Tai Lü (or
Tai Lue, Tai Le; tai
51 l
11;
Xishuangbanna Dai; Chinese: 傣仂语 Dǎilèyǔ;
Thai: ภาษาไทลื้อ (phaasǎa thailéu); Vietnamese: Lự or Lữ) is a language spoken by about 670,000 people in
South East Asia. This includes 250,000 people in
China, 200,000 in
Burma, 134,000 in
Thailand, and 5,000 in
Vietnam. The language is similar to other
Tai languages.
In Vietnam, Tai Lü speakers are officially recognised as the
Lự ethnic minority, although in China they are classified as part of the
Dai people, along with speakers of the other
Tai languages (except
Zhuang).
Phonology
Tai Lü has 21 syllable-initial consonants, 91 syllable finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in other syllables).
Initials
The initials - and s- are palatalised before i, e and and become - and -, respectively.
Finals
Tones
There are six tones for unchecked syllables, although only three are allowed in checked syllables (those ending with -p, -t or -k).
Grammar
Word order is usually Subject - Verb - Object; Modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns.
Vocabulary
Tai Lü has many loanwords from Pali, as well as from the local Chinese dialect and modern Standard Chinese.
Numbers
Writing systems
Tai Lü is written in two different alphabets. The old writing system was reformed in the 1950s, but is still in use and has recently regained government support. The new alphabet is a simplified version of the old script.
Old Tai Lü
Readable by the most people and used in Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
New Tai Lü
"New Tai Lü" is a modernisation of the Lanna alphabet, similar to the Thai alphabet, and consists of 42 initial consonant signs (21 high-tone class, 21 low-tone class), seven final consonant signs, 16 vowel signs, two tone letters and one vowel shortening letter (or syllable-final glottal stop). Vowels signs can be placed before or after the syllable initial consonant.
Similar to the Thai alphabet, the pronunciation of the tone of a syllable depends on the class the initial consonant belongs to, syllable structure and
vowel length, and the tone mark.
Unicode range ("New Tai Lue"): U+1980 – U+19DF
See also
