The Southwestern Tai, Southwestern Thai or Thai languages are a branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. Its dialects include Thai language, Siamese (Central Thai), Lanna language, Lanna, Lao language, Lao, Shan language, Shan and others.

Classification

The internal classification of the Southwestern Tai dialects is still not well agreed on.

Chamberlain (1975)

Chamberlain (1975) divides Southwestern Tai into 4 branches.Chamberlain, James R. 1975.
A new look at the history and classification of the Tai dialects
" In J. G. Harris and J. R. Chamberlain, eds, Studies in Tai Linguistics in Honor of William J. Gedney, pp. 49-60. Bangkok: Central Institute of English Language, Office of State Universities. Chamberlain based his classification on the following phonological patterns. (''Note: For an explanation of the notation system for Tai tones, see Proto-Tai language#Tones''.) #/p/ vs. /ph/ #tone *A column split/merger pattern #tone *BCD columns split/merger patterns #B-DL tonal coalescence ;Proto-Southwestern Tai *Branch with distinguishing innovation: /p/ **Branch with distinguishing innovation: *A 1-23-4 ***Tse Fang, a variety of Tai Nuea language, Tai Nuea spoken at Zhefang (遮放镇) in Mangshi, Yunnan, China ***Tai Mao, a variety of Tai Nuea language, Tai Nuea spoken at Namhkam, Shan State, Nam Hkam, Shan State, Myanmar ***Muang Ka, a variety of Tai Nuea language, Tai Nuea spoken at Muang Ka in Muang Baw, Yunnan, China **Branch with distinguishing innovation: *ABCD 123-4; B=DL ***Tai Dam language, Black Tai spoken at Sơn La, Vietnam ***Tai Daeng language, Red Tai ***Tai Dón language, White Tai ***Tai Lue language, Lue, a composite of varieties from many locations in several countries ***Shan language, Shan spoken at Kengtung ca. 1930s ***Northern Thai language, Yuan, a composite of varieties spoken in the capital towns of Chiang Rai, Phrae, Nan, Thailand, Nan, Lampang, and Chiang Mai, Thailand ***Ahom language, Ahom *Branch with distinguishing innovation: /ph/ (*A 1-23-4) **Branch with distinguishing innovation: *BCD 123-4 ***Thai language, Siamese ***Phu Thai language, Phu Tai ***Lao Neua spoken at "Nam Tha" (perhaps referring to Luang Namtha, Laos) ***Phuan language, Phuan spoken at Ban Mi District, Ban Mi, Lopburi Province, Lopburi, Thailand and Pak Seng **Branch with distinguishing innovation: *BCD 1-23-4; B≠DL ***Lao language, Lao ***Southern Thai language, Southern Thai The Tai Muong Vat language, Tai Muong Vat of Yên Châu District, Yen Chau, Vietnam is a PH-type language like Lao language, Lao, even though it is geographically surrounded by Tai Dam language, Black Tai (Theraphan Luangthongkum, Theraphan 2003; Chamberlain 1984).

Edmondson & Solnit (1997)

Edmondson & Solnit (1997) divide the Southwestern Tai dialects into two major subgroups. According to this classification, Dehong Tai and Khamti are the first languages to have split off from the Southwestern Tai branch.Edmondson, Jerold A., Solnit, David B., authors. 1997. "Comparative Shan." In ''Comparative Kadai: The Tai branch'', Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.). pages 337-359. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. #Northern: Tai Nuea language, Tai Nua = Shan-Tayok (Chinese Shan), Khamti language, Khamti #Southern: Burman Shan language, Shan ("Shan proper"), all other Southwestern Tai A transition zone between the Northern and Southern groups occurs among the Tai languages (including Tai Mau) around the Burma-China border region of Mangshi, Namhkam, and Mu-se near Ruili. This bipartite division of Southwestern Tai is argued for by Edward Robinson in his paper "Features of Proto-Nüa-Khamti" (1994). The following features set off the Nüa-Khamti group from all the other Southwestern Tai dialects. #Labialized velar stops have become velar stops. #Tripartite split of the A tone A1-23-4 #Merger of A23 and B4 #The low vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ have merged with /e/ and /o/, respectively. #*ʔb > m

Luo (2001)

Luo Yongxian (2001) also recognizes the uniqueness of Dehong Tai (Tai Nuea), but argues for that it should be placed in a separate ''Northwestern Tai'' branch with Southwestern Tai as a sister branch.Luo Yongxian. 2001.
The Hypothesis of a New Branch for the Tai Languages
'. University of Melbourne. Luo claims that the Northwestern Tai branch has many Northern Tai and Central Tai features that are not found in Southwestern Tai. His proposed tree for the Tai branch is as follows. *Tai **Northern **Central **Southwestern **Northwestern

Pittayaporn (2009)

