Tai Lü language

Tai Lü Language
Kwam Tai Lue
Spoken in	China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
Region	Yunnan province
Native speakers	700,000  (1981-2001)
Language family	Tai–Kadai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Northwestern Tai Lü Language
Writing system	Tai Tham script, Thai script, New Tai Lü script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	khb
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Tai Lü ᦑᦺᦟᦹᧉ (or Tai Lɯ, Tai Lue, Tai Le [tâi lɯ̀]; Xishuangbanna Dai; Chinese: 傣仂语 Dǎilèyǔ; Thai: ภาษาไทลื้อ (Phasa Thai Leu, IPA: [pʰāːsǎː tʰāj lɯ́ː]); Vietnamese: Lự or Lữ) is a language spoken by about 700,000 people in South East Asia. This includes 280,000 people in China, 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.

In Vietnam, Tai Lü 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 Lü has 21 syllable-initial consonants, 91 syllable finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in syllables).

Initials

p	pʰ	b	m		f	v
t	tʰ	d	n	l
ts					s	j
k			ŋ		x
kʷ					xʷ
ʔ					h

The initials ts- and s- are palatalised before i, e and ɛ and become tɕ- and ɕ-, respectively.

Finals

	aː	iː	eː	ɛː	uː	oː	ɔː	ɯː	əː
ai	aːi				ui	oi	ɔi	ɯi	əi
au	aːu	iu	eu	ɛu					əu
am	aːm	im	em	ɛm	um	om	ɔm	ɯm	əm
an	aːn	in	en	ɛn	un	on	ɔn	ɯn	ən
aŋ	aːŋ	iŋ	eŋ	ɛŋ	uŋ	oŋ	ɔŋ	ɯŋ	əŋ
ap	aːp	ip	ep	ɛp	up	op	ɔp	ɯp	əp
at	aːt	it	et	ɛt	ut	ot	ɔt	ɯt	ət
ak	aːk	ik	ek	ɛk	uk	ok	ɔk	ɯk	ək
aʔ		iʔ	eʔ	ɛʔ	uʔ	oʔ	ɔʔ	ɯʔ	əʔ

Tones

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
high	55	á
mid	33	a (not marked)
low	11	à
falling	51	â
high rising	35	á̄
low rising	13	à̄

Grammar

Word order is usually Subject - Verb - Object; Modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.

Vocabulary

Tai Lü has many loanwords from Pali, as well as from the local Chinese dialect and modern Standard Chinese.

Numbers

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	100	10,000	100,000	1,000,000
nɯŋ	sɔ́ŋ	sám	sī́ː	hā̀ː	hók	tɕet	pɛ̄́t	kā̀u	síp	hɔ̀i	mɯ̄́n	sɛ́n	làn

Writing systems

Tai Lü is written in two different alphabets. The old writing system was reformed in the 1950s, but is still in use and has recently regained government support. The new alphabet is a simplified version of the old script.

Old Tai Lü

Readable by the most people and used in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

New Tai Lü

New Tai Lü is a modernisation of the Lanna alphabet (also known as Tai Tham script), similar to the Thai 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 and vowel length, and the tone mark.

Unicode range ("New Tai Lue"): U+1980 – U+19DF

See also

• Tai Nüa language
• Tai Pong language
• Tai Dam language

References

• Dāo Shìxūn 刀世勋: Dǎi-Hàn cídiǎn 傣汉词典 (Dai–Chinese Dictionary; Kūnmíng 昆明, Yúnnán mínzú chūbǎnshè 云南民族出版社 2002). This is a dictionary of Tai Lü in unreformed spelling.
• Yu Cuirong 喻翠荣, Luo Meizhen 罗美珍: Daile-Han cidian 傣仂汉词典 (Tai Lü - Chinese Dictionary; Beijing, Minzu chubanshe 2004).

External links

• Lü, a language of China
• SeaSite: Tai Lue, under construction
• SIL Dai Banna Fonts
• Omniglot - Tai Lue script