Tai Ya language

Tai Ya , also known as Tai Cung, Tai Chung and Dai Ya, is a <a href="/facts/Southwestern_Tai_languages/KdvQF9bS">Southwestern Tai language</a> of southern <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a>. It has one dialect, Tai Hongjin (<a href="/facts/Chinese_language/771ruUY1">Chinese</a>: 红金傣语); Red Tai.
Speakers of Tai Hongjin live in the <a href="/facts/Red_River_(Asia)/FSfj0Wu3">Red River</a> (红河 or 元江) and <a href="/facts/Jinsha_River/kSVBn8X4">Jinsha River</a> (金沙江) watershed regions of south-central <a href="/facts/Yunnan/Q924cyfE">Yunnan</a>. Most are <a href="/facts/Buddhist/G0wsjrSl">Buddhists</a>, but few are <a href="/facts/Theravada_Buddhism/nMhXBXBo">Theravada</a>. It is also spoken by around 5,000–6,000 people in <a href="/facts/Chiang_Rai_Province/9Beseu8r">Chiang Rai Province</a>, <a href="/facts/Thailand/GCUnN4JK">Thailand</a>.
Unlike other more widely studied Dai languages, Tai Ya has no traditional <a href="/facts/Orthography/sJPhCpsU">orthography</a>, though it has a rich oral tradition. Papers have noted that this lack of orthography may endanger the survival of Tai Ya in <a href="/facts/Future_generations/SJK6I2Cy">future generations</a> in Thailand, as the Tai Ya people shift towards the use of <a href="/facts/Northern_Thai_language/SCkfDjks">Northern Thai</a> and <a href="/facts/Thai_language/PnaLdG77">Central Thai</a>, due to the lack of literature in Tai Ya. However, it has been attested that language vitality as a whole (including the majority speakers in Yunnan Province) is high and "likely to be spoken by future generations".

Tai Ya language open-in-new

Tai Ya language