Tai Lue language

Tai Lue (New Tai Lü: , Tai Tham: , kam tai lue, ), or Xishuangbanna Dai, is a Tai language of the Lu people, spoken by about 700,000 people in Southeast Asia. This includes 280,000 people in China (Yunnan), 200,000 in Burma, 134,000 in Laos, 83,000 in Thailand and 4,960 in Vietnam. The language is similar to other Tai languages and is closely related to Kham Mueang or Tai Yuan, which is also known as Northern Thai language. In Yunnan, it is spoken in all of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, as well as Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er City.

In Vietnam, Tai Lue speakers are officially recognised as the Lự ethnic minority, although in China they are classified as part of the Dai people, along with speakers of the other Tai languages apart from Zhuang.

Phonology

Tai Lue has 21 syllable-initial consonants, nine syllable-finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in open syllables).

Consonants

Initials

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" | Labial

! rowspan="2" | Alveolar

! rowspan="2" | Palatal

! colspan="2" | Velar

! rowspan="2" | Glottal

!plain

!labial

! colspan="2" | Nasal

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᦖ,ᦙ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | ᦐ,ᦓ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᦄ ,ᦇ

! rowspan="3" |Plosive

!tenuis

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᦔ,ᦗ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | ᦎ,ᦑ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᦂ,ᦅ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᦦ,ᦨ

| style="background-color: #ccc" | ᦀ ,ᦁ

! aspirated

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᦕ,ᦘ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | ᦏ,ᦒ

! voiced

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᦢ,ᦥ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | ᦡ,ᦤ

! colspan=2| Affricate

| style="background-color: #fcf" | ᦈ,ᦋ

! rowspan="2" | Fricative

! voiceless

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᦚ,ᦝ

| style="background-color: #ffc" | ᦉ,ᦌ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᦃ,ᦆ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᦧ,ᦩ

| style="background-color: #ccc" | ᦠ,ᦣ

! voiced

| rowspan="2" style="background-color: #ccf" | ~ ᦛ,ᦞ

! colspan="2" |Approximant

| style="background-color: #cff" | ᦜ,ᦟ

| style="background-color: #cff" | ᦊ,ᦍ

The initials - and - are palatalized before front vowels (which in the language are , , and ) and become and , respectively. For example, "hard" and "ten" are pronounced as and respectively. (Some textbooks denote as ).

Finals

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

! colspan=1|

! Labial

! Alveolar

! Palatal

! Velar

! Glottal

! colspan=1| Nasal

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᧄ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | ᧃ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᧂ

! colspan=1| Plosive

| style="background-color: #ccf" | ᧇ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | ᧆ

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ᧅ

| style="background-color: #ccc" | ᦰ

! colspan=1| Approximant

| style="background-color: #cff" | ᧁ

Vowels

Each vowel quality occurs in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming distinct words in Tai Lue.

thumb|upright=1.15|Vowel chart showing monophthongs used by many [[Tai languages, including Tai Lue]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

!rowspan="2" |  

!colspan=2|Front

!colspan=2|Central-Back

!colspan=2|Back

|- class=small

! short || long ||short || long ||short || long

!Close

|[] ◌ᦲᦰ

|[] ◌ᦲ

|[] ◌ᦹᦰ

|[] ◌ᦹ

|[] ◌ᦳ

|[] ◌ᦴ

!Mid

|[] ᦵ◌ᦰ

|[] ᦵ◌

|[] ᦵ◌ᦲᦰ

|[] ᦵ◌ᦲ

|[] ᦷ◌ᦰ

|[] ᦷ◌

!Open

|[] ᦶ◌ᦰ

|[] ᦶ◌

|[] ◌ᦰ

|[] ◌ᦱ

|[] ◌ᦸᦰ

|[] ◌ᦸ

Generally, vowels in open syllables (without codas) occur as long whereas ones in closed syllables are short (except and ).

Diphthongs

Additionally, Tai Lue uses several diphthongs:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!New Tai Lue

!IPA

|ᦺ◌

|◌ᦻ

|◌ᦼ

|◌ᦽ

|◌ᦾ

|◌ᦿ

|ᦵ◌ᧀ

Tones

Contrastive tones in unchecked syllables

The table below presents six phonemic tones in unchecked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in sonorant sounds such as , and 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).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! Description !! Contour !! Transcription !! Number !! Example !! Old Tai Lue !! New Tai Lue script !! Meaning

| high || 55 || || 1 || || || ᦂᦱ || crow

| low rising || 13 || || 3 || || || ᦂᦱᧉ || rice shoots

| high rising || 35 || || 5 || || || ᦂᦱᧈ || to go

| falling || 51 || || 2 || || || ᦅᦱ || to be stuck

| low || 11 || || 4 || || || ᦅᦱᧉ || to do business

| mid || 33 || a (not marked) || 6 || || || ᦅᦱᧈ || price

Contrastive tones in checked syllables

The table below presents two phonemic tones in checked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in a glottal stop and obstruent sounds which are , and .

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"

!Tone !! Contour !! Number !! Example !! New Tai Lue !! Phonemic !! Meaning

| high || 55 || 7 || || ᦜᧅ ||||post

| high-risinɡ || 35 || 9 || || ᦜᦱᧅᧈ ||||differ from others

| mid || 33 || 8 || || ᦟᧅ ||||steal

Grammar

Pronouns

{|class="wikitable"

!colspan=2|

!Singular Familiar

!Singular

!Deferential

!Plural Familiar

!Plural

!Deferential

!rowspan=2| 1st person

! exclusive

|rowspan=2|

|rowspan=2| –

|

! inclusive

|

| –

!colspan=2| 2nd person

|

| –

!colspan=2| 3rd person

|

| –

|

Syntax

Word order is usually subject–verb–object (SVO); modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.

Interrogatives

The Bajia are also known as the Chinese Dai 汉傣.

Notes

References

External links

SeaSite: Tai Lue, under construction
Omniglot - Tai Lue script
Tai Lue dictionary online
Li, Juan. 2022. Grammaire descriptive du tai lü (A Descriptive Grammar of Tai Lue). Paris: Sorbonne Université (PhD Dissertation).