Tai Lü language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tai Lü (or Tai Lue, Tai Le; tai51 lɯ11; Xishuangbanna Dai; Chinese: 傣仂语 Dǎilèyǔ; Vietnamese: Lự or Lữ) is a language spoken by about 670,000 people in South East Asia. This includes 250,000 people in China, 200,000 in Burma, 134,000 in Thailand, and 5,000 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 (except Zhuang).

Contents

[edit] Phonology

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

[edit] Initials

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

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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] Grammar

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

[edit] Vocabulary

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

[edit] Numbers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 100 10,000 100,000 1,000,000
nɯŋ sɔ́ŋ sám sí̄ː hà̄ː hók ʨet pɛ́̄t kà̄u síp hɔ̀i mɯ́̄n sɛ́n làn

[edit] 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.

[edit] Old Tai Lü

[edit] New Tai Lü

"New Tai Lü" is a modernisation of the Lanna alphabet, 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

[edit] 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).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links