Tai Lü language
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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).
Phonology
Tai Lü has 21 syllable-initial consonants, 91 syllable finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in other syllables).
Initials
The initials ʦ- and s- are palatalised before i, e and ɛ and become ʨ- and ɕ-, respectively.
Finals
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 | |
| low rising | 13 |
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 | sí̄ː | hà̄ː | hók | ʨet | pɛ́̄t | kà̄u | síp | hɔ̀i | mɯ́̄n | 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
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
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).
See also
- Tai Nüa language
- Tai Pong language
- Tai Dam language
External links
- [Lü, a language of China]
- [SeaSite: Tai Lue, under construction]
- [SIL Dai Banna Fonts]
- [Omniglot - Tai Lue script]
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