| Yoy | |
| States: | Thailand, Laos |
| Speakers: | 6,000 |
| Date: | 1990–1995 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Kradai |
| Fam2: | Tai |
| Fam3: | Northern?[1] |
| Iso3: | yoy |
| Glotto: | yoyy1238 |
| Glottorefname: | Yoy |
Yoy is a Tai language of Thailand and Laos. The Yoy language is now in the critical endangered state due to a rapid language shift, which may eventually lead to complete language loss.[2]
The phonology of Yoy, according to Phakkahn (2017).
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Stop | Voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Aspirated | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| Voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Affricate | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
Only pronounced as //p t k ʔ m n ŋ j w// occur in word-final position. Yoy also has six initial consonant clusters which are pronounced as //tw-//, pronounced as //kw-//, pronounced as //kʰw-//, pronounced as //sw-//, pronounced as //hw-//, and pronounced as //bw-//.
Some words show alternate pronunciations between the initial syllable consonants:
/jaːk⁵/ ~ /ɲaːk⁵/ to want
/jaːw²/ ~ /ɲaːw²/ long
/joːj⁴/ ~ /ɲoːj⁴/ Yoy
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unr. | rnd. | ||||
| Diphthongs | pronounced as /ia/ | pronounced as /aɯ/ | pronounced as /ɯa/ | pronounced as /ua/ | |
| Monophthongs | Close | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | |
| Close-mid | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Open-mid | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Open | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
Yoy has two different phonemic vowel lengths. There are nine short vowels and nine long vowels. In the word-final open syllables, there is no contrast between short and long vowels, but in closed syllables and non-final open syllables, short and long vowels are distinctive.
Yoy has five phonologically distinctive tones in non-checked syllables. Checked syllables in Yoy can carry only tone 1 (mid-leveled tone), tone 2 (high-rising tone), and tone 5 (low-falling creaky).
| English | Yoy |
|---|---|
| one | nɯŋ¹ |
| two | sɔːŋ³ |
| three | saːm³ |
| four | siː⁵ |
| five | haː⁵ |
| six | hok² |
| seven | tɕet² |
| eight | pæːt⁵ |
| nine | kaw¹ |
| ten | sip² |
| hundred | hoːj⁴ |
| thousand | pʰan² |
| English | Yoy |
|---|---|
| to go | paj³ |
| to open | pɤːt⁵ |
| to dream | pʰan³ |
| to fall | tok² |
| to wash (clothes) | top² |
| to die | taj³ |
| to wait | tʰaː⁵ |
| to bite | kat² |
| to ask | tʰaːm³ |
| to think | kʰɯt⁴ |
| to throw | kʰwæŋ⁵ |
| to smell | dom³ |
| to burn | ʔuːt⁵ |
| to sit | mep⁵ |
| to like | mak⁵ |
| to smile | ɲiːm⁴ |
| to want | ɲaːk⁵ |
| to eat | kin² |
| to do | het¹ |
| to teach | sɔːn³ |
| to run | læn⁴ |
| to play | lin⁵ |
| English | Yoy |
|---|---|
| eye | taː³ |
| sun | ta¹ wen² |
| sky | tʰɔŋ⁴ pʰaː⁵ |
| milk | tu² |
| skin | kʰiːŋ² |
| fire | pʰaj² |
| mountain | pʰu¹ kʰaw³ |
| fish | paː³ |
| wood | pæn⁴ |
| tree | kok¹ maj¹ |
| tooth | kʰæːw⁵ |
| leg | kʰaː³ |
| chin | kʰaːŋ² |
| egg | kʰaj² |
| people | kʰon² |
| rice | kʰaːw⁵ |
| leaf | baɯʔ³ |
| soil | din³ |
| water | naːm⁴ |
| cloud | mek¹ |
| dog | maː³ |
| bird | nok⁵ |
| blood | lɯat¹ |
| English | Yoy |
|---|---|
| far | kaj³ |
| near, short (distance) | kaɯ⁴ |
| old | kaw¹ |
| new | maj⁵ |
| good | diː³ |
| fat | pʰiː² |
| beautiful | tɕop² |
| red | dæŋ³ |
| black | dam³ |
| white | kʰaːw⁵ |
| soft | ʔon⁵ |
| stupid | pɯk² |
| wet | ʔɯn³ |
| dry | hæŋ⁵ |
| big | ɲaɯ² |
| few | noj⁵ |