Tai languages

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Spread of the Tai languages ​​in Southeast Asia

The Tai languages (also Zhuang-Tai ) are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai language family that is common in Southeast Asia and South China . This includes numerous languages ​​and dialects. It is believed that they descend from a common original language , the Proto-Tai.

Within the Tai Kadai family, the Tai languages ​​are the group with the most and by far the most spoken languages. These include the best-known and most widely used Tai Kadai language, Thai . In addition, the Zhuang , the largest minority language in the People's Republic of China (which in turn is composed of a large number of dialects, some of which are not mutually understandable), the Lao and the Shan language , which are the largest ethnic minority in Myanmar .

According to the usual cladistics of the Tai-Kadai family, the Tai languages ​​are combined with the Kam-Sui languages ​​as well as Lakkja and Be to form the group of Kam-Tai languages. However, this classification contradicts some linguists who assume that the Tai and Hlai languages ​​are more closely related, while the Kam-Sui languages, together with the Kra languages, are said to belong to another branch of the Tai-Kadai family.

classification

Family tree of the Tai languages ​​and their geographical distribution

The Tai languages ​​are usually divided into three subgroups: the Northern, Central and Southwestern Tai languages. This was proposed by Li Fang-Kuei in 1959 and has largely established itself in the professional world. In part, this division is modified to the extent that a greater relationship is assumed between the central and the south-western group than between these and the northern group, i.e. a combined central-south-western branch is placed next to the northern group.

In 2009, the linguist Pittayawat Pittayaporn, based on his study of linguistic innovations within 68 Tai languages ​​or dialects, proposed a much more complex structure, at the end of which there are a total of 11 branches that descend from four main branches. He assigns the Tai languages ​​usually classified as a central group, especially the different Zhuang variants, to very different branches.

Spoken languages

Northern Thai languages

The northern Thai languages, apart from the remote Saek, in any case the northern Zhuang and Bouyei dialects form a dialect continuum . The distinction between Zhuang and Bouyei is more administrative than linguistic. Saek shows certain phonological peculiarities that distinguish it from all other Thai languages, including the northern ones.

  • Zhuang (northern dialects) ( China ), 10 million speakers
    • E (China), 30,000 - mixed language of northern Zhuang, Kam-Sui and Chinese languages
  • Bouyei (Buyi) (China, Vietnam ), 2.6 million
  • Giáy (Yay, Nhang) (Vietnam), 49,000 - e.g. T. viewed as a variant or just another name for Bouyei
  • Saek (China, Laos, Thailand), 25,000
  • Ts'ün-Lao (Vietnam), 10,000
  • Tai Mène (Laos), 7,000
  • Yoy (Thailand, Laos), 6,000

Central Thai languages

The southern Zhuang dialects form a dialect continuum with Nung, Tày (Tho) and Caolan . In contrast, the southern Zhuang dialects are linguistically very different from the northern dialects, with which they are hardly mutually understandable. In Guangxi, the You River forms the diaglossal border between northern and southern Zhuang dialects and thus also between northern and central Thai languages.

Southwestern Thai languages

Writings in various southwestern Thai languages. All shown here belong to the Indian writing circle . The lettering means “The good-natured elephant rider” in the respective language.

The Southwestern group is the richest speaker, geographically broadest, and best studied. Many southwestern Tai languages ​​form a dialect continuum (i.e., there is a smooth transition between neighboring languages) and are highly mutually understandable . In some cases, the delimitation of the individual “languages” is more for political, historical, social and subjective reasons than on the basis of linguistic criteria, for example in the continuum of Thai, Isan and Lao. In other cases, however, geographically neighboring languages ​​are clearly different and hardly mutually understandable. B. in the case of Tai Lü and Tai Nüa . Overall, the differences within this group are greater than within the Northern Thai languages. There are various proposals to subdivide the Southwestern Group into sub-branches based on various criteria, none of which has been generally accepted.

