Ta'Oi language explained

Ta'Oi
Nativename:	Ta Oi
States:	Laos, Vietnam
Ethnicity:	Ta Oi, Katang
Date:	1995–2005
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austro-Asiatic
Fam2:	Katuic
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 Katuic dialect chain of Salavan and Sekong provinces in Laos, and in Thừa Thiên-Huế province in Vietnam (Sidwell 2005:12).

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.^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	voiced	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative			pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
Rhotic			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/

• 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].^[2]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/
Open	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/

Diphthongs!!Front!Central!Back

Close	ia	ɨa	ua

Further reading

• Sidwell, Paul (2005). The Katuic languages: classification, reconstruction and comparative lexicon. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 58. Muenchen: Lincom Europa.
• Trần Nguyễn Khánh Phong. 2013. Người Tà Ôi ở A Lưới. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
• Miller . Carolyn . Notes on Northern Katang Kinship and Society . Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society . 2017 . 10 . 2 . xxiii–xxix . 10524/52410 .
• Gehrmann, Ryan. 2017. The Historical Phonology of Kriang, A Katuic Language. JSEALS Volume 10.1 (2017).

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mon-Khmer Classification (draft) . 24 June 2018 . SEAlang . 2007 .
2. Sidwell, Paul (2005). pp. 12-15