Content uploaded by Jean Pacquement
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jean Pacquement on Jul 28, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
Goals of this presentation
•Ideally speaking, this talk would cover the following issues:
- questioning Phu Thai’s position in the Southwestern branch of the Tai family,
- reviewing Phu Thai areas in mainland Southeast Asia and assessing the picture of Phu
Thai demographics as given by the website ethnologue.com (Simons & Fennig 2015),
- giving an overview of the places where Phu Thai claim they hail from in Central Laos and
documenting linguistic and anthropological links between some Phu Thai varieties in
Northeast Thailand and varieties spoken in their alleged original locations in Laos,
- discussing, in terms of linguistic area and language contacts, Michel Ferlus’ argument
pointing to an origin of Phu Thai in “Tai Muong and Tai Yo regions of Nghệ An” (Ferlus
2008: 300),
- exploring some aspects of the nonreciprocal linguistic relationship between Phu Thai and
Katuic languages known locally as Bru, So or Katang and discussing a case of
semantic/syntactic convergence.
•However, for today’s presentation, my goals will remain primarily philological. I will focus
on selected lexical or phraseological items. Can the previously mentioned issues help us
understand/explain language particularities of Phu Thai?
Directions
•Introduction:
- Phu Thai’s position in the Southwestern branch of the Tai family, or
Southwestern Tai (SWT)
- Phu Thai areas in mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA)
•1. Phu Thai’s original locations in Laos
•2. Before Phu Thai’s original locations in Laos: before the Laoization of
Phu Thai
•3. The Phu Thai and the Bru
Introduction
-Phu Thai’s position in the
Southwestern branch of the Tai
family
- Phu Thai areas in mainland
Southeast Asia
Phu Thai’s position in the SWT branch (1)
•If we follow the literature, Phu Thai is a PH language belonging to the
Southwestern branch of the Tai family (Chamberlain 1975: 50).
Phu Thai’s position in the SWT branch (2)
•More precisely, Phu Thai is said to belong to the “Neua-Phuan” (Chamberlain 1975:
51) subgroup, which has the following characteristics: “PH – *BCD 123-4”
(Chamberlain 1975: 54).
•TheNeua‐Phuan subgroup, in which we also find Neua (called by its speakers 'Lao'
of Sam Neua), Nyo, Phuan, and Siamese, stems from the following developments in
the Southwestern branch of the Tai family as proposed by James R. Chamberlain
(1975: 62-63).
Phu Thai’s position in the SWT branch (3)
•All the Phu Thai varieties for
which the literature gives tone
boxes –as for example in the
survey by Pojanee Sritarat (1983)
–follow a uniform pattern ABCD
123-4 with no tonal splits in the
rows 123.
•The 123-4 split in all the columns
represents a two-way split
between ancient voiceless initials
and ancient voiced initials.
•Figure on the right: the tone box
for Tai languages proposed by
Gedney (1989a: 202).
Phu Thai’s position:
Phu Thai tone boxes
•Top right figure: a tone box for
the Phu Thai spoken in Nong
Sung district, Mukdahan
province (from Rochini Khonharn
2003: 55).
•Bottom right figure: a tone box
for the Phu Thai spoken at Ban
Ummao, That Phanom district,
Nakhon Phanom province
(presenter's field notes, with the
help of Arissa Nanok).
Phu Thai’s position:
Phu Thai, Neua, Nyo ...
•Phu Thai varieties mentioned
above belong to the same
subgroup as Neua (the 'Lao of
Sam Neua') and Nyo dialects.
•Figures on the left: Sam Neua
and Nyo tone boxes from
Chamberlain 1975: 54-55
Phu Thai’s position: ... and Phuan
•When it comes to Phuan, Phuan varieties spoken in Thailand, such as Lopburi Phuan, fit
Chamberlain’s criteria for the Neua‐Phuan subgroup: “PH – *BCD 123-4” (Chamberlain 1975:
54).
•However, the only Phuan dialect spoken in the Xiangkhouang Province of Laos for which we
have a tonal description (Hartmann 2004) shows a 1-234 tonal split in columns A and C, and
that author prefers to call it a “Lao Phuan”!
•Whereas “Lao Phuan is not a true 'Mekong Lao' dialect, but a kind of Lao nevertheless”
(Hartmann 2004), Phu Thai is neither of the Mekong type nor of the Lao Phuan type.
Phu Thai’s position: a Neua-Phuan language
of the PH group with features of the P group?
•Phu Thai varieties mentioned
above are ascribed to the
Neua‐Phuan subgroup, but,
with a pattern ABCD 123-4
(with or without coalescence in
the DL column), they can also
be related to one type or
another in the languages of the
P group spoken in Vietnam.
•On the right: tone boxes for P
languages (from Chamberlain
1975:55-56).
Phu Thai’s position: two-row tone boxes
for Phu Thai dialects?
•Hence the possibility of simplified tone boxes for Phu Thai with two
rows only (1=123 and 2=4), as it is the case for Southwestern Tai
languages in Vietnam (example below from Ferlus 2008: 302).
Phu Thai’s position: a tentative two-row tone box
for a Phu Thai variety
•Accordingly, a tentative tone box for Phu Thai Kathoen ([phu:C1
thajA4 ka:A2 thɤ:nA4]means 'mixed Phu Thai'), a Phu Thai variety
spoken in Dong Mon subdistrict, Mukdahan district, Mukdahan
province (presenter’s field notes).