literature

  • Anthony VN Diller, Jerold A. Edmondson, Yongxian Luo (Eds.): The Tai-Kadai Languages. Routledge, London / New York 2008.
  • NJ Enfield, Bernard Comrie (Eds.): Languages ​​of Mainland Southeast Asia. The State of the Art. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston, 2015.
  • Yongxian Luo: The Subgroup Structure of the Tai Languages. A Historical-Comparative Study. University of California, Berkeley 1997.
  • David Strecker: Tai languages. In: The World's Major Languages. 2nd edition, Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2009, pp. 653-659.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Anthony Diller: Introduction. In: The Tai-Kadai Languages. Routledge, London / New York 2008, p. 7.
  2. ↑ Weera Ostapirat: Kra-Dai and Austronesian. Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution. In: The Peopling of East Asia. Putting Together Archeology, Linguistics and Genetics. Routledge Shorton, London / New York 2005, pp. 107-131.
  3. ↑ Peter K. Norquest: A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Dissertation, University of Arizona, 2007.
  4. ^ John F. Hartmann: The Lue Language. In: The Tai-Kadai Languages. 2008, pp. 254-297, at p. 254.
  5. ↑ Pittayawat Pittayaporn: The Phonology of Proto-Tai. Dissertation, Cornell University, 2009.
  6. ^ William J. Gedney: Selected Papers on Comparative Tai Studies. University of Michigan Center for South & Southeast Asian Studies, 1989, pp. 230-231.
  7. ^ Yongxian Luo: The Subgroup Structure of the Tai Languages. A Historical-Comparative Study. University of California, Berkeley 1997, p. 40.
  8. ^ A b c d David Bradley: Languages ​​of Mainland South-East Asia. In: The Vanishing Languages ​​of the Pacific Rim. Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2007, pp. 301–336, at p. 310.
  9. ↑ Yongxian Luo: Zhuang. In: The Tai-Kadai Languages. Routledge, London / New York 2008, pp. 317-377, at pp. 318-319.
  10. ^ David Strecker: Tai languages. 2009, p. 653.
  11. ^ Thomas John Hudak: William J. Gedney's Comparative Tai Source Book. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 34. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2008, pp. 49-53.
  12. ↑ M. Paul Lewis, Gary F. Simons, Charles D. Fennig (Eds.) Ethnologue. Languages ​​of the World. 19th edition, SIL International, Dallas (TX) 2016. Online version. Entry Bouyei .
  13. ↑ Harald Hammarström et al. a. (Ed.): Glottolog. Version 2.7. Entry Bouyei . Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  14. ^ Library of Congress Subject Headings. 33rd edition, Washington (DC) 2011, p. 999.
  15. ↑ Harald Hammarström et al. a. (Ed.): Glottolog. Version 2.7. Entry Ts'ün-Lao . Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  16. ↑ Yongxian Luo: Zhuang. In: The Tai-Kadai Languages. Routledge, London / New York 2008, pp. 317-377, at p. 317.
  17. ^ A b Thomas John Hudak: William J. Gedney's Comparative Tai Source Book. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2008, p. 5.
  18. ^ Andrew Dalby: Dictionary of Languages. The Definitive Reference to more than 400 languages. A & C Black, London 2004, p. 605.
  19. ^ Thomas John Hudak: William J. Gedney's Comparative Tai Source Book. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 34. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2008, p. 5.
  20. ^ Paul Sidwell: Southeast Asian mainland. Linguistic history. In Peter Bellwood, Immanuel Ness: The Global Prehistory of Human Migration. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester (West Sussex) 2015, pp. 259-275, at p. 263.
  21. ↑ NJ (Nick) Enfield: How to define 'Lao', 'Thai', and 'Isan' language? A view from linguistic science. In: Tai Culture , Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 62-67.
  22. ^ Yongxian Luo: The Subgroup Structure of the Tai Languages. A Historical-Comparative Study. University of California, Berkeley 1997, p. 46.

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