View source for Kra–Dai languages

{{Short description|Language family of Asia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Kra–Dai
| altname       = Tai–Kadai, Daic
| region        = Southern China, [[Hainan Island]],<br />[[Indochina]], and [[Northeast India]]
| familycolor   = Tai-Kadai
| speakers      = {{est.}} 93 million
| protoname     = [[Proto-Kra–Dai language|Proto-Kra–Dai]]
| family        = One of the world's primary [[Language family|language families]]
| child1        = [[Kra languages|Kra]]
| child2        = [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]
| child3        = [[Biao language|Biao]]–[[Lakkia language|Lakkia]]
| child4        = [[Be languages|Be]]–[[Jizhao language|Jizhao]]
| child5        = [[Tai languages|Tai]]
| child6        = [[Hlai languages|Hlai]]–[[Jiamao language|Jiamao]]
<!--|iso2 = none; "tai" is specifically for the Tai languages, not the whole Kra-Dai family-->
| glotto        = taik1256
| glottorefname = Tai–Kadai
| map           = Taikadai-en.svg
| mapcaption    = Distribution of the Tai–Kadai language family.<br />{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
{{legend|blue|[[Kra languages|Kra]]}}
{{legend|#DB4FFF|[[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]}}
{{legend|#B000A6|[[Be languages|Be]]}}
{{legend|#80FF00|[[Hlai languages|Hlai]]}}
{{Col-2}}
{{legend|#FFEC19|[[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]}}
{{legend|#FF4C00|[[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]}}
{{legend|#FF9D00|[[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]}}
{{Col-end}}
| ethnicity     = [[Kra–Dai-speaking peoples|Kra–Dai peoples]]
}}

The '''Kra–Dai languages''' ({{IPAc-en|'|k|r|ɑː|.|d|aɪ}} {{respell|KRAH|dy}}, also known as '''Tai–Kadai''' {{IPAc-en|'|t|ai|.|k|@|,|d|aɪ}} {{respell|TIE|kə|DYE}} and '''Daic''' {{IPAc-en|'|d|ai|.|I|k}} {{respell|DYE|ik}}), are a [[language family]] in [[mainland Southeast Asia]], [[southern China]], and [[northeastern India]]. All languages in the family are [[tonal language|tonal]], including [[Thai language|Thai]] and [[Lao language|Lao]], the national languages of [[Thailand]] and [[Laos]], respectively.<ref>Diller, Anthony, Jerry Edmondson, Yongxian Luo. (2008). ''The Tai–Kadai Languages''. London [etc.]: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-7007-1457-5}}</ref> Around 93 million people speak Kra–Dai languages; 60% of those speak Thai.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Taikadai.html|title=Taikadai|website=www.languagesgulper.com|access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref> ''[[Ethnologue]]'' lists 95 languages in the family, with 62 of these being in the [[Tai languages|Tai branch]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=818-16| title = Ethnologue Tai–Kadai family tree}}</ref>

==Names==
The name "Kra–Dai" was proposed by Weera Ostapirat (2000), as Kra and Dai are the reconstructed [[Exonym and endonym|autonyms]] of the [[Kra languages|Kra]] and [[Tai languages|Tai]] branches, respectively.<ref name=Ostapirat2000 /> "Kra–Dai" has since been used by the majority of specialists working on Southeast Asian linguistics, including [[Peter K. Norquest|Norquest]] (2007),<ref name=norquest /> Pittayaporn (2009),<ref name=pittayaporn>Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University</ref><ref name=jenks>Peter Jenks and Pittayawat Pittayaporn. [http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0178.xml Kra-Dai Languages]. Oxford Bibliographies in "Linguistics", Ed. Mark Aranoff. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> [[William H. Baxter|Baxter]] & [[Laurent Sagart|Sagart]] (2014),<ref>{{citation| title = Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction| given1 = William H. | surname1 = Baxter | given2 = Laurent | surname2 = Sagart | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2014 | isbn = 978-0-19-994537-5| postscript = .}}</ref> and Enfield & [[Bernard Comrie|Comrie]] (2015).<ref>N. J. Enfield and B. Comrie, Eds. 2015. ''Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The State of the Art''. Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter.</ref>

