Tai Nuea language

Tai Nuea or Tai Nüa (Chinese: 傣那语; pinyin: Dǎinàyǔ; Burmese: တိုင်းလေ; Thai: ภาษาไทเหนือ, pronounced [pʰāːsǎː tʰāj nɯ̌a]), also called Dehong Tai (Chinese: 德宏傣语; pinyin: Déhóng Dǎiyǔ; Thai: ภาษาไทใต้คง, pronounced [pʰāːsǎː tʰāj tâːj.kʰōŋ]) and Chinese Shan, is one of the languages spoken by the Dai people in China, especially in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in the southwest of Yunnan Province. It is closely related to the other Tai languages and could be considered a dialect of Shan. It should not be confused with Tai Lü (Xishuangbanna Dai).

Tai Nuea
ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ Tai Le
Pronunciation	[tai˥.lə˧]
Native to	China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos
Region	Southwest China
Ethnicity	Tai Nua, Dai
Native speakers	(720,000 cited 1983–2007)[1]
Language family	Kra–Dai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Northwestern Tai Nuea
Writing system	Tai Le script
Official status
Official language in	China (Dehong, co-official)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	tdd
Glottolog	tain1252  Tai Nua
ELP	Tai Neua
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Buddhist scriptures in Tai Nuea

Names

Most Tai Nuea people call themselves Tai Le (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ, Tai Nüa pronunciation: [tai˥.lə˧]), which means 'Upper Tai' or 'Northern Tai'. Note that this is different from Tai Lue, which is pronounced [tai˥.lɪ˦˧] in Tai Nuea.

Another autonym is [tai˥ taɯ˧˩ xoŋ˥] (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥖᥬᥲ ᥑᥨᥒᥰ), where [taɯ˧˩] means 'bottom, under, the lower part (of)' and [xoŋ˥] means 'the Hong River' (Luo 1998). Dehong is a transliteration of the term [taɯ˧˩ xoŋ˥].

The language is also known as Tai Mau, Tai Kong and Tai Na.^[2]

Dialects

Zhou (2001:13) classifies Tai Nuea into the Dehong (德宏) and Menggeng (孟耿) dialects. Together, they add up to a total of 541,000 speakers.

• Dehong dialect 德宏土语: 332,000 speakers
  • Dehong Prefecture 德宏州: Mangshi 芒市, Yingjiang 盈江, Lianghe 梁河, Longchuan 陇川, Ruili 瑞丽, Wanding 畹町
  • Baoshan District 保山地区: Baoshan 保山, Tengchong 腾冲, Longling 龙陵, Shidian 施甸
• Menggeng dialect 孟耿土语: 209,000 speakers
  • Pu'er City 普洱市 / Simao District 思茅地区: Menglian 孟连, Jinggu 景谷, Lancang 澜沧, Zhenyuan 镇沅, Ximeng 西盟, Jingdong 景东, Simao 思茅, Pu'er 普洱, Mojiang 墨江
  • Baoshan District 保山地区: Changning 昌宁
  • Lincang District 临沧地区: Gengma 耿马, Lincang 临沧, Shuangjiang 双江, Cangyuan 沧源, Yongde 永德, Zhenkang 镇康, Yunxian 云县, Fengqing 风庆. A separate traditional script has been developed in Mengding Township 勐定镇, Lincang 临沧, and is different from the one used in the Dehong area — see Zhou (2001:371).

Phonology

Tai Nuea is a tonal language with a very limited inventory of syllables with no consonant clusters. 16 syllable-initial consonants can be combined with 84 syllable finals and six tones.

Consonants

Initials

		Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			plain	sibilant
Nasal		[m] ᥛ	[n] ᥢ			[ŋ] ᥒ
Plosive	tenuis	[p] ᥙ	[t] ᥖ	[t͡s] ᥓ		[k] ᥐ	[ʔ] ᥟ
	aspirated	[pʰ] ᥚ	[tʰ] ᥗ	([t͡sʰ])* ᥡ		([kʰ])* ᥠ
Fricative		[f] ᥜ		[s] ᥔ		[x] ᥑ	[h] ᥞ
Approximant			[l] ᥘ		[j] ᥕ	[w] ᥝ

Notes:

1. *(kʰ) and (tsʰ) occur in loanwords.

2. The consonant [l] and [n] merged to [l] in the initial position in Mangshi (芒市) dialect but not in Menglian (孟连) dialect.