Phu Thai areas in MSEA –Phu Thai is spoken
in Central Laos and Northeast Thailand.
•Phu Thai is now
quite well
documented, and
the areas where
Phu Thai varieties
are spoken are
identified.
Phu Thai areas in MSEA –
Phu Thai in Laos and in Northeast Thailand
•In Laos
•Many districts of
Khammouane and
Savannakhet provinces
•A few villages in
Bolikhamxay
(Khamkeuth district)
and Salavanh (Vapi
district) provinces
•In Northeast Thailand
•Many districts of Kalasin, Mukdahan,
Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon
provinces
•In addition, a significant presence of
Phu Thai
- in Yasothon (two subdistricts of Loeng
Nok Tha district) and Amnat Charoen
(a few villages in Chanuman district)
- in Udon Thani (Wang Sam Mo and Si
That districts) and Buengkan
Phu Thai areas in MSEA –
Phu Thai in Thailand
•More locations for Phu Thai
in Thailand have been
proposed in Suwilai
Premsrirat et al. 2004.
•Map on the right from
Suwilai Premsrirat et al.
2004: 50.
Phu Thai areas in MSEA –
ethnologue.com’s Phu Thai in Vietnam
•According to the map provided by ethnologue.com
(Simons & Fennig 2015) for Northern Vietnam, Phu Thai
(67) is spoken in Northern Central Vietnam in areas of
Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh provinces close to the Lao
province of Bolikhamxay.
https://www.ethnologue.com/map/VN_n_
•The website ethnologue.com does not give any
corroborating references concerning Phu Thai in that
area and the dialect(s) which those Phu Thai speakers
would use there.
•The number of speakers given by ethnologue.com for
Phu Thai in Vietnam (209,000 speakers in 2002), about
which we have no further information, happens to be
even higher than the amount for Phu Thai in Laos
(187,000 speakers, 2005 Census), where the main
varieties of Phu Thai are well identified.
Phu Thai areas in MSEA –
Phu Thai in Vietnam?
•James R. Chamberlain, who used to write that
Phu Thai “are also said to inhabit […] the district
of Qui-Chau in Nghê An” (1984: 76), now holds
the view that there are no Phu Thai in Vietnam
(2012).
•Phu Thai is spoken in a couple of villages
belonging to the Hướng Hóa district, Quảng Trị
province, according to Carolyn Miller (personal
communication), who is familiar with the
region.
•Those few villages being located near the
border of Vietnam with Laos, the language
spoken there is likely to be one or another of
the Phu Thai varieties spoken in the neighboring
Xépône district of Savannakhet province.
Phu Thai areas in MSEA –Phu Thai demographics:
How to get a reliable picture?
•As a result, if we follow ethnologue.com, the best way to get a
reliable picture of Phu Thai demographics is to discard the figures
given for Vietnam and to use only those given for Thailand (470,000
speakers in 2006, Mahidol University) and Laos (187,000 speakers,
2005 Census).
•This caution does not change the overall picture: Phu Thai can be said
to be spoken by more than half a million speakers.
•That amount makes Phu Thai one of the strongest language
minorities in both Northeast Thailand and Central Laos.
Phu Thai’s original locations
in Laos
Phu Thai as a “displaced language”
•In the language hierarchy of Thailand proposed by William A. Smalley
(1994:69), Phu Thai is described as a “displaced language”.
•Phu Thai’s migrations from the foothills of the Annamite Range (in present-
day Laos) to the right bank of the Mekong were forced migrations which
occurred during the 19th century.
•Phu Thai claim to hail from places in Central Laos which they remember as
[vaŋA4], [bokDS3], [kaʔDS2 tɛ:pDL2], [vaŋA4 khamA4] (to be
distinguished from [vaŋA4]), [canA2], [maʔDS4 haaA1 sajA4 kɔ:ŋA1
kɛ:wC2],[kaʔDS2 taʔDL2ʔ], [kaʔDS2 pɔ:ŋA2], [laʔDS4 ma:ŋA4], [se:A4
po:nA2], [phinA4]…
•Apart from [se:A4 po:nA2] and [phinA4] (pronounced as [phi:nA4] in
Laos), which are the names of two present-day districts of Savannakhet
province, Phine and Xépône districts, one will not find those places on
common maps!
Phu Thai’s Vang
•A place called 'M. Vang' (M. standing
for [mɯaŋA4]) appears on the map
“De Sakon à B. Boung et de B. Boung
à Dong Hoi par le Capitaine de
Malglaive”in a volume of Mission
Pavie (Malglaive & Rivière 1902 : 68-
69).
•One will also notice 'M. Chanh' on
the same map.
•There have been tentative
localizations of Phu Thai’s Vang in
present-day Vilaboury and
Xaybouathong districts (Savannakhet
and Khammouane provinces).
Phu Thai’s Vang as a myth
•Instead of trying to assess the various localizations of Vang by local
scholars, I propose to stick to James R. Chamberlain’s interpretation of
Vang as a myth, “the Phou Thay myth of Muang Vang as their place of
origin” (Chamberlain 1991b:104-105).
•Phraseological collocations associating [vaŋA4]'water remains' with
[bokDS3] 'water goes down, dry land' point to a geographical meaning of
[vaŋA4].
•Phu Thