| Tai Yo | |
|---|---|
| ไทญ้อ | |
 The word "Tai Yo" written in the Lai Tay script | |
| Region | Isan,Mekong floodplain,Vietnam |
| Ethnicity | Nyaw |
Native speakers | (60,000 cited 1990 – 1995 census)[1] |
| Vietnamese alphabet (Vietnam) Thai script (Thailand) Lai Tay script (archaic) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:tyj – Tai Yonyw – Tai Nyaw |
| Glottolog | taid1248 |
Tai Yo (Thai:ไทญ้อ), also known asTai Mène (Thai:ไทแมน) and(Tai) Nyaw (Thai:ญ้อ), is aTai language ofSoutheast Asia. It is closely related toTai Pao ofVietnam, where it may have originated. It was once written in a unique script, theTai Yo script, but that is no longer in use.[1] The language is known regionally inLaos andThailand asTai Mène andTai Nyaw and, inVietnam asTai Do (old-fashioned English transcription) andTai Quy Chau.[4] Superficially, Tai Yo appears to be aSouthwestern Tai language but this is only because of centuries oflanguage contact and it is properly classified with theNorthern Tai languages.[2] TheNyaw/Nyo spoken in centralThailand and westernCambodia is not the same as Tai Yo.[5]
The Mène people of Laos claim to be from Xieng Mène (also Xieng My) in Vietnam. These two names correspond to the following two towns inNghệ An Province, Vietnam, located nearQuỳ Châu (Chamberlain 1998).
Tai Mène appears to be related toTai Pao (paaw 4 < *baaw A),[6] whose speakers claim to have originated fromTương Dương District, Nghệ An province, Vietnam (Chamberlain 1991). Tai Mène or related languages may have also been spoken inThường Xuân District, Thanh Hóa, Vietnam by the Yo (Do) people (Robequain 1929).
Tai Mène is spoken inBorikhamxay Province, in many villages ofKhamkeut District and several villages inVieng Thong District (Chamberlain 1998). TheVietic languagesLiha,Phong,Toum, Ayoy,Maleng, andThaveung are spoken nearby.
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