3. The consonant [pʰ] and [f] merged to [pʰ] in Menglian (孟连) dialect but not in Mangshi (芒市) dialect.

Finals

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal	[m] ᥛ	[n] ᥢ		[ŋ] ᥒ
Plosive	[p] ᥙ	[t] ᥖ		[k] ᥐ
Approximant	[w] ᥝ		[j] ᥭ

Vowels

Tai Nuea has ten vowels and 13 diphthongs:

	Front	Central-Back	Back
High	◌ᥤ IPA: [i]	◌ᥪ IPA: [ɯ]	◌ᥧ IPA: [u]
Mid	◌ᥥ IPA: [e]	◌ᥫ IPA: [ə]	◌ᥨ IPA: [o]
Low	◌ᥦ IPA: [ɛ]	◌◌ᥣ IPA: [a] ~ [aː] (Mangshi) [ɑ] ~ [a] (Menglian)	◌ᥩ IPA: [ɔ]

Diphthong

◌ IPA: [a] / [ɑ] (closed syllable)	ᥣ IPA: [aː]	ᥤ IPA: [i]	ᥥ IPA: [e]	ᥦ IPA: [ɛ]	ᥧ IPA: [u]	ᥨ IPA: [o] (closed syllable)	ᥩ IPA: [ɔ]	ᥪ IPA: [ɯ]	ᥫ IPA: [ə]
◌ᥭ IPA: [ai]	ᥣᥭ IPA: [aːi]				ᥧᥭ IPA: [ui]	ᥨᥭ IPA: [oi]	ᥩᥭ IPA: [ɔi]	ᥪᥭ IPA: [ɯi]	ᥫᥭ IPA: [əi]
ᥝ IPA: [au]	ᥣᥝ IPA: [aːu]	ᥤᥝ IPA: [iu]	ᥥᥝ IPA: [eu]	ᥦᥝ IPA: [ɛu]		ᥨᥝ IPA: [o] (open syllable)		ᥪᥝ IPA: [ɯu]*	ᥫᥝ IPA: [əu]
ᥬ IPA: [aɯ] (Mangshi) IPA: [ɑ] (Menglian)

* Only in Mangshi dialect.

Tones

Unchecked syllables

Tai Nuea has six tones:

Classification	Mangshi	Menglian	Tai Le	Tai Le (1963)	Number
阴平	35 [˧˥]	55 [˥]	◌ᥴ	◌́	1
阳平	55 [˥]	53 [˥˧]	◌ᥰ	◌̈	2
阴上	31 [˧˩]	11 [˩]	◌ᥲ	◌̀	3
阳上	53 [˥˧]	31 [˧˩]	◌ᥳ	◌̇	4
阴去	11 [˩]	35 [˧˥]	◌ᥱ	◌̌	5
阳去	33 [˧]		◌	◌	6

Checked syllables

Syllables with [p], [t], and [k] final can have only one of three tones in Mangshi (芒市) Dialect or four tones in Menglian (孟连) Dialect.

Mangshi (芒市) Dialect

Description	Contour	Tai Le	Tai Le (1963)	Number
rising	35 [˧˥]	◌ᥴ	◌́	7
high falling	53 [˥˧]	◌ᥳ	◌̇	8
		◌	◌
low	11 [˩] or 21 [˨˩]	◌ᥱ	◌̌	9

In Mangshi (芒市) Dialect, the high falling tone mark (◌ᥳ) is usually left unmarked.

Menglian (孟连) Dialect

Description	Contour	Tai Le	Tai Le (1963)	Number
high	55 [˥]	◌ᥴ	◌́	7
low falling	31 [˧˩]	◌ᥳ	◌̇	8
rising	35 [˧˥]	◌ᥱ	◌̌	9
mid	33 [˧]	◌	◌	10

Comparison

Unchecked syllable comparison

Tai Le	Mangshi (芒市)	Menglian (孟连)	English
ᥜᥣᥳ	fa4	pʰa4	sky
ᥘᥣᥝ	laːu6	lau6	star
ᥢᥛᥳ	lam4	nɑm4	water
ᥑᥭᥱ	xai5	xɑi5	egg
ᥢᥣᥰ	la2	na2	field
ᥜᥨᥢᥴ	fon1	pʰon1	rain
ᥛᥨᥭᥴ	moi1	məi1	frost
ᥙᥣᥲ ᥖᥬᥲ	pa3 taɯ3	pɑ3 tɑ3	under

Checked syllable

Due to the irregular checked tones correspondence, the Tai Le used will be written in Mangshi dialect.