The name "Tai–Kadai" is used in many references, as well as ''[[Ethnologue]]'' and ''[[Glottolog]]'', but Ostapirat (2000) and others suggest that it is problematic and confusing, preferring the name "Kra–Dai" instead.<ref name="Ostapirat2000">Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "[http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/weera2000proto.pdf Proto-Kra]." ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' '''23''' (1): 1–251.</ref> "Tai–Kadai" comes from an obsolete bifurcation of the family into two branches, Tai and Kadai, which had first been proposed by [[Paul K. Benedict]] (1942).<ref name="Benedict1942"/> In 1942, Benedict placed three Kra languages ([[Gelao languages|Gelao]], Laqua ([[Qabiao language|Qabiao]]), and [[Lachi language|Lachi]]) together with [[Hlai languages|Hlai]] in a group that he called "Kadai", from ''ka'', meaning "person" in Gelao and Laqua and ''dai'', a form of a Hlai autonym.<ref name="Benedict1942">{{cite journal| first = Paul K. | last = Benedict | author-link = Paul K. Benedict| title = Thai, Kadai, and Indonesian: A New Alignment in Southeastern Asia| journal = American Anthropologist | year = 1942 | volume = 44 | issue = 4 | pages = 576–601| jstor = 663309 | doi = 10.1525/aa.1942.44.4.02a00040 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Benedict's (1942) "Kadai" group was based on his observation that Kra and Hlai languages have [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]-like numerals. However, this classification is now universally rejected as obsolete after Ostapirat (2000) demonstrated the coherence of the Kra branch, which does not subgroup with the Hlai branch as Benedict (1942) had proposed. "Kadai" is sometimes used to refer to the entire Kra–Dai family, including by Solnit (1988).<ref name="Solnit1988">Solnit, David B. 1988. "The position of Lakkia within Kadai." In ''Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai'', Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.). pages 219–238. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington.</ref><ref name=edmondson1988 /> Adding to the confusion, some other references{{which|date=February 2024}} restrict the usage of "Kadai" to only the Kra branch of the family.

The name "Daic" is used by [[Roger Blench]] (2008).<ref>Blench, Roger. 2008. ''[http://rb.rowbory.co.uk/Language/Daic/Daic%20prehistory%20paper%20EURASEAA%202008.pdf The Prehistory of the Daic (Tai-Kadai) Speaking Peoples] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429082046/http://rb.rowbory.co.uk/Language/Daic/Daic%20prehistory%20paper%20EURASEAA%202008.pdf |date=29 April 2019 }}''. Presented at the 12th EURASEAA meeting Leiden, 1–5 September 2008. ([http://www.rogerblench.info/Archaeology/SE%20Asia/Leiden%202008/Prehistory%20of%20Daic%20peoples%20Leiden%202008%20ppt.pdf PPT slides])</ref>

==Origin==
[[File:Gerner Tai-Kadai migration route.png|thumb|300px|Migration route of the [[Kra–Dai people]] from their [[Urheimat|original homeland]] of [[Taiwan]] via China to [[Mainland Southeast Asia]], according to Matthias Gerner's "Northeast to Southwest Hypothesis".<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Gerner |first1=Matthias |date=2014 |title=Project Discussion: The Austro-Tai Hypothesis |conference=The 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14) |page=158 |url=http://iscll-14.ling.sinica.edu.tw/files-pdf/Papers/Session4/Gerner.pdf}}</ref>]]