According to Pittayaporn (2009:301), Southwestern Tai (his subgroup Q) is defined by a phonological shift of *kr- → *ʰr-. Pittayaporn (2014) also suggests that Southwestern Tai began to disperse southward after the 7th century C.E. but before the 11th century C.E. (between 700 and 1000 C.E., during the late Tang dynasty or early Song dynasty), as evidenced by loanwords from Late Middle Chinese. Pittayaporn (2018) recognizes two branches within Southwestern Tai, namely ''Eastern'' and ''Western''. The Eastern branch consists of the closely related languages Tai Dam language, Black Tai, Tai Dón language, White Tai, and Tai Daeng language, Red Tai, while the Western branch is much more internally diverse. The Western branch also contains a ''Southern'' group consisting of Thai language, Thai and Lao language, Lao. ;Southwestern Tai *''Eastern'' branch: Tai Dam language, Black Tai, Tai Dón language, White Tai, Tai Daeng language, Red Tai *''Western'' branch: Shan language, Shan varieties, Tai Lue language, Lue, Yuan, Lao language, Lao, Thai language, Thai (defining innovation: *kʰr- > kʰ-) **''Southern'' sub-branch: Thai language, Thai, Lao language, Lao, etc. (defining innovations: *ɓl- > ɗ- and *ʰr > h-) Pittayaporn, et al. (2018) note that following sound changes from Proto-Southwestern Tai (PSWT) to the Tai varieties represented in the Sukhothai Kingdom, Sukhothai and Ayutthaya Kingdom, Ayutthaya inscriptions, and conclude that the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya inscriptions in fact represent the same language. #the merger of dorsal obstruents #the merger of PSWT *aɯ and *aj #the merger of PSWT *ɲ-, *j- and *ʔj- #the loss of voicing distinction in sonorants #*ɓl- > d- #*kʰr- > kʰ- #*ʰr- > h-

Dialects

Southern Thai (Pak Thai) is often posited to be the most divergent; it seems to retain regular reflexes of early tonal developments that were obscured in the other (Central–Eastern) languages. The reconstructed language is called ''Proto-Thai''; cf. Proto-Tai, which is the ancestor of all of the Tai languages. The following tree follows that of Ethnologue * Southern Thai language, Southern Thai (Pak Thai) (Thailand) * Chiang Saen dialects (10) **Tai Dam language, Tai Dam (Black Tai; Vietnam, Thailand, Laos) ** Northern Thai language, Northern Thai (Lanna, Tai Yuan; Thailand, Laos, Burma) **Lue language, Lue (Lue, Tai Lue; China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Burma) **Phuan language, Phuan (Thailand) **Thai Song language, Thai Song (Thailand) **Thai language, Thai (Central/Standard Thai, Siamese; Thailand) **Tai Dón language, Tai Dón (White Tai, Tai Kao; Vietnam, China) **Tai Daeng language, Tai Daeng (Vietnam) **Tai Meuay language, Tai Meuay (Laos) **Tay Tac language, Tay Tac (Vietnam) **Thu Lao language, Thu Lao (Vietnam) * Lao–Phutai dialects (4) ** Lao language, Lao (Laos; except Luang Prabang dialect is classified as Chiang Saen languages.) ** Lao Nyo language, Lao Nyo (Cambodia, Thailand) ** Phu Thai language, Phu Thai (Thailand) ** Isan language, Isan (Northeastern Thai; Thailand, Laos) ** Kaloeng language, Kaloeng (Thailand, Laos) * Northwestern Tai dialects (Shanic family) (9) ** Ahom language, Ahom (Assam – extinct. Modern Assamese language, Assamese is Indo-European.) ** Khamti language, Khamti (Assam, Burma) ** Tai Laing language, Tai Laing (Tai Lai; Burma) ** Khün language, Khün (Kuen; Burma) ** Khamyang language, Khamyang (Assam) ** Shan language, Shan (Tai Shan, Dehong; Burma) ** Tai Aiton language, Tai Aiton (Assam) ** Tai Nuea language, Tai Nuea (China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos) ** Tai Phake language, Tai Phake (Assam) ** Turung language, Turung (Assam) According to ''Ethnologue'', other Southwestern dialects are Tai Ya language, Tai Ya (China), Pu Ko language, Pu Ko (Laos), Pa Di language, Pa Di (China), Tai Thanh language, Tai Thanh (Vietnam), Tai Long language, Tai Long (Laos), Tai Hongjin language, Tai Hongjin (China), Yong language, Yong (Thailand). It is not clear where they belong in the classification above. ''Ethnologue'' also lists under Tai, without further classification, Kuan language (Laos), Kuan (Laos), Tai Do language, Tai Do (Viet Nam), Tai Pao language, Tai Pao (Laos), and Tay Khang language, Tay Khang (Laos). Geographically these would all appear to be Southwestern. ''Ethnologue'' also includes Tày Sa Pa language, Tày Sa Pa (Sapa) of Vietnam, which Pittayaporn excludes from Southwestern Tai but classifies as the most closely related language outside of that group. Pittayaporn also includes Yoy language, Yoy, which ''Ethnologue'' classifies as a Northern Tai language.

References

External links

*http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/wanna1992classification.pdf *http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/chamberlain1975new.pdf *http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/pranee1998linguistic.pdf *http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/luo2001hypothesis.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Tai Languages Languages of Southeast Asia Tai languages