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Northern Tai languages
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<h2 id="languages">Languages</h2> <h3>Ethnologue</h3> <p><i><a href="/facts/Ethnologue/0AanCzKS">Ethnologue</a></i> distinguishes the following languages:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Saek_language/yU5TIKG8">Saek</a> (Laos and <a href="/facts/Isan/uK40Pcrj">northeast Thailand</a>; listed outside Tai proper in the <i>Ethnologue</i> classification, though said to be similar to Tai Maen, which is listed as Northern Tai)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Tai_M%C3%A8ne_language/ujFCTcVT">Tai Maen</a> (Laos)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Yoy_language/vqUx68K9">Yoy</a> (Thailand) [?]<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bouyei_language/wxetk30u">Bouyei</a> (Buyi) (China) (including the language of the <a href="/facts/Gi%C3%A1y_people/8V3VpGEn">Giáy people</a> of Vietnam)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Central_Hongshuihe_Zhuang/2whxArhX">Central Hongshuihe Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Eastern_Hongshuihe_Zhuang/BDe7Rzzj">Eastern Hongshuihe Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Guibei_Zhuang/2whxArhX">Guibei Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Yei_Zhuang_language/1f5H3BgK">Yei Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Lianshan_Zhuang/2whxArhX">Lianshan Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Liujiang_Zhuang/2whxArhX">Liujiang Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Liuqian_Zhuang/2whxArhX">Liuqian Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Yongbei_Zhuang/YHsT3oJE">Yongbei Zhuang</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Youjiang_Zhuang/t41cSoCp">Youjiang Zhuang</a></li></ul> <p>(See <a href="/facts/Zhuang_languages/2whxArhX">varieties of Zhuang</a>.) </p><p><a href="/facts/Yoy_language/vqUx68K9">Yoy</a> is elsewhere classified as <a href="/facts/Southwestern_Tai_languages/KdvQF9bS">Southwestern Tai</a>, and <a href="/facts/E_language/LYpnwWN5">E</a>, which is a <a href="/facts/Mixed_language/SD2hEYD8">mixed language</a> Northern Tai-Chinese language. </p><p><a href="/facts/Longsang_Zhuang_language/64tmCXl4">Longsang Zhuang</a>, a recently described Northern Tai language, is spoken Longsang Township, <a href="/facts/Debao_County/AsWfwHJF">Debao County</a>, Guangxi, China. <a href="/facts/Hezhang_Buyi_language/Dzk15jGN">Hezhang Buyi</a> is a moribund Northern Tai language of northwestern <a href="/facts/Guizhou/BWxNrucU">Guizhou</a> that is notable for having a <a href="/facts/Kra_language/tAcaF3bU">Kra</a> substratum. </p> <h3>Pittayaporn (2009)</h3> <p>Pittayaporn (2009:300) distinguishes a similar group of Zhuang varieties as group "N", defined by the phonological shifts *ɯj, *ɯw → *aj, *aw.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> He moves the <a href="/facts/Prestige_dialect/PCApCH33">prestige dialect</a> of Zhuang, the Wuming dialect, from the Northern Tai <a href="/facts/Yongbei_Zhuang/YHsT3oJE">Yongbei Zhuang</a> to <a href="/facts/Yongnan-Wuming_Zhuang/r1uYR6dw">Yongnan Zhuang</a> – purportedly Central Tai – as it lacks these shifts. The various languages and localities Pittayaporn includes in group N, along with their <i>Ethnologue</i> equivalents, are: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Saek_language/yU5TIKG8">Saek</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bouyei_language/wxetk30u">Bouyei</a> 布依 (including the language of the <a href="/facts/Gi%C3%A1y_people/8V3VpGEn">Giáy people</a> of Vietnam)</li> <li>Yei Zhuang 剥隘</li> <li>(<i><a href="/facts/Wenshan_Zhuang_and_Miao_Autonomous_Prefecture/N3hmCe7k">Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture</a>, <a href="/facts/Yunnan/Q924cyfE">Yunnan</a></i>) <ul><li><a href="/facts/Guangnan_County/B2nat40U">Guangnan</a> Sha 广南沙族 = Guibian Zhuang (north Guangnan; south Guangnan is Nong Zhuang)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Qiubei_County/NRPTd8bM">Qiubei</a> 丘北县 = Qiubei Zhuang</li></ul></li> <li>(<i><a href="/facts/Baise/NusF31Uo">Baise</a>, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a></i>) <ul><li><a href="/facts/Lingyun_County/VBXQrvj9">Lingyun</a> 凌乐/凌云县 = Guibian Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Pingguo_County/eFc2ItLp">Pingguo</a> 平果县 = Yongbei Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Tiandong_County/waApeRx4">Tiandong</a> 田东县 = Youjiang Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Tianlin_County/bmhjnhFT">Tianlin</a> 田林县 = Guibian Zhuang</li></ul></li> <li>(<i><a href="/facts/Nanning/bdrHrRfc">Nanning</a> Prefecture, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a></i>) <ul><li><a href="/facts/Heng_County/zhfNCtr7">Hengxian</a> 横县 = Yongbei Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Shanglin_County/xBtMq16t">Shanglin</a> 上林县 = Hongshuihe Zhuang</li> <li>Yongbei 邕北 = Yongbei Zhuang</li></ul></li> <li>(<i><a href="/facts/Guigang/YPKIQIKg">Guigang</a> Prefecture, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a></i>) <ul><li><a href="/facts/Guigang/YPKIQIKg">Guigang</a> 贵港 City = Hongshuihe Zhuang ?</li> <li><a href="/facts/Pingnan_County,_Guangxi/uaJcs30C">Dulan</a> 独兰 Village, <a href="/facts/Pingnan_County,_Guangxi/uaJcs30C">Pingnan</a> 平南县</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/facts/Laibin/xpYQh9Kh">Laibin</a> 来宾 Prefecture, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a> = Hongshuihe Zhuang (south Laibin), Liujiang Zhuang (north Laibin)</li> <li>(<i><a href="/facts/Hechi/yaTPaGnM">Hechi</a> Prefecture, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a></i>) <ul><li><a href="/facts/Hechi/yaTPaGnM">Hechi</a> City 河池 = Guibei Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Huanjiang_Maonan_Autonomous_County/SYY1feoF">Huanjiang</a> 环江 = Guibei Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Nandan_County/I5bGdyzx">Nandan</a> 南丹县 = Guibei Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Yizhou_District,_Hechi/vG6L08cc">Yishan</a> 宜州 = Liujiang Zhuang</li></ul></li> <li>(<i><a href="/facts/Liuzhou/5u3kKgvr">Liuzhou</a> Prefecture, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a></i>) <ul><li><a href="/facts/Liujiang_County/XxIDm3QQ">Liujiang</a> 柳江县 = Liujiang Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rong%27an_County/qBY2dTJP">Rong'an</a> 融安县 = Guibei Zhuang</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/facts/Longsheng_Various_Nationalities_Autonomous_County/20sgWlbL">Longsheng</a> 龙胜县, <a href="/facts/Guilin/3RVWu8oB">Guilin</a> 桂林, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a> = Guibei Zhuang</li> <li><a href="/facts/Dong%27an_County/8SWHfHI5">Dong'an</a> 东安县, <a href="/facts/Yongzhou/e92emeWA">Yongzhou</a> 永州, <a href="/facts/Hunan/1lbDstf7">Hunan</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Lianshan_Zhuang_and_Yao_Autonomous_County/Nh8Eld0f">Lianshan</a> 连山县, <a href="/facts/Qingyuan/kcqBl9vC">Qingyuan</a> 清远, <a href="/facts/Guangdong/wvjsjdb1">Guangdong</a> = Lianshan Zhuang</li></ul> <h2 id="vocabulary">Vocabulary</h2> <p>Some examples of lexical and phonological differences between Northern Tai and Central-Southwestern Tai:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>Gloss</th><th>p-North Tai</th><th>p-Central Tai</th><th>p-Southwest Tai</th></tr><tr><td>‘tiger’</td><td>*kuːk</td><td>*sɯə</td><td>*sɯə</td></tr><tr><td>‘thorn’</td><td>*ʔon</td><td>*n̥aːm</td><td>*n̥aːm</td></tr><tr><td>‘crow’</td><td>*ʔaː</td><td>*kaː</td><td>*kaː</td></tr><tr><td>‘steam, vapor’</td><td>*soːj</td><td>*ʔjaːj</td><td>*ʔaːj</td></tr><tr><td>‘to tear’</td><td>*siːk</td><td>*cʰiːk</td><td>*cʰiːk</td></tr><tr><td>‘knife’</td><td>*mit</td><td>*miːt</td><td>*miːt</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Tai-Kadai, Kam-Tai, Be-Tai, Tai-Sek, Tai". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2011-11-30. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121018143636/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=841-16" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20121018143636/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=841-16</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Pittayaporn classified Yoy as Southwestern Tai, but does not provide supporting analysis. <a href="/wiki/Southwestern_Tai" target="_blank">/wiki/Southwestern_Tai</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2009). The Phonology of Proto-Tai (Ph.D. thesis). Cornell University. hdl:1813/13855. <a href="/wiki/Hdl_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Hdl_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Norquest, Peter (2021). "Classification of (Tai-)Kadai/Kra-Dai languages". In Sidwell, Paul; Jenny, Mathias (eds.). The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 225–246. doi:10.1515/9783110558142-013. ISBN 978-3-11-055814-2. <a href="978-3-11-055814-2" target="_blank">978-3-11-055814-2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>