James R. Chamberlain (2016) proposes that the Tai–Kadai (Kra–Dai) language family was formed as early as the 12th century BCE in the middle of the [[Yangtze basin]], coinciding roughly with the establishment of the [[Chu (state)|Chu fiefdom]] and the beginning of the [[Zhou dynasty]].<ref name="Chamberlain-Kra-Dai">Chamberlain, James R. (2016). "[https://www.academia.edu/26296118/Kra-Dai_and_the_Proto-History_of_South_China_and_Vietnam Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam]", pp. 27–77. In ''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 104, 2016.</ref> The high diversity of Kra–Dai languages in southern China, especially in [[Guizhou]] and [[Hainan]], points to that being an origin of the Kra–Dai language family, founding the nations that later became Thailand and Laos in what had been [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] territory. Genetic and linguistic analyses show great homogeneity among Kra–Dai-speaking people in Thailand.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Srithawong|first1=Suparat|last2=Srikummool|first2=Metawee|last3=Pittayaporn|first3=Pittayawat|last4=Ghirotto|first4=Silvia|last5=Chantawannakul|first5=Panuwan|last6=Sun|first6=Jie|last7=Eisenberg|first7=Arthur|last8=Chakraborty|first8=Ranajit|last9=Kutanan|first9=Wibhu|date=July 2015|title=Genetic and linguistic correlation of the Kra-Dai-speaking groups in Thailand|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|volume=60|issue=7|pages=371–380|doi=10.1038/jhg.2015.32|issn=1435-232X|pmid=25833471|s2cid=21509343|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Although the position of Kra–Dai in relation to Austronesian is still contested, some propose that Kra–Dai and Austronesian are genetically connected. Weera Ostapirat (2005) sets out a series of regular sound correspondences between them, assuming a model of a primary split between the two; they would then be co-ordinate branches.{{sfn|Blench|2017|p=11}} Ostapirat (2013) continues to maintain that Kra–Dai and Austronesian are sister language families, based on certain phonological correspondences.{{sfn|Ostapirat|2013|pp=1–10}} On the other hand, Laurent Sagart (2008) proposes that Kra–Dai is a later form of what he calls "FATK" (Formosan Ancestor of Tai–Kadai) a branch of Austronesian belonging to the subgroup "Puluqic", developed in Taiwan, whose speakers migrated back to the mainland, to Guangdong, Hainan, and north Vietnam, around the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE.{{sfn|Sagart|2008|pp=146–152}} Upon their arrival in this region, they underwent linguistic contact with an unknown population, resulting in a partial relexification of FATK vocabulary.{{sfn|Sagart|2008|p=151}} Erica Brindley (2015) supports Sagart's hypothesis, arguing that the radically different Kra-Dai history of migration to the mainland (as opposed to the Philippines for Proto-Austronesian) and extended contact with Austro-Asiatic and Sinitic speakers would make the relationship appear more distant. She also suggests that the presence of only the most basic Austronesian vocabulary in Kra-Dai makes this scenario of relexification more plausible.{{sfn|Brindley|2015|p=51}}

Besides various concrete pieces of evidence for a Kra–Dai existence in present-day Guangdong, remnants of Kra–Dai languages spoken further north can be found in unearthed [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|inscriptional materials]] and non-Han [[Stratum (linguistics)#Substratum|substrata]] in [[Min Chinese|Min]] and [[Wu Chinese]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Wolfgang Behr (2002, 2006, 2009, 2017){{sfn|Behr|2002}}{{sfn|Behr|2006}}{{sfn|Behr|2009}} points out that most non-Sinitic words found in Chu inscriptional materials are of Kra–Dai origin. For example, the Chu graph for 'one, once' written as [[File:Neng2.svg|20px]] (? < [[Old Chinese|OC]] '''*nnəŋ''') in the ''E jun qijie'' 鄂君啟筯 bronze tally and in Warring States bamboo inscriptions, which represents a Kra–Dai areal word; compare Proto-Tai '''*hnïŋ''' ''='' '''*hnɯŋ''' (Siamese <sup>22</sup>nɯŋ, Dai <sup>33</sup>nɯŋ, Longzhou nəəŋ<sup>A</sup> etc.) 'one, once'.{{sfn|Behr|2017|p=12}}

In the early 1980s, Wei Qingwen (韦庆稳), a [[Zhuang language|Zhuang]] linguist, proposed that the [[Old Yue language]] recorded in the [[Song of the Yue Boatman]] is in fact a language ancestral to Zhuang.{{sfn|Holm|2013|p=785}} Wei used reconstructed [[Old Chinese]] for the characters and discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to modern Zhuang.{{sfn|Edmondson|2007|p= 16}} Later, [[Zhengzhang Shangfang]] (1991) followed Wei's proposal but used Thai script for comparison, since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms not found in modern pronunciation.{{sfn|Edmondson|2007|p= 16}}{{sfn|Zhengzhang|1991|pp= 159–168}} Zhengzhang notes that 'evening, night, dark' bears the C tone in Wuming Zhuang ''xam<sup>C2</sup>'' and ''ɣam<sup>C2</sup>'' 'night'. The item ''raa'' normally means 'we (inclusive)' but in some places, e.g., Tai Lue and White Tai, it means 'I'.{{sfn|Edmondson|2007|p=17}} However, [[Laurent Sagart]] criticizes Zhengzhang's interpretation as anachronistic, because however archaic the Thai script is, the Thai language was only written 2,000 years after the song had been recorded; even if [[Kam–Tai languages|Proto-Kam–Tai]] had emerged by the 6th century BCE, its pronunciation would have been substantially different from Thai.{{sfn|Sagart|2008|p=143}}

[[File:Chinese plain 5c. BC with Yue-en.png|350px|thumb|right|Map of the Chinese plain at the start of the [[Warring States Period]], in the 5th century BC.]]

