Northern Tai languages


The Northern Tai languages are an established branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. They include the northern Zhuang languages and Bouyei of China, Tai Mène of Laos and Yoy of Thailand.

Languages

Ethnologue

Ethnologue distinguishes the following languages:
Yoy is elsewhere classified as Southwestern [Tai languages|Southwestern Tai], and E, which is a mixed language Northern Tai-Chinese language.
Longsang Zhuang, a recently described Northern Tai language, is spoken Longsang Township, Debao County, Guangxi, China. Hezhang Buyi is a moribund Northern Tai language of northwestern Guizhou that is notable for having a Kra substratum.

Pittayaporn (2009)

Pittayaporn distinguishes a similar group of Zhuang varieties as group "N", defined by the phonological shifts *ɯj, *ɯw → *aj, *aw. He moves the prestige dialect of Zhuang, the Wuming dialect, from the Northern Tai Yongbei Zhuang to Yongnan Zhuang – purportedly Central Tai – as it lacks these shifts. The various languages and localities Pittayaporn includes in group N, along with their Ethnologue equivalents, are:
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  • *Hengxian 横县 = Yongbei Zhuang
  • *Shanglin 上林县 = Hongshuihe Zhuang
  • *Yongbei 邕北 = Yongbei Zhuang
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Vocabulary

Some examples of lexical and phonological differences between Northern Tai and Central-Southwestern Tai:
Glossp-North Taip-Central Taip-Southwest Tai
‘tiger’*kuːk*sɯə*sɯə
‘thorn’*ʔon*n̥aːm*n̥aːm
‘crow’*ʔaː*kaː*kaː
‘steam, vapor’*soːj*ʔjaːj*ʔaːj
‘to tear’*siːk*cʰiːk*cʰiːk
‘knife’*mit*miːt*miːt