Tai Loi language

{{short description|Austroasiatic language spoken in Myanmar and China}}

{{for|Tai Lai|Tai Laing language}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Tai Loi

|nativename=Mong Lue

|states=Burma, Laos

|speakers= {{sigfig|4960|2}}

|date=1995–2008

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austroasiatic

|fam2=Khasi–Palaungic

|fam3=Palaungic

|fam4=(various)

|iso3=tlq

}}

Tai Loi, also known as Mong Lue, refers to various Palaungic languages spoken mainly in Burma, with a few hundred in Laos and some also in China. Hall (2017) reports that Tai Loi is a cover term meaning 'mountain Tai' in Shan, and refers to various Angkuic, Waic, and Western Palaungic languages rather than a single language or branch. The Shan exonym Tai Loi can refer to:

• Western Palaungic branch: De'ang
• Lametic branch: Lamet
• Angkuic branch: Muak Sa-aak, Mok
• Waic branch
• Wa: Meung Yum, Savaiq, etc.
• Plang: Phang, Kontoi, Pang Pung, etc.

Additionally, Ethnologue (21st edition),{{Cite web | url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/LA/languages |title = Laos}} citing Schliesinger (2003), lists Doi as a Tai Loi variety in Ban Muang, Sing District, Luang Namtha Province, Laos as a nearly extinct language variety spoken by an ethnic group comprising 600 people and 80 households as of 2003. Schliesinger (2003) reports that elderly Doi speakers can understand the Samtao language.Schliesinger, Joachim. 2003. Ethnic Groups of Laos. Vol. 2: Austro-Asiatic-Speaking Peoples. Bangkok: White Lotus Press. There is considerable variation among the dialects.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Myanmar |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010180533/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages |archive-date=2016-10-10 |website=Ethnologue: Languages of the World}} The Muak Sa-aak variety of Tai Loi shares 42% lexical similarity with U of China; 40% with Pang Pung Plang; and 25% with standard Wa.