==Internal classification==
[[File:"tooth" in Kra-Dai languages.svg|thumb|300x300px|Example of the divergence among the Kra-Dai languages, using the word for "tooth".]]
Kra–Dai consists of at least five well-established branches, namely Kra, Kam–Sui, Tai, Be, and Hlai (Ostapirat 2005:109).

;[[Tai languages|Tai]]: southern China and Southeast Asia
;[[Kra languages|Kra]]: southern China, northern Vietnam; called ''Kadai'' in ''[[Ethnologue]]'' and ''Geyang'' (仡央) in Chinese
;[[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]: [[Guizhou]] and [[Guangxi]], China
;[[Be languages|Be]]: [[Hainan]]; possibly also includes [[Jizhao language|Jizhao]] of [[Guangdong]]
;[[Hlai languages|Hlai]]: [[Hainan]]

Chinese linguists have also proposed a [[Kam–Tai languages|Kam–Tai]] group that includes [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]], [[Tai languages|Tai]], and [[Be languages|Be]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Liang Min 梁敏 & Zhang Junru 张均如. 1996. ''Dongtai yuzu gailun'' 侗台语族概论 / ''An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages''. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社. {{ISBN|9787500416814}}</ref><ref>Ni Dabai 倪大白. 1990. ''Dongtai yu gailun'' 侗台语概论 / ''An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages''. Beijing: Central Nationalities Research Institute Press 中央民族学院出版社.</ref>

Kra–Dai languages that are not securely classified and may constitute independent Kra–Dai branches include the following:
* '''[[Lakkia language|Lakkia]]''' and '''[[Biao language|Biao]]''', which may or may not subgroup with each other, are difficult to classify due to aberrant vocabulary but are sometimes classified as [[sister group|sisters]] of [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]] (Solnit 1988).<ref name="Solnit1988"/>
* '''[[Jiamao language|Jiamao]]''' of southern Hainan, China, is an aberrant Kra–Dai language traditionally classified as a [[Hlai languages|Hlai language]], although Jiamao contains many words of non-Hlai origin.
* '''[[Jizhao language|Jizhao]]''' of [[Guangdong]], China, is currently unclassified within Kra–Dai but appears to be most closely related to [[Be languages|Be]] (Ostapirat 1998).<ref name="Ostapirat1998">Ostapirat, W. (1998). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23756759 A Mainland Bê Language? / 大陆的Bê语言?]. ''Journal of Chinese Linguistics'', 26(2), 338–344</ref>

Kra–Dai languages of mixed origins are:
* ''[[Hezhang Buyi language|Hezhang Buyi]]'': [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] and [[Kra languages|Kra]]
* ''[[E language|E]]'': [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] and [[Pinghua]] Chinese
* ''[[Caolan language|Caolan]]'': [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] and [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
* ''[[Jiamao language|Jiamao]]'': [[Hlai languages|Hlai]] and other unknown elements ([[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]?)

===Edmondson and Solnit (1988)===
An early but influential classification, with the traditional Kam–Tai clade, was [[Jerold A. Edmondson|Edmondson]] and Solnit's classification from 1988:<ref name=edmondson1988>Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1988. Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vii, 374 p.</ref><ref name="Tai">Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vi, 382 p.</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Kra–Dai'''
** [[Kra languages|Kra]] (Geyang)
** [[Hlai languages|Hlai]]
** [[Kam–Tai languages|Kam–Tai]]
*** {{tree list/branching}}
**** [[Lakkia language|Lakkia]]–[[Biao language|Biao]]
**** [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]
*** {{tree list/branching}}
**** [[Be languages|Be]]
**** [[Tai languages|Tai]]
{{tree list/end}}
This classification is also used by Liang and Zhang (1996),<ref>Liang Min & Zhang Junru. 1996. ''An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages''. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press.</ref> Chamberlain (2016: 38),<ref>Chamberlain, James R. 2016. Kra–Dai and the proto-history of South China and Vietnam. ''Journal of the Siam Society'' 104. 27–77.</ref> and  ''Ethnologue'', though by 2009 Lakkia was made a third branch of Kam–Tai and Biao was moved into Kam–Sui.

