Tai Lue language

Tai Lue (New Tai Lü: Template:Script, Tai Tham: Template:Script, kam tai lue, )Template:Efn 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, 9 syllable-finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in open syllables).

Consonants

Initials

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
					plain	labial
Nasal		Template:IPAblink ᦖ,ᦙ	Template:IPAblink ᦐ,ᦓ		Template:IPAblink ᦄ ,ᦇ
Plosive	tenuis	Template:IPAblink ᦔ,ᦗ	Template:IPAblink ᦎ,ᦑ		Template:IPAblink ᦂ,ᦅ	Template:IPAblink ᦦ,ᦨ	Template:IPAblink ᦀ ,ᦁ
	aspirated	Template:IPAblink ᦕ,ᦘ	Template:IPAblink ᦏ,ᦒ
	voiced	Template:IPAblink ᦢ,ᦥ	Template:IPAblink ᦡ,ᦤ
Affricate			Template:IPAblink ᦈ,ᦋ
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPAblink ᦚ,ᦝ	Template:IPAblink ᦉ,ᦌ		Template:IPAblink ᦃ,ᦆ	Template:IPAblink ᦧ,ᦩ	Template:IPAblink ᦠ,ᦣ
	voiced	Template:IPAblink ᦛ,ᦞ
Approximant			Template:IPAblink ᦜ,ᦟ	Template:IPAblink ᦊ,ᦍ

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

Finals

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	Template:IPAblink ᧄ	Template:IPAblink ᧃ		Template:IPAblink ᧂ
Plosive	Template:IPAblink ᧇ	Template:IPAblink ᧆ		Template:IPAblink ᧅ	Template:IPAblink ᦰ
Approximant	Template:IPAblink ᧁ

Vowels

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

File:Thai vowel chart (monophthongs).svg

Vowel chart showing monophthongs used by many Tai languages, including Tai Lue

	Front		Central-Back		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦲᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦲ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦹᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦹ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦳ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦴ
Mid	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦵ◌ᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦵ◌	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦵ◌ᦲᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦵ◌ᦲ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦷ◌ᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦷ◌
Open	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦶ◌ᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ᦶ◌	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦱ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌ᦸᦰ	[[[:Template:IPA link]]] ◌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:

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).

Description	Contour	Transcription	Number	Example	Old Tai Lue	New Tai Lue script	Meaning
high	55		1		ᩣ	ᦂ	crow
low rising	13		3			ᦂᧉ	rice shoots
high rising	35		5			ᦂᧈ	to go
falling	51		2			ᦅ	to be stuck
low	11		4			ᦅᧉ	to do business
mid	33	a (not marked)	6			ᦅᧈ	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 .

Tone	Contour	Number	Example	New Tai Lue	Phonemic	Meaning
high	55	7	Template:Script	ᦜᧅ		post
high-risinɡ	35	9	Template:Script	ᦜᦱᧅᧈ		differ from others
mid	33	8	Template:Script	ᦟᧅ		steal

Grammar

Pronouns

		Singular Familiar	Singular	Deferential	Plural Familiar	Plural	Deferential
1st person	exclusive	Template:Script ᨹᩪᩢᨡᩢᩣ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨡᩢᩣ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨡᩢᩣᨶᩢᩭ Template:Transliteration	–	Template:Script ᨲᩪ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨲᩪᨡᩢᩭ Template:Transliteration
	inclusive					Template:Script ᩁᩮᩢᩣ Template:Transliteration	–
2nd person		Template:Script ᨧᩮᩢᩢᩣᨾᩢ᩠ᨶ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨤᩥ᩠ᨦ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨲᩫ᩠ᨶᨧᩮᩢᩢᩣ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᩈᩪ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᩈᩪᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ Template:Transliteration	–
3rd person		Template:Script ᨲᩫ᩠ᨶᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨾᩢ᩠ᨶ Template:Transliteration	–	Template:Script ᨲᩫ᩠ᨶᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨡᩮᩢᩣ Template:Transliteration	Template:Script ᨡᩮᩢᩣᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ Template:Transliteration

Syntax

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

Interrogatives

Word	Meaning
ᦉᧂ (saŋ1)	What
ᦌᦹ (sɯɯ4)	Why
ᦂᦲᧈ (kii1)	How many
ᦺᦕ (pʰaj1)	Who
ᦺᦐ (naj1)	Where

Vocabulary

As in Thai and Lao, Tai Lue has borrowed many Sanskrit and Pali words and affixes. Among the Tai languages in general, Tai Lue has limited intelligibility with Shan and Tai Nua and shares much vocabulary with, the other Southwestern Tai languages. Tai Lue has 95% lexical similarity with Northern Thai (Lanna), 86% with Central Thai, 93% with Shan, and 95% with Khun.

Below, some Thai Lue words are given with standard Central Thai equivalents for comparison. Thai words are shown on the left and Tai Lue words, written in Tai Tham script, are shown on the right.