Checked syllable comparison

Tai Le	Mangshi (芒市)	Menglian (孟连)	English
ᥖᥙᥴ	tap7	tɑp7	liver
ᥘᥨᥐ	lok8	lok8	bird
ᥞᥐ	hak8	hɑk8	love
ᥛᥩᥐᥱ	mɔk9	mɔk9	flower
ᥔᥨᥙᥱ	sop9	sop9	mouth
ᥚᥐᥴ	pʰak7	pʰɑk10	vegetable
ᥒᥫᥐ	ŋək8	ŋək10	dragon
ᥓᥫᥐ	tsək8	tsək10	rope
ᥓᥥᥙᥱ	tsep9	tsep10	pain
ᥚᥥᥖᥱ	pʰet9	pʰet10	spicy
ᥙᥥᥖᥱ	pet9	pet10	duck
ᥘᥧᥐᥴ	luk7	luk9	bone
ᥞᥧᥖᥴ	hut7	hut9	inhale
ᥐᥣᥙ	kaːp8	kap9	bite

Writing system

Main article: Tai Le script

The Tai Le script is part of the Mon-Burmese family of writing systems and is closely related to the Ahom script. The script is thought to date back to the 14th century.

The original Tai Nuea spelling did not generally mark tones and failed to distinguish several vowels. It was reformed to make these distinctions, and diacritics were introduced to mark tones. The resulting writing system was officially introduced in 1956. In 1988, the spelling of tones was reformed; special tone letters were introduced instead of the earlier Latin diacritics.

The modern script has a total of 35 letters, including the five tone letters.

The transcription below is given according to the Unicode tables.

Consonants

ᥐ k IPA: [k]	ᥑ x IPA: [x]	ᥒ ng IPA: [ŋ]
ᥓ ts IPA: [ts]	ᥔ s IPA: [s]	ᥕ y IPA: [j]
ᥖ t IPA: [t]	ᥗ th IPA: [tʰ]	ᥘ l IPA: [l]
ᥙ p IPA: [p]	ᥚ ph IPA: [pʰ]	ᥛ m IPA: [m]
ᥜ f IPA: [f]	ᥝ v IPA: [w]
ᥞ h IPA: [h]	ᥟ q IPA: [ʔ]
ᥠ kh IPA: [kʰ]	ᥡ tsh IPA: [tsʰ]	ᥢ n IPA: [n]

Vowels and diphthongs

Consonants that are not followed by a vowel letter are pronounced with the inherent vowel [a]. Other vowels are indicated with the following letters:

ᥣ a IPA: [aː]	ᥦ eh IPA: [ɛ]	ᥥ ee IPA: [e]	ᥤ i IPA: [i]	ᥧ u IPA: [u]	ᥨ oo IPA: [o]	ᥩ o IPA: [ɔ]	ᥪ ue IPA: [ɯ]	ᥫ e IPA: [ə]	ᥬ aue IPA: [aɯ]	ᥭ ai IPA: [ai]

Diphthongs are formed by combining some vowel letters with the consonant ᥝ [w] and some vowel letters with ᥭ [ai]/[j].

Tones

In the Thai and Tai Lü writing systems, the tone value in the pronunciation of a written syllable depends on the tone class of the initial consonant, vowel length and syllable structure. In contrast, the Tai Nuea writing system has a very straightforward spelling of tones, with one letter (or diacritic) for each tone.

Tone marks were presented via the third reform (1963) as diacritics. Then the fourth reform (1988) changed them into tone letters. A tone mark is put at the end of syllable whatever it is consonant or vowel. Examples in the table show the syllable [ta] in different tones.

Number	New (1988)	Old (1963)	Pitch
1.	ᥖᥴ	ᥖ́	35
2.	ᥖᥰ	ᥖ̈	55
3.	ᥖᥱ	ᥖ̌	11
4.	ᥖᥲ	ᥖ̀	42
5.	ᥖᥳ	ᥖ̇	54
6.	ᥖ	ᥖ	33

The sixth tone (mid level) is not marked. And if a syllable with -p, -t, -k finals have the fifth tone, the tone mark is not written.