===Ostapirat (2005); Norquest (2007)===
Weera Ostapirat (2005:128) suggests the possibility of Kra and Kam–Sui being grouped together as Northern Kra–Dai and Hlai with Tai as Southern Kra–Dai.<ref name=Ostapirat2005/> [[Peter K. Norquest|Norquest]] (2007) has further updated this classification to include [[Lakkia language|Lakkia]] and [[Be languages|Be]]. Norquest notes that Lakkia shares some similarities with Kam–Sui, while Be shares some similarities with Tai. Norquest (2007:15) notes that Be shares various similarities with [[Northern Tai languages]] in particular.<ref name="norquest">Norquest, Peter K. 2007. [http://gradworks.umi.com/32/84/3284367.html ''A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai'']. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.</ref> Following Ostapirat, Norquest adopts the name Kra–Dai for the family as a whole. The following tree of Kra–Dai is from Norquest (2007:16):

{{tree list}}
* '''Kra–Dai'''
** Northern
*** [[Kra languages|Kra]]
*** Northeastern&nbsp;
**** [[Lakkia language|Lakkia]]
**** [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]
** Southern
*** [[Hlai languages|Hlai]]
*** Be–Tai
**** [[Tai languages|Tai]]
**** [[Be languages|Be]]
{{tree list/end}}

Additionally, Norquest (2007) also proposes a reconstruction for Proto-Southern Kra–Dai.

===Norquest (2015, 2020)===
A classification of Kra–Dai by Norquest (2015, 2020) is provided as follows:<ref name="Norquest-Brill">{{cite book|last=Norquest|first=Peter|title=A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai|publisher=Brill|date=29 September 2015|isbn=978-90-04-30052-1|doi=10.1163/9789004300521|hdl=10150/194203}}</ref><ref>Norquest, Peter. 2020. ''[http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74055 A Hypothesis on the Origin of Preglottalized Sonorants in Kra–Dai]''. 38th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. Vancouver: Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia. {{doi|10.14288/1.0389866}}</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Kra–Dai'''
** [[Kra languages|Kra]]
** Eastern Kra–Dai
*** [[Biao language|Biao]]
*** Lakkja–Kam–Tai
**** [[Lakkia language|Lakkja]]
**** [[Kam–Tai languages|Kam–Tai]]&nbsp;
***** [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]
***** Western Kam–Tai&nbsp;
****** [[Hlai languages|Hlai]]
****** Be–Tai
******* [[Be languages|Ong-Be]]
******* [[Tai languages|Tai]]
{{tree list/end}}

===Norquest (2021)===
Based on shared lexical innovations, Norquest (2021) significantly revised his classification of Kra–Dai. Together, [[Biao language|Biao]] and [[Lakkia language|Lakkja]] form the most divergent subgroup of Kra–Dai. Be–Tai and Hlai are placed together as part of a "Hlai–Tai" group.<ref name="WOL-MSEA-13">{{cite book|last=Norquest|first=Peter|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia|chapter=Classification of (Tai–)Kadai/Kra–Dai languages|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2021|doi=10.1515/9783110558142-013|pages=225–246|isbn=9783110558142 |s2cid=238672319 }}</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Kra–Dai'''
** [[Biao language|Biao]]–[[Lakkia language|Lakkja]]
** [[Kam–Tai languages|Kam–Tai]]
*** [[Kam–Sui languages|Kam–Sui]]
*** Kra–Tai
**** [[Kra languages|Kra]]
**** Hlai–Tai
***** [[Hlai languages|Hlai]]
***** Be–Tai
****** [[Be languages|Be]]
****** [[Tai languages|Tai]]
{{tree list/end}}

==Hypotheses regarding external relationships==
===Austro-Tai===
{{Main|Austro-Tai languages}}
[[File:Genesis of Daic languages and their relation with Austronesians.png|thumb|Proposed genesis of Daic languages and their relation to [[Austronesian languages]] ([[Roger Blench|Blench]], 2018)<ref name="Blench2018">{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/37593287|title=Tai-Kadai and Austronesian are Related at Multiple Levels and their Archaeological Interpretation (draft)|last1=Blench|first1=Roger|year=2018|quote=The volume of cognates between Austronesian and Daic, notably in fundamental vocabulary, is such that they must be related. Borrowing can be excluded as an explanation}}</ref>]]

