| Tai Lü Language | ||||||
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| Kwam Tai Lue | ||||||
| Spoken in | China, Thailand, Burma, Laos | |||||
| Region | Yunnan province | |||||
| Native speakers | 700,000 (2000) | |||||
| Language family |
Tai–Kadai
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| 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 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 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 apart from Zhuang.
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Tai Lü has 21 syllable-initial consonants, 91 syllable finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in syllables).
| 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.
| 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 |
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 |
Word order is usually Subject - Verb - Object; Modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.
Tai Lü has many loanwords from Pali, as well as from the local Chinese dialect and modern Standard Chinese.
| 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 |
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.
Readable by the most people and used in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
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
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