Sila language (Sino-Tibetan)

Sila (also called Sida^[2]) is a Loloish language spoken by 2,000 people in Laos and Vietnam (Bradley 1997). Sila speakers are an officially recognized group in Vietnam, where they are known as the Si La.

Sila
Sida
Native to	Laos, Vietnam
Ethnicity	Si La people
Native speakers	4,100 (2015 & 2019 censuses)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Lolo–Burmese Loloish Southern Siloid Sila
Language codes
ISO 639-3	slt
Glottolog	sila1247
ELP	Sila

Phonology

Source:^[2]

Consonants

Sila Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Stop	plain	p	t	tɕ	k
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tɕʰ	kʰ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s		x
	voiced				ɣ
Approximant	voiceless		l̥
	voiced	w	l	j

Unaspirated plosives are usually realised as voiced stops. Phonetically, /l̥/ is realized as [͡l̥l]. The palatal nasal is noted as /ɲ/ although the phonetic realisation is closer to [ȵ], with the blade of the tongue remaining at a short distance from the palate.

Example contrasts

/p/ vs. /pʰ/: /pa33la33/ ‘moon’ vs. /ɐ31pʰa31/ ‘leaf’

/t/ vs. /tʰ/: /ta31/ ‘to look at’ vs. /tʰa33/ ‘PROHIBITIVE’

/tɕ/ vs. /tɕʰ/: /tɕɐ31/ ‘to have, to exist’ vs. /tɕʰɐ31/ ‘to speak’

/k/ vs. /kʰ/: /ki55lɯ55/ ‘green’ vs. /a31kʰi55/ ‘foot’

/f/ vs. /s/: /fɔ31/ ‘to protect vs. /sɔ31/ ‘to study’

/x/ vs. /ɣ/: /xɯ55/ ‘gold’ vs. /ɣɯ55/ ‘good’

/m/ vs. /n/: /ma̰31/ ‘person’ vs. /na̰31/ ‘deep’

/ɲ/ vs. /ŋ/: /ɲa55/ ‘frost’ vs. /ŋa55/ ‘salty’

/w/ vs. /j/: /wa33/ ‘careless’ vs. /ja31/ ‘child’

/l/ vs. /l̥/: /lɐ33wa33/ ‘palm of hand’ vs. /l̥a33/ ‘to fall down’

Vowels

	Front		Back
	Unrounded	Rounded	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	i	y	ɯ	u
Close-mid	e	ø	ɤ	o
Open-mid	ɛ			ɔ
Open	a		ɐ

All vowels can be creaky vowels, which are contrastive.

Sila diphthongs are /ɤi/, /ai/, /ao/, /oa/.

Example contrasts

/i/ vs. /e/ vs. /ɛ/: /pi33/ ‘to win’ vs. /pe33/ ‘to divide up’ vs. /pɛ33jo31/ ‘dragon’

/y/ vs. /ø/: /tʰy31/ ‘to spit out/ vs. /tʰø31/ ‘to wrap up’

/ɯ/ vs. /ɤ/: /tɯ31/ ‘to hit’ vs. /tɤ31/ ‘to soak’

/u/ vs. /o/ vs. /ɔ/: /tʰu55/ ‘thick’ vs. /tʰo55/ ‘to open a hole’ vs. /tʰɔ55/ ‘number of times/

/a/ vs. /ɐ/: /tɕa31/ ‘to eat’ vs. /tɕɐ31/ ‘to have, to exist/

Tones

Sila has three lexical tonemes and two grammatical tonemes.

Toneme	Class
55	Lexical
35	Grammatical
53	Grammatical
33	Lexical
31	Lexical

Phonotactics

All consonants can occur as onsets, with /m/ able to form a syllabic nasal.

/j/ and /l/ may occur as medials, but /j/ only after bilabial and velar stops and /m/, and /l/ only after bilabial stops and /m/.

Unvoiced stops and nasals can occur as codas, but these are only found in words recently borrowed from Lao

Distribution

According to Edmondson (2002), the Sila number about 700 people in Vietnam and live in the following 3 villages.

• Seo Hay, Can Hồ Commune, Lai Châu Province, Vietnam
• Xì Theo Chai, Can Hồ Commune, Lai Châu Province, Vietnam
• Nậm Sín, Mường Nhé Commune, Điện Biên Province, Vietnam

According to the elderly Sila, seven Sila families had emigrated from Mường U and Mường Lá of Phongsaly Province, Laos, 175 years ago. They initially arrived at a location called Mường Tùng, and relocated several times before arriving at their present locations.

In Laos, Sila is spoken in:^[3]

• Naahok Village, Nyot U District, Phongsaly Province
• Ban Ban Sida, Muang Namtha, Luang Namtha Province (autonym: vɛ33 ɲɯ33)
• Chaohoi village, Nyot U District; Phongsai village, Bun Neua District (autonym: go55ɯ55 a11ma11) (Kingsada 1999)^[4]
• Longthang village, Nyot U District; Sida village, Luang Namtha District, Luang Namtha province (autonym: si33 la33) (Shintani 2001)^[5]
• Namsing village, Nyot U District (autonym: ko55 ɯ21) (Kato 2008)^[6]