Several scholars have presented evidence that Kra–Dai may be related to, or even a branch of, the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian language family]].<ref>{{cite journal|surname=Sagart|given=Laurent|author-link=Laurent Sagart|year=2004|url=http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/09/09/06/PDF/THE_HIGHER_PHYLOGENY_OF_AUSTRONESIAN.pdf|title=The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai–Kadai|journal=Oceanic Linguistics|volume=43|issue=2|pages=411–440|doi=10.1353/ol.2005.0012|s2cid=49547647}}</ref> There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary, displaying regular sound correspondences. Among proponents, there is yet no agreement as to whether they are a sister group to Austronesian in a family called [[Austro-Tai languages|Austro-Tai]], a back-migration from [[Formosan languages|Taiwan]] to the mainland or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion.{{sfn|Ostapirat|2013|pp = 1–10}}

The inclusion of [[Japonic languages|Japanese]] in the Austro-Tai family, as proposed by [[Paul K. Benedict]] in the late 20th century,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japanese/Austro-Tai|last=Benedict|first=Paul K.|date=1990|publisher=Karoma|isbn=978-0-89720-078-3}}</ref> is not supported by the current proponents of the Austro-Tai hypothesis.

===Sino-Tai===
The Kra–Dai languages were formerly considered to be part of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan family]], partly because they contain large numbers of words that are similar to Sino-Tibetan languages. However, Western scholars generally consider them to be Sinitic loanwords and note that basic vocabulary words in Kra–Dai languages often have cognates with Austronesian instead.<ref name=Ostapirat2005>Ostapirat, Weera. (2005). "Kra–Dai and Austronesian: Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution", pp.&nbsp;107–131 in Sagart, Laurent, Blench, Roger & Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia (eds.), ''The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics.'' London/New York: Routledge-Curzon.</ref> Outside China, the Kra–Dai languages are now classified as an independent family. In China, they are called ''Dong–Tai'' (侗台) or ''Zhuang–Dong'' (壮侗) languages and are generally included, along with the [[Hmong–Mien languages]], in the Sino-Tibetan family.<ref>Luo, Yongxian. 2008. Sino-Tai and Tai-Kadai: Another look. In Anthony V. N. Diller and Jerold A. Edmondson and Yongxian Luo (eds.), ''The Tai-Kadai Languages'', 9–28. London & New York: Routledge.</ref>

===Hmong–Mien===
Kosaka (2002) has argued specifically for a [[Proto-Hmong–Mien#Kra-Dai|Miao–Dai family]]. Based on proposed lexical cognates, he proposes a genetic relation between Hmong–Mien and Kra–Dai languages. He further suggests that similarities between Kra–Dai and Austronesian are due to later areal contact in the coastal areas of eastern and southeastern China or an older ancestral relation (Proto-[[East Asian languages|East Asian]]).<ref name="Kosaka">Kosaka, Ryuichi. 2002. "[http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/kosaka2002affiliation.pdf On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao–Dai family]." ''[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]'' 32:71–100.</ref>

===Japonic===
[[Alexander Vovin|Vovin]] (2014) has proposed that the location of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] [[Urheimat]] (linguistic homeland) is in southern China. He argues for typological evidence that Proto-Japanese may have been a monosyllabic, SVO syntax and isolating language, which is also characteristic of Kra–Dai languages. According to him, these common features are however not due to a genetic relationship but rather the result of intense contact.<ref name=Vovin>Vovin, Alexander (2014). [https://www.academia.edu/7869241/Out_of_Southern_China ''Out Of Southern China? --some linguistic and philological musings on the possible Urheimat of the Japonic language family--''] ''XXVIIes Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale 26–27 juin 2014''.</ref>

==Reconstruction==
{{main|Proto-Kra–Dai language}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Language}}
* [[Austric languages]]
* [[Proto-Hlai language]]
* [[Proto-Hmong–Mien language]]
* [[Proto-Kam–Sui language]]
* [[Proto-Kra language]]
* [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman language]]
* [[Proto-Tai language]]
* [[Sino-Austronesian languages]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |first=Wolfgang |last=Behr |editor-first=Edward L. |editor-last=Shaughnessy |title=Kinship: Studies of Recently Discovered Bronze Inscriptions from Ancient China |chapter=The language of the bronze inscriptions |publisher=The Chinese University Press of Hong Kong |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/3824366 |pages=9–32 |isbn=978-9-629-96639-3 |year=2017 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Wolfgang |last=Behr |author-mask=3 |title=Dialects, diachrony, diglossia or all three? Tomb text glimpses into the language(s) of Chǔ |journal=TTW-3, Zürich, 26.-29.VI.2009, "Genius Loci" |url=https://www.academia.edu/1693898 |pages=1–48 |year=2009 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Wolfgang |last=Behr |author-mask=3 |title=Some Chŭ 楚 words in early Chinese literature |journal=EACL-4, Budapest |url=https://www.academia.edu/1693898 |pages=1–21 |year=2006 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Wolfgang |last=Behr |author-mask=3 |title=Stray loanword gleanings from two Ancient Chinese fictional texts |journal=16e Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale, Centre de Recherches Linguistiques Sur l'Asie Orientale (E.H.E.S.S.), Paris |url=https://www.academia.edu/1693935 |pages=1–6 |year=2002 }}
* [[Roger Blench|Blench, Roger]]. 2004. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/China/Geneva%20paper%202004%20submit.pdf ''Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology?''] Paper for the Symposium "Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan: genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence". Geneva 10–13 June 2004. Université de Genève.
* {{cite book |first=Roger |last=Blench |editor-first1=Junko |editor-last1=Habu |editor-first2=Peter |editor-last2=Lape |editor-first3=John |editor-last3=Olsen |title=Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology |chapter=Origins of Ethnolinguistic Identity in Southeast Asia |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-493-96521-2 |year=2017 |chapter-url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Archaeology/SE%20Asia/Blench%20Springer%20Handbook%20chapter%20final%20Dec%202014.pdf |orig-year=2015 }}
* {{cite book |first=Erica F. |last=Brindley |title=Ancient China and the Yue |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iiBTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 |isbn=978-1-107-08478-0 |year=2015 }}
* Edmondson, J.A. and D.B. Solnit eds. 1997. ''Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch''. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. {{ISBN|0-88312-066-6}}
* {{cite journal |first=Jerold A. |last=Edmondson |title=The power of language over the past: Tai settlement and Tai linguistics in southern China and northern Vietnam |journal=Studies in Southeast Asian Languages and Linguistics, Jimmy G. Harris, Somsonge Burusphat and James E. Harris, ed. Bangkok, Thailand: Ek Phim Thai Co. LTD. |url=http://www.uta.edu/faculty/jerry/pol.pdf |pages=1–25 |year=2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101150947/http://www.uta.edu/faculty/jerry/pol.pdf |archivedate=1 January 2014 |access-date=17 July 2021 }}
* {{cite journal |first=David |last=Holm |title=A Layer of Old Chinese Readings in the Traditional Zhuang Script |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277325470 |pages=1–45 |year=2014 |volume=79 }}
* {{cite book |first=David |last=Holm |author-mask=3 |title=Mapping the Old Zhuang Character Script: A Vernacular Writing System from Southern China |publisher=BRILL |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fblyTyd9PlsC&q=Mapping%20the%20Old%20Zhuang%20Character%20Script%3A%20A%20Vernacular%20Writing%20System%20from&pg=PA785 |isbn=978-9-004-22369-1 |year=2013 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Hui |last=Li |title=Daic Background Vocabulary in Shanghai Maqiao Dialect |journal=Proceedings for Conference of Minority Cultures in Hainan and Taiwan, Haikou: Research Society for Chinese National History |url=http://loca.fudan.edu.cn/lh/Doc/D02.pdf |pages=15–26 |year=2001 |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=27 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327144856/http://loca.fudan.edu.cn/lh/Doc/D02.pdf |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |first=Weera |last=Ostapirat |title=Austro-Tai revisited |journal=Plenary Session 2: Going Beyond History: Reassessing Genetic Grouping in SEA the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, May 29–31, 2013, Chulalongkorn University |url=http://jseals.org/seals23/ostapirat2013austro-taih.pdf |pages=1–10 |year=2013 }}
