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Ta'Oi language

{{Short description|Southeast Asian dialect chain}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Ta'Oi

|nativename=Ta Oi

|states= Laos, Vietnam

|ethnicity=Ta Oi, Katang

|speakers={{sigfig|218,800|2}}

|date=1995–2005

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austro-Asiatic

|fam2 = Katuic

|fam3 =

|lc1=tth|ld1=Upper Ta'Oi

|lc2=irr|ld2=Ir (Hantong)

|lc3=oog|ld3=Ong (= Ir)

|lc4=tto|ld4=Lower Ta'Oi

|lc5=ngt|ld5=Ngeq (Kriang)

|glotto=taoi1247

|glottorefname=Ta'oihic

|ELP=1254

|ELPname=Chatong

}}

Ta'Oi (Ta'Oih, Ta Oi) is a dialect continuum within the Katuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken amongst the Ta Oi people in the Salavan and Sekong provinces in Laos and the municipality of Huế in Vietnam.Sidwell, Paul (2005). p. 12

Varieties

Sidwell (2005) lists the following varieties of Ta'Oi, which is a name applied to speakers of various related dialects.

  • Ta'Oi proper
  • Ong/Ir/Talan
  • Chatong is spoken about 50 to 100 km northeast of Sekong. It has been recorded only by Theraphan L-Thongkum.
  • Kriang (Ngkriang, Ngeq) is spoken by up to 4,000 people living in villages between Tatheng and Sekong, such as Ban Chakamngai.
  • Kataang (Katang) is a dialect that has been documented by Michel Ferlus, Gerard Diffloth, and other linguists. It is not to be confused with the Bru dialect of Katang.{{cite web |title=Mon-Khmer Classification (draft) |url=http://sealang.net/sala/mk-class.htm |access-date=24 June 2018 |publisher=SEAlang |year=2007 }}

Phonology

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPAlink|m}}

|{{IPAlink|n}}

|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}

|

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|p}}

|{{IPAlink|t}}

|{{IPAlink|c}}

|{{IPAlink|k}}

| rowspan="2" |{{IPAlink|ʔ}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|b}}

|{{IPAlink|d}}

|{{IPAlink|ɟ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}

colspan="2" |Fricative

|

|{{IPAlink|s}}

|

|

|{{IPAlink|h}}

colspan="2" |Rhotic

|

|{{IPAlink|r}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPAlink|w}}

|{{IPAlink|l}}

|{{IPAlink|j}}

|

|

  • There are also creaky syllable-final segments /mʔ, nʔ, ŋʔ, wʔ, lʔ, jʔ/, however; they are not noted as a distinct series.
  • /ɟ/ may also be heard as a preglottal sound [ʔj].Sidwell, Paul (2005). pp. 12-15

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Monopthongs

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

Close

|{{IPAlink|i}} {{IPAlink|iː}}

|{{IPAlink|ɨ}} {{IPAlink|ɨː}}

|{{IPAlink|u}} {{IPAlink|uː}}

Mid

|{{IPAlink|e}} {{IPAlink|eː}}

|{{IPAlink|ə}} {{IPAlink|əː}}

|{{IPAlink|o}} {{IPAlink|oː}}

Open

|{{IPAlink|ɛ}} {{IPAlink|ɛː}}

|{{IPAlink|a}} {{IPAlink|aː}}

|{{IPAlink|ɔ}} {{IPAlink|ɔː}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Diphthongs

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

Close

|ia

|ɨa

|ua

Morphosyntax

Taoih, like other Katuic languages, is largely analytic and slightly inflectional.{{cite book|last=Sidwell|first=Paul|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia|chapter=Eastern Mon-Khmer languages|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2021|doi=10.1515/9783110558142-011|pages=547–598}} Taoih has a large amounts of affixes which mark agreement for person and case and derive new lexicalized words. The specific cases that are marked differ by person. There are several grammatical cases in Taoih, including some important ones: nominative, accusative, locative, dative, and genitive.

class="wikitable"

|+Taoih Pronouns

! rowspan="2" |

! colspan="3" | 1st person

! colspan="3" | 2nd person

! colspan="3" | 3rd person

{{small|singular}}{{small|dual}}{{small|plural}}

! {{small|singular}}

{{small|dual}}{{small|plural}}

! {{small|singular}}

{{small|dual}}{{small|plural}}
Initial

| aku

| nhǎng

| muhe

| ame

| inhoa

| ipe

| ʔo

| anho'a

| ape

Genitive

| ɘɳku

| ɘɳnhǎng

| ɘɳhe

| ɘɳme/ɘɳmaɨ

| ɘɳoinhoa

| ɘɳoipe

| ɘɳo

| ɘɳoanho'a

| ɘɳoape

Dative

| aku

| anhǎng

| ahe

| amme/ammai

| aoinhoa

| aoipe

| ao

| aoanho'a

| aoape

Locative

| -

| -

| ihe

| ime/imai

| -

| -

| ido

| -

| imaɨ

{{Interlinear|indent=3|Urɘq ɘɳ-maɨ|book GEN-2SG|Your book}}

Taoih is prominently a neutral alignment language. Taoih exhibits neutral alignment for case with (in)transitive verbs and also neutral alignment for agreement in both (in)transitive and ditransitive frames, the verb never shows agreement with any argument, regardless of its transitivity. For ditransitive verbs, Taoih exhibits indirective alignment.

{{Interlinear|indent=3|Kuyuk dong urɘq a-o-inho'a anho'a a-o-ndil|Kuyu’k give book DAT-LK-2SG and DAT-LK-girl|"Kuyuk gives the book to you (dual) and the girl."}}

To mark benefactive arguments, the dative marker and preposition adeh occur before patients.

{{Interlinear|indent=3|Ku takoóh adeh a-o-akoónh anho'a a-maɨ|1SG cook for.BEN DAT-LK-father and DAT-2SG|"I cook for father and you."}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Sidwell, Paul (2005). [https://www.academia.edu/1540083/The_Katuic_Languages_classification_reconstruction_and_comparative_lexicon The Katuic languages: classification, reconstruction and comparative lexicon]. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 58. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. {{ISBN|3-89586-802-7}}
  • Trần Nguyễn Khánh Phong. 2013. Người Tà Ôi ở A Lưới. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
  • {{cite journal |surname=Miller |given=Carolyn |title=Notes on Northern Katang Kinship and Society |journal=Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society |year=2017 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=xxiii–xxix |hdl=10524/52410 }}
  • Gehrmann, Ryan. 2017. [http://hdl.handle.net/10524/52402 The Historical Phonology of Kriang, A Katuic Language]. JSEALS Volume 10.1 (2017).

{{Languages of Laos}}

{{Languages of Vietnam}}

{{Austro-Asiatic languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ta'Oi language}}

Category:Languages of Laos

Category:Languages of Vietnam

Category:Katuic languages

{{AustroAsiatic-lang-stub}}