Tai Nuea language

thumb|Buddhist scriptures in Tai Nuea

Tai Nuea or Tai Nüa (, (Mangshi) or , (Menglian); ; တဲးနိူဝ်, ; ; , ), also called Dehong Tai (; , ) and Chinese Shan, is one of the languages spoken by the Dai people in China, especially in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in the southwest of Yunnan Province. It is closely related to the other Tai languages and could be considered a dialect of Shan. It should not be confused with Tai Lü (Xishuangbanna Dai).

Names

Most Tai Nuea people call themselves Tai Le (, ), which means 'Upper Tai' or 'Northern Tai'. However, it is not related to Tai Lue, which is pronounced 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 pronounced Tai Ne (, ) in Menglian dialect.

Another autonym is (), where means 'bottom, under, the lower part (of)' and means 'the Hong River' (Luo 1998). Dehong is a transliteration of the term . It should not be confused with the term ( or ) 'Lower Tai' which is a term used by the Tai Nuea people to refer to Shan people.

The language is also known as Tai Mau, Tai Kong and Tai Na (傣那语).

Dialects

Zhou (2001:13) classifies Tai Nuea into the Dehong () and Menggeng () dialects. Together, they add up to a total of 541,000 speakers.

• Dehong dialect : 332,000 speakers
• Dehong Prefecture : Mangshi , Yingjiang , Lianghe , Longchuan , Ruili , Wanding
• Baoshan District : Baoshan , Tengchong , Longling , Shidian
• Menggeng dialect : 209,000 speakers
• Pu'er City / Simao District : Menglian , Jinggu , Lancang , Zhenyuan , Ximeng , Jingdong , Simao , Pu'er , Mojiang
• Baoshan District : Changning
• Lincang District : Gengma , Lincang , Shuangjiang , Cangyuan , Yongde , Zhenkang , Yunxian , Fengqing . A separate traditional script is still in use in Mengding Township and Lincang . It's identical to old Shan Script but different from the one used in the Dehong area — see Zhou (2001:371).

Phonology

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 six tones.

Consonants

Initials

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

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

! rowspan="2" |Labial

! colspan="2" |Alveolar

! rowspan="2" |Palatal

! rowspan="2" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

|-

!plain

!sibilant

|-

! colspan="2" |Nasal

| style="background-color: #ccf" | <br />ᥛ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | <br />ᥢ

|

|

| style="background-color: #fcc" | <br />ᥒ

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|-

! rowspan="2" |Plosive

! <small>tenuis</small>

| style="background-color: #ccf" |<br />ᥙ

| style="background-color: #cfc" |<br />ᥖ

| style="background-color: #fcf" | <br />ᥓ

|

| style="background-color: #fcc" |<br />ᥐ

| style="background-color: #ccc" |<br />ᥟ

|-

!<small>aspirated</small>

| style="background-color: #ccf" | <br />ᥚ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | <br />ᥗ

| style="background-color: #fcf" | ()*<br />ᥡ

|

| style="background-color: #fcc" | ()*<br />ᥠ

|

|-

! colspan="2" |Fricative

| style="background-color: #ccf" | <br />ᥜ

|

| style="background-color: #ffc" | <br />ᥔ

|

| style="background-color: #fcc" | <br />ᥑ

| style="background-color: #ccc" | <br />ᥞ

|-

! colspan="2" |Approximant

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| style="background-color: #cff" |<br />ᥘ

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| style="background-color: #cff" |<br />ᥕ

| style="background-color: #cff" |<br />ᥝ

|

|}

Notes:

1. <nowiki>*</nowiki> 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.

Finals

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

! colspan=1|

! Labial

! Alveolar

! Palatal

! Velar

|-

! colspan=1| Nasal

| style="background-color: #ccf" | <br />ᥛ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | <br />ᥢ

|

| style="background-color: #fcc" | <br />ᥒ

|-

! colspan=1| Plosive

| style="background-color: #ccf" | <br />ᥙ

| style="background-color: #cfc" | <br />ᥖ

|

| style="background-color: #fcc" | <br />ᥐ

|-

! colspan=1| Approximant

| style="background-color: #cff" | <br />ᥝ

|

| style="background-color: #cff" | <br />ᥭ

|

|}

Vowels

Tai Nuea has ten vowels and 13 diphthongs:

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

!

!Front

!Central-Back

!Back

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!High

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!Mid

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!Low

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| ~ <br>(Mangshi)<br> ~ (Menglian)

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|}

Diphthong

{| class="wikitable letters-table"

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<nowiki>*</nowiki> Only in Mangshi dialect.

Tones

Unchecked syllables

Tai Nuea has six tones:

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

! 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 || colspan="2" | 33 || ◌ || ◌ || 6

|}

Checked syllables

Syllables with , and final can have only one of three tones in Mangshi (芒市) Dialect or four tones in Menglian (孟连) Dialect.

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

|+ Mangshi (芒市) Dialect

! Description !! Contour !! Tai Le !! Tai Le (1963) !! Number

|-

| rising || 35 || ◌ᥴ || ◌́ || 7

|-

| rowspan="2" | high falling || rowspan="2" | 53 || ◌ᥳ || ◌̇ || rowspan="2" | 8

|-

| ◌ || ◌

|-

| low || 11 or 21 || ◌ᥱ || ◌̌ || 9

|}

In Mangshi (芒市) Dialect, the high falling tone mark (◌ᥳ) is usually left unmarked.