* {{cite book |first=Laurent |last=Sagart |editor-first1=Alicia |editor-last1=Sanchez-Mazas |editor-first2=Roger |editor-last2=Blench |editor-first3=Malcolm D. |editor-last3=Ross |editor-first4=Ilia |editor-last4=Peiros |editor-first5=Marie |editor-last5=Lin |title=Past Human Migrations in East Asia: Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics (Routledge Studies in the Early History of Asia) 1st Edition |chapter=The expansion of Setaria farmers in East Asia |publisher=Routledge |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/3077307 |pages=133–157 |isbn=978-0-415-39923-4 |year=2008 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Shangfang |last=Zhengzhang |title=Decipherment of Yue-Ren-Ge (Song of the Yue boatman) |journal= Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=159–168 |year=1991|doi=10.3406/clao.1991.1345 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Chamberlain, James R. (2016). Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam. ''Journal of the Siam Society, 104'', 27-76.
* Diller, A., J. Edmondson, & Yongxian Luo, ed., (2005). ''The Tai–Kadai languages''. London [etc.]: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-7007-1457-X}}
* [[Jerold A. Edmondson|Edmondson, J. A.]] (1986). ''Kam tone splits and the variation of breathiness''.
* Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (eds.) (1988). ''Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai''. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. Arlington, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. {{ISBN|0-88312-066-6}}
* Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. [http://li.payap.ac.th/images/stories/survey/Linguistic%20Clusters%20of%20Mainland%20Southeast%20Asia%20A%20Description%20of%20the%20Clusters.pdf ''Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324073521/http://li.payap.ac.th/images/stories/survey/Linguistic%20Clusters%20of%20Mainland%20Southeast%20Asia%20A%20Description%20of%20the%20Clusters.pdf |date=24 March 2019 }} Chiang Mai: Payap University.
* {{cite book|last=Norquest|first=Peter|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia|chapter=Classification of (Tai-)Kadai/Kra-Dai languages|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2021|doi=10.1515/9783110558142-013|pages=225–246|isbn=9783110558142|s2cid=238672319}}
* Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "[http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/weera2000proto.pdf Proto-Kra]." ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' '''23''' (1): 1-251.
* Somsonge Burusphat, & Sinnott, M. (1998). ''Kam–Tai oral literatures: collaborative research project between''. Salaya Nakhon Pathom, Thailand: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University. {{ISBN|974-661-450-9}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115654/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/classification.php?node=Tai%E2%80%93Kadai Word lists of Tai–Kadai languages from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database]
* [http://ids.clld.org/contributors/ilyapeiros Tai–Kadai word lists by Ilya Peiros] ([[Intercontinental Dictionary Series]])
* [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/query.cgi?root=config&morpho=0&basename=\data\thai\kdai StarLing: Tai–Kadai 100-word lists] and [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?baseid=+95&root=config&morpho=0&text_proto=&method_proto=substring&ic_proto=on&text_meaning=&method_meaning=substring&ic_meaning=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=proto&ic_any=on&first=1 etymology]
** [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?baseid=+98&root=config&morpho=0&text_proto=&method_proto=substring&ic_proto=on&text_meaning=&method_meaning=substring&ic_meaning=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=proto&ic_any=on&first=1 StarLing: Zhuang–Tai 100-word lists] and [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?baseid=+97&root=config&morpho=0&text_proto=&method_proto=substring&ic_proto=on&text_meaning=&method_meaning=substring&ic_meaning=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=proto&ic_any=on&first=1 etymology]
** [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?baseid=+100&root=config&morpho=0&text_proto=&method_proto=substring&ic_proto=on&text_meaning=&method_meaning=substring&ic_meaning=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=proto&ic_any=on&first=1 StarLing: Kam–Sui 100-word lists] and [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?baseid=+99&root=config&morpho=0&text_proto=&method_proto=substring&ic_proto=on&text_meaning=&method_meaning=substring&ic_meaning=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=proto&ic_any=on&first=1 etymology]
* [[:wikt:Appendix:Kra–Dai Swadesh lists|Appendix:Kra–Dai Swadesh lists]] (from Wiktionary's [[wikt:Appendix:Swadesh lists|Swadesh list appendix]])
* [[:wikt:Appendix:Vocabulary lists of Southeast Asian languages#Kra-Dai|Kra–Dai vocabulary lists]] (from Wiktionary's [[wikt:Appendix:Vocabulary lists|Vocabulary lists appendix]])

{{Tai–Kadai languages}}
{{Language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kra-Dai languages}}
[[Category:Kra–Dai languages| ]]
[[Category:Language families]]
[[Category:Sino-Austronesian languages]]