Different words

Many words differ from Thai greatly:

• ยี่สิบ → ᨪᩣ᩠ᩅ (, twenty; cf. Lao: /sáːw/, Northern Thai: /sāw/)
• พูด → ᩋᩪᩢ (, to speak; cf. Northern Thai: /ʔu᷇ː/)
• พี่ชาย → ᩋᩢᩣ᩠ᨿ (, older brother; cf. Lao: /ʔâːj/, Northern Thai: /ʔa᷇ːj/)

Similar words

Some words differ in tone only:

• หนึ่ง → ᨶ᩠ᨦᩧ᩵ (, one)
• หก → ᩉᩫ᩠ᨠ (, six)
• เจ็ด → ᨧᩮ᩠ᨯ (, seven)
• สิบ → ᩈᩥ᩠ᨷ (, ten)
• กิน → ᨠᩥ᩠ᨶ (, to eat)

Some words differ in a single sound and associated tone. In many words, the initial ร () in Thai is ฮ () in Tai Lue, as is also the case in Lao and Tai Yuan:

• ร้อน → ᩁᩢᩬᩁ (, hot; cf. Lao: /hɔ̂n/, Northern Thai: /hɔ́ːn/)
• รัก → ᩁᩢ᩠ᨠ (, to love; cf. Lao: /hāk/, Northern Thai: /ha᷇k/)
• รู้ → ᩁᩪᩢ (, to know; cf. Lao: /hûː/, Northern Thai: /húː/)

Aspirated consonants in the low-class consonant group(อักษรต่ำ ) become unaspirated:

• เชียงราย → ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦᩁᩣ᩠ᨿ (, Chiang Rai city and province)
• คิด → ᨣᩧ᩠ᨯ (, to think; cf. Northern Thai: /kɯ́t/)
• พ่อ → ᨻᩳ᩵ (, father; cf. Northern Thai: /pɔ̂ː/)
• ทาง → ᨴᩤ᩠ᨦ (, way; cf. Northern Thai: /tāːŋ/)

(Note that the vowels also differ greatly between Tai Lue and Thai in many words, even though they are etymologically related and share the same root.)

Though many aspirated consonants often become unaspirated, when an unaspirated consonant is followed by ร () the unaspirated consonant becomes aspirated:

• ประเทศ → ᨷᩕᨴᩮ᩠ᩆ (, country; cf. Northern Thai /pʰa.têːt/)

Other differences:

• ให้ → ᩉᩨᩢ (, to give, let)

Numbers

0	᧐	ᦉᦳᧃ		1
1	᧚	ᦓᦹᧂᧈ	Template:Script	6
2	᧒	ᦉᦸᧂ	ᩈᩬᨦ	1
3	᧓	ᦉᦱᧄ	ᩈᩣ᩠ᨾ	1
4	᧔	ᦉᦲᧈ	ᩈᩦ᩵	5
5	᧕	ᦠᦱᧉ	ᩉᩢᩣ	3
6	᧖	ᦷᦠᧅ	ᩉᩫ᩠ᨠ	7
7	᧗	ᦵᦈᧆ	ᨧᩮ᩠ᨯ	7
8	᧘	ᦶᦔᧆᧈ	ᨸᩯ᩠ᨯ	9
9	᧙	ᦂᧁᧉ	ᨠᩮᩢᩢᩣ	3
10	᧚᧐	ᦉᦲᧇ	ᩈᩥ᩠ᨷ	7
20	᧒᧐	ᦌᦱᧁ	ᨪᩣ᩠ᩅ	2
100	᧚᧐᧐	ᦣᦾᧉ	ᩁᩢᩭ	4
1,000	᧚᧐᧐᧐	ᦗᧃ	ᨻᩢ᩠ᨶ	2
10,000	᧚᧐᧐᧐᧐	ᦖᦹᧃᧈ	ᩉ᩠ᨾᩨ᩵ᩁ	5
100,000	᧚᧐᧐᧐᧐᧐	ᦶᦉᧃ	ᩈᩯ᩠ᨶ	1
1,000,000	᧚᧐᧐᧐᧐᧐᧐	ᦟᦱᧃᧉ	ᩃᩢᩣ᩠ᨶ	4

Writing systems

Tai Lue is written in three different scripts. One is the Fak Kham script, a variety of the Thai script of Sukhothai. The second is the Tham script, which was reformed in the 1950s, but is still in use and has recently regained government support. The new script is a simplified version of the old script.

Fak Kham

An ancient script, also used in Kengtung, Northern Thailand and Northern Laos centuries ago.

Tham

The Tham script is called 老傣文 lao dai wen (Old Dai script) in Chinese. Readable by the most people in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

New Tai Lue

File:China Post logo with (New) Tai Lü script in Mohan, Yunnan.jpg

China Post logo with the New Tai Lue script in Mohan, Yunnan

File:傣文教科书 3191.jpg

Books printed in New Tai Lue alphabet

New Tai Lue is a modernization of the Lanna alphabet (also known as the Tai Tham script), which is 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.

Related varieties

The Bajia people (八甲人), who number 1,106 individuals in Mengkang Village (), Meng'a Town (), Menghai County, Yunnan, speak a language closely related to Tai Lue. There are 225 Bajia people living in Jingbo Township 景播乡, Menghai County (You 2013:270). The Bajia are also known as the Chinese Dai 汉傣.

See also

• Tai Nüa language
• Tai Dam language

Further reading

• – This is a dictionary of Tai Lue in unreformed spelling.

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).