Grammar

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

		Singular			Dual	Plural
		Mangshi	Menglian	Menglian (formal)	Mangshi	Mangshi	Menglian
1st person	exclusive	ᥐᥝ (kau6)	ᥐᥬ (kɑ6)	ᥖᥧ ᥑᥬᥲ (tu6 xɑ3)	ᥞᥣᥒᥰ ᥞᥫᥴ (haːŋ2 xə1)	ᥖᥧ (tu6)	ᥖᥧ (tu6)
	inclusive				ᥞᥣᥒᥰ ᥞᥣᥰ (haːŋ2 ha2)	ᥞᥝᥰ (hau2)	ᥞᥝᥰ (hɑu2)
2nd person		ᥛᥬᥰ (maɯ2)	ᥛᥬᥰ (mɑ2)	ᥔᥧᥴ ᥓᥝᥲ (su1 tsɑu3)	ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥞᥫᥴ (sɔŋ1 xə1)	ᥔᥧᥴ (su1)	ᥔᥧᥴ (su1)
3rd person		ᥛᥢᥰ (man2)	ᥛᥢᥰ (mɑn2)		ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥞᥣᥴ (sɔŋ1 xa1)	ᥑᥝᥴ (xau1)	ᥑᥬᥴ (xɑ1)

Other Pronouns

	Mangshi	Menglian
Reflexive	ᥙᥪᥴ ᥓᥝᥲ (pɯ1 tsau3)	ᥐᥩᥭᥰ ᥘᥥᥝ (kɔi2 leu6)
Interrogative	ᥚᥬᥴ (pʰaɯ1)	ᥙᥧᥱ ᥘᥬ (pu5 lɑ6)
Everyone	ᥙᥫᥝ (pən6)	ᥙᥫᥝ (pən6)
Other people	ᥖᥒᥰ ᥘᥣᥭᥴ (taŋ2 laːi1)	ᥖᥒᥰ ᥘᥣᥭᥴ (tɑŋ2 lai1)

Syntax

Tai Nuea word order is usually subject–verb–object (SVO); modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.

Demonstrative

	Mangshi	Menglian
This	ᥘᥭᥳ (lai4)	ᥢᥭᥳ (nɑi4)
That	ᥘᥢᥳ (lan4)	ᥢᥢᥳ (nɑn4)
Here	ᥖᥤ ᥘᥭᥳ (ti6 lai4)	ᥖᥤ ᥢᥭᥳ (ti6 nɑi4)
There	ᥖᥤ ᥘᥢᥳ (ti6 lan4)	ᥖᥤ ᥢᥢᥳ (ti6 nɑn4)

Adverb

Other Pronouns

	Mangshi	Menglian
What	ᥔᥒᥴ (saŋ1)	ᥖᥤ ᥔᥒᥴ (ti6 sɑŋ1)
Why	ᥐᥩᥙ ᥖᥤ ᥔᥒᥴ (kɔp6 ti6 saŋ1)
Who	ᥚᥬᥴ (pʰaɯ1)	ᥙᥧᥱ ᥘᥬ (pu5 lɑ6)
Where	(ᥖᥤ) ᥗᥬᥴ (ti6 thaɯ1)	ᥖᥤᥴ ᥘᥬ (ti1 lɑ6)
Which	ᥘᥬ (laɯ6)	ᥘᥬ (lɑ6)
How much	ᥑᥬ (xaɯ6)	ᥑᥬ ᥘᥬ (xɑ6 lɑ6)
How many	ᥐᥤᥱ (ki5)	ᥐᥤᥱ (ki5)

Numeral

Numerals

	Mangshi	Menglian
0	ᥘᥤᥢᥳ (lin4)	ᥘᥤᥢᥳ (lin4)
1	ᥘᥫᥒ (ləŋ6)	ᥢᥫᥒ (nəŋ6)
	ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (et9)	ᥟᥥᥖ (et10)
2	ᥔᥩᥒᥴ (sɔŋ1)	ᥔᥩᥒᥴ (sɔŋ1)
3	ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (saːm1)	ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (sam1)
4	ᥔᥤᥱ (si5)	ᥔᥤᥱ (si5)
5	ᥞᥣᥲ (ha3)	ᥞᥣᥲ (ha3)
6	ᥞᥨᥐᥱ (hok9)	ᥞᥨᥐ (hok10)
7	ᥓᥥᥖᥱ (tset9)	ᥓᥥᥖ (tset10)
8	ᥙᥦᥖᥱ (pɛt9)	ᥙᥦᥖᥱ (pɛt9)
9	ᥐᥝᥲ (kau3)	ᥐᥝᥲ (kɑu3)
10	ᥔᥤᥙᥴ (sip7)	ᥔᥤᥙ (sip10)
11	ᥔᥤᥙᥴ ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (sip7 et9)	ᥔᥤᥙ ᥟᥥᥖ (sip10 et10)
20	ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥘᥫᥒ (saːu2 ləŋ6)	ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥢᥫᥒ (sau2 nəŋ6)
21	ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥟᥥᥖᥱ (saːu2 et9)	ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥟᥥᥖ (sau2 et10)
25	ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥞᥣᥲ (saːu2 ha3)	ᥔᥣᥝᥰ ᥞᥣᥲ (sau2 ha3)
30	ᥔᥤᥙᥴ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (saːm1 sip7)	ᥔᥤᥙ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (sam1 sip10)
100	ᥙᥣᥐᥱ (paːk9)	ᥙᥣᥐᥱ (pak9)
205	ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥙᥣᥐᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥣᥲ (sɔŋ1 paːk9 pai6 ha3)	ᥔᥩᥒᥴ ᥙᥣᥐᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥣᥲ (sɔŋ1 pak9 pai6 ha3)
1000	ᥞᥥᥒᥴ (heŋ1)	ᥞᥥᥒᥴ (heŋ1)
10000	ᥛᥧᥢᥱ (mun5)	ᥛᥧᥢᥱ (mun5)
70006	ᥓᥥᥖᥱ ᥛᥧᥢᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥨᥐᥱ (tset9 mun5 paːi6 hok9)	ᥓᥥᥖ ᥛᥧᥢᥱ ᥙᥣᥭ ᥞᥨᥐ (tset10 mun5 paːi6 hok10)
1st	ᥐᥨᥳ ᥞᥨᥴ (ko4 ho1)	ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥢᥫᥒ (tʰon3 nəŋ6)
2nd	ᥐᥨᥳ ᥖᥛᥰ (ko4 tam2)	ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥔᥨᥒᥴ (tʰon3 soŋ1)
3rd	ᥐᥨᥳ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (ko4 saːm1)	ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥔᥣᥛᥴ (tʰon3 sam1)
last	ᥐᥨᥳ ᥔᥧᥖᥴ (ko4 sut7)	ᥗᥨᥢᥲ ᥔᥧᥖ (tʰon3 sut10)

Text sample

ᥛᥬᥰ

maɯ²

you

ᥐᥤᥢ

kin⁶

eat

ᥑᥝᥲ

xau³

rice

ᥕᥝᥳ

jau⁴

PERF.PTC

ᥞᥪᥴ?

hi¹

INTERR.PTC

ᥛᥬᥰ ᥐᥤᥢ ᥑᥝᥲ ᥕᥝᥳ ᥞᥪᥴ?

maɯ² kin⁶ xau³ jau⁴ hi¹

you eat rice PERF.PTC INTERR.PTC

Have you eaten? (a common greeting)

ᥐᥝ

kau⁶

I

ᥛᥨᥝᥴ

mo¹

can

ᥖᥣᥢᥲ

taan³

speak

ᥑᥣᥛᥰ

xaam²

language

ᥖᥭᥰ

tai²

Tai

ᥖᥬᥲ

taɯ³

De

ᥑᥨᥒᥰ

xong²

hong

ᥐᥝ ᥛᥨᥝᥴ ᥖᥣᥢᥲ ᥑᥣᥛᥰ ᥖᥭᥰ ᥖᥬᥲ ᥑᥨᥒᥰ

kau⁶ mo¹ taan³ xaam² tai² taɯ³ xong²

I can speak language Tai De hong

I can speak Dehong Tai/ Tai Nuea.

Language use

A Tai Nuea edition of the newspaper 德宏团结报

A textbook printed in the Tai Nuea Language

A public sign in the Tai Nuea Language

A board written in Chinese, Tai Nuea, and Jingpo

Tai Nuea has official status in some parts of Yunnan (China), where it is used on signs and in education. Yunnan People's Radio Station (Yúnnán rénmín guǎngbō diàntái 云南人民广播电台) broadcasts in Tai Nuea. On the other hand, however, very little printed material is published in Tai Nuea in China. However, many signs of roads and stores in Mangshi are in Tai Nuea.

In Thailand, a collection of 108 proverbs was published with translations into Thai and English.^[3]