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

|+ Menglian (孟连) Dialect

! Description !! Contour !! Tai Le !! Tai Le (1963) !! Number

|-

| high || 55 || ◌ᥴ || ◌́ || 7

|-

| low falling || 31 || ◌ᥳ || ◌̇ || 8

|-

| rising || 35 || ◌ᥱ || ◌̌ || 9

|-

| mid || 33 || ◌ || ◌ || 10

|}

Comparison

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

|+ Unchecked syllable comparison

! Tai Le !! Mangshi (芒市) !! Menglian (孟连) !! English

|-

| || fa⁴ || pʰa⁴ || sky

|-

| || laːu⁶ || lau⁶ || star

|-

| || lam⁴ || nɑm⁴ || water

|-

| || xai⁵ || xɑi⁵ || egg

|-

| || la² || na² || field

|-

| || fon¹ || pʰon¹ || rain

|-

| || moi¹ || məi¹ || frost

|-

| || pa³ taɯ³ || pɑ³ tɑ³ || under

|}

Checked syllable

Due to the irregular checked tones correspondence, the Tai Le used will be written in Mangshi dialect.

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

|+ Checked syllable comparison

! Tai Le !! Mangshi (芒市) !! Menglian (孟连) !! English

|-

| || tap⁷ || tɑp⁷ || liver

|-

| || lok⁸ || lok⁸ || bird

|-

| || hak⁸ || hɑk⁸ || love

|-

| || mɔk⁹ || mɔk⁹ || flower

|-

| || sop⁹ || sop⁹ || mouth

|-

| || pʰak⁷ || pʰɑk¹⁰ || vegetable

|-

| || ŋək⁸ || ŋək¹⁰ || dragon

|-

| || tsək⁸ || tsək¹⁰ || rope

|-

| || tsep⁹ || tsep¹⁰ || pain

|-

| || pʰet⁹ || pʰet¹⁰ || spicy

|-

| || pet⁹ || pet¹⁰ || duck

|-

| || luk⁷ || luk⁹ || bone

|-

| || hut⁷ || hut⁹ || inhale

|-

| || kaːp⁸ || kap⁹ || bite

|}

Writing system

The Tai Le script is part of the Mon-Burmese family of writing systems and is closely related to the Ahom 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.

Consonants

{| class="wikitable letters-table"

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Vowels and diphthongs

Consonants that are not followed by a vowel letter are pronounced with the inherent vowel [a]. Other vowels are indicated with the following letters:

{| class="wikitable letters-table"

|-

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|}

Diphthongs are formed by combining some vowel letters with the consonant [w] and some vowel letters with ᥭ [ai]/[j].

Tones

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.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-family:MPH 2B Damase"

|+ the six tones of Tai Nuea

! Number !! New (1988) !! Old (1963) !! Pitch

|-----

| 1. || || || mid rise

|-----

| 2. || || || high fall

|-----

| 3. || || || low

|-----

| 4. || || || low fall

|-----

| 5. || || || mid fall

|-----

| 6. || || || 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.

Grammar

Pronouns

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Personal Pronouns

|-

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

! colspan="3" | Singular

! Dual

! colspan="2" | Plural

|-

! Mangshi

! Menglian

! Menglian (formal)

! Mangshi

! Mangshi

! Menglian

|-

! rowspan="2" | 1st person

!

| rowspan="2" | ᥐᥝ (kau⁶)

| rowspan="2" | ᥐᥬ (kɑ⁶)

| rowspan="2" | ᥖᥧ ᥑᥬᥲ (tu⁶ xɑ³)

| ᥞᥣᥒᥰ ᥞᥫᥴ (haːŋ² xə¹)

| ᥖᥧ (tu⁶)

| ᥖᥧ (tu⁶)

|-

!

| ᥞᥣᥒᥰ ᥞᥣᥰ (haːŋ² ha²)

| ᥞᥝᥰ (hau²)

| ᥞᥝᥰ (hɑu²)

|-

! colspan="2" | 2nd person

| ᥛᥬᥰ (maɯ²)

| ᥛᥬᥰ (mɑ²)

| ᥔᥧᥴ ᥓᥝᥲ (su¹ tsɑu³)

| ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥞᥫᥴ (sɔŋ¹ xə¹)

| ᥔᥧᥴ (su¹)

| ᥔᥧᥴ (su¹)

|-

! colspan="2" | 3rd person

| ᥛᥢᥰ (man²)

| colspan="2" | ᥛᥢᥰ (mɑn²)

| ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥞᥣᥴ (sɔŋ¹ xa¹)

| ᥑᥝᥴ (xau¹)

| ᥑᥬᥴ (xɑ¹)

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Other Pronouns

|-

!

! 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)

|}

Syntax

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

Demonstrative

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!

! 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)

|}

Adverb

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Interrogative

|-

!

! 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)

|}

Numeral

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Numerals

|-

!

! Mangshi

! Menglian

|-

! 0

| ᥘᥤᥢᥳ (lin⁴)

| ᥘᥤᥢᥳ (lin⁴)

|-

! rowspan="2" | 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)

|}

Text sample

Language use

thumb|A Tai Nuea edition of the newspaper [[:zh:德宏团结报|德宏团结报]]

thumb|A textbook printed in the Tai Nuea Language

thumb|A public sign in the Tai Nuea and [[Jingpo language|Jingpo language]]

thumb|A board written in Chinese, Tai Nuea, and Jingpo language

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 in Mangshi are in Tai Nuea.

In Thailand, a collection of 108 proverbs was published with translations into Thai and English.

References

Bibliography

External links

• Tai Dehong
• Dehong Daiwen jianjie ji zifuji 德宏傣文简介及字符集 (Introduction to Dehong Dai with examples; in Chinese)
• Daiyu, Daiwen 傣语、傣文 (in Chinese)
• Yunnan sheng yuyan wenzi wang 云南省语言文字网 (Yunnan province language and writing web; in Chinese)