Sapa, or Tày Sa Pa, is a
Southwestern Tai language
The Southwestern Tai, Southwestern Thai or Thai languages are a branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. Its dialects include Siamese (Central Thai), Lanna, Lao, Shan and others.
Classification
The internal classification of the Southwe ...
of
Sa Pa
Sa Pa (, also written as Sapa) is a district-level town of Lào Cai Province in the Northwest region of Vietnam. As of 2018, the town had a population of 61,498. The town covers an area of 677 km2. The town capital lies at Sa Pa. It is one ...
,
Lào Cai Province,
northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
. According to Pittayaporn (2009) and ''Glottolog'', it is the closest relative of the
Southwestern Tai languages, but does not share the phonological innovations that define that group. There are about 300 speakers.
[ ] Tày Sa Pa speakers are classified by the Vietnamese as ethnic
Tay people, most of whom speak
Central Tai languages
The Central Tai languages include southern dialects of Zhuang, and various Nung and Tày dialects of northern Vietnam.
Central Tai languages differ from Northern Tai languages in that Central Tai distinguishes unaspirated and aspirated onset ...
rather than
Southwestern Tai languages. According to Jerold Edmondson, the phonology, tones, and lexicon of Tày Sa Pa is similar to that of Standard
Thai
Thai or THAI may refer to:
* Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia
** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand
** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand
*** Thai script
*** Thai (Unicode block ...
.
A similar Southwestern Tai language called
Padi is spoken in
Mường Khương District,
Lao Cai Province __NOTOC__
Lao may refer to:
Laos
* Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia
* Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent)
* The Lao language
* Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language
** Lao (U ...
,
northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...
.
References
Sources
* Bùi Quốc Khánh. 2013. ''Tri thức dân gian trong canh tác vây lúc nước của người Pa Dí ở Lào Cai''. Nhà xuất bản Thời Đại.
* Pittayaporn, Pittayawat, 2007. Tai dialects of Northern Vietnam: Sapa , Vinh Yen, and Cao Bang (Kra-Dai).
Languages of Vietnam
Southwestern Tai languages
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