ ᥘᥬ (pu5 lɑ6) |
| Where | (ᥖᥤ) ᥗᥬᥴ (ti6 thaɯ1) | ᥖᥤᥴ ᥘᥬ (ti1 lɑ6) |
| Which | ᥘᥬ (laɯ6) | ᥘᥬ (lɑ6) |
| How much | ᥑᥬ (xaɯ6) | ᥑᥬ ᥘᥬ (xɑ6 lɑ6) |
| How many | ᥐᥤᥱ (ki5) | ᥐᥤᥱ (ki5) |
| Mangshi | Menglian | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | ᥘᥤᥢᥳ (lin4) | ᥘᥤᥢᥳ (lin4) |
| 1 | ᥘᥫᥒ (ləŋ6) | ᥢᥫᥒ (nəŋ6) |
| ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (et9) | ᥟᥥᥖ (et10) | |
| 2 | ᥔᥩᥒᥴ (sɔŋ1) | ᥔᥩᥒᥴ (sɔŋ1) |
| 3 | ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (saːm1) | ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (sam1) |
| 4 | ᥔᥤᥱ (si5) | ᥔᥤᥱ (si5) |
| 5 | ᥞᥣᥲ (ha3) | ᥞᥣᥲ (ha3) |
| 6 | ᥞᥨᥐᥱ (hok9) | ᥞᥨᥐ (hok10) |
| 7 | ᥓᥥᥖᥱ (tset9) | ᥓᥥᥖ (tset10) |
| 8 | ᥙᥦᥖᥱ (pɛt9) | ᥙᥦᥖᥱ (pɛt9) |
| 9 | ᥐᥝᥲ (kau3) | ᥐᥝᥲ (kɑu3) |
| 10 | ᥔᥤᥙᥴ (sip7) | ᥔᥤᥙ (sip10) |
| 11 | ᥔᥤᥙᥴ ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (sip7 et9) | ᥔᥤᥙ ᥟᥥᥖ (sip10 et10) |
| 20 | ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥘᥫᥒ (saːu2 ləŋ6) | ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥢᥫᥒ (sau2 nəŋ6) |
| 21 | ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (saːu2 et9) | ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥟᥥᥖ (sau2 et10) |
| 25 | ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥞᥣᥲ (saːu2 ha3) | ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥞᥣᥲ (sau2 ha3) |
| 30 | ᥔᥤᥙᥴ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (saːm1 sip7) | ᥔᥤᥙ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (sam1 sip10) |
| 100 | ᥙᥣᥐᥱ (paːk9) | ᥙᥣᥐᥱ (pak9) |
| 205 | ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥙᥣᥐᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥣᥲ (sɔŋ1 paːk9 pai6 ha3) | ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥙᥣᥐᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥣᥲ (sɔŋ1 pak9 pai6 ha3) |
| 1000 | ᥞᥥᥒᥴ (heŋ1) | ᥞᥥᥒᥴ (heŋ1) |
| 10000 | ᥛᥧᥢᥱ (mun5) | ᥛᥧᥢᥱ (mun5) |
| 70006 | ᥓᥥᥖᥱ ᥛᥧᥢᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥨᥐᥱ (tset9 mun5 paːi6 hok9) | ᥓᥥᥖ ᥛᥧᥢᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥨᥐ (tset10 mun5 paːi6 hok10) |
| 1st | ᥐᥨᥳ ᥞᥨᥴ (ko4 ho1) | ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥢᥫᥒ (tʰon3 nəŋ6) |
| 2nd | ᥐᥨᥳ ᥖᥛᥰ (ko4 tam2) | ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥔᥨᥒᥴ (tʰon3 soŋ1) |
| 3rd | ᥐᥨᥳ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (ko4 saːm1) | ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (tʰon3 sam1) |
| last | ᥐᥨᥳ ᥔᥧᥖᥴ (ko4 sut7) | ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥔᥧᥖ (tʰon3 sut10) |
ᥛᥬᥰ
maɯ2
you
ᥐᥤᥢ
kin6
eat
ᥑᥝᥲ
xau3
rice
ᥛᥬᥰ ᥐᥤᥢ ᥑᥝᥲ ᥕᥝᥳ ᥞᥪᥴ?
maɯ2 kin6 xau3 jau4 hi1
you eat rice PERF.PTC INTERR.PTC
Have you eaten? (a common greeting)
ᥐᥝ
kau6
I
ᥛᥨᥝᥴ
mo1
can
ᥖᥣᥢᥲ
taan3
speak
ᥑᥣᥛᥰ
xaam2
language
ᥖᥭᥰ
tai2
Tai
ᥖᥬᥲ
taɯ3
De
ᥑᥨᥒᥰ
xong2
hong
ᥐᥝ ᥛᥨᥝᥴ ᥖᥣᥢᥲ ᥑᥣᥛᥰ ᥖᥭᥰ ᥖᥬᥲ ᥑᥨᥒᥰ
kau6 mo1 taan3 xaam2 tai2 taɯ3 xong2
I can speak language Tai De hong
I can speak Dehong Tai/ Tai Nuea.
Tai Nuea has official status in some parts of Yunnan (China), where it is used on signs and in education. Yunnan People's Radio Station (Yúnnán rénmín guǎngbō diàntái 云南人民广播电台) broadcasts in Tai Nuea. On the other hand, however, very little printed material is published in Tai Nuea in China. However, many signs of roads and stores inMangshi are in Tai Nuea.
In Thailand, a collection of 108 proverbs was published with translations into Thai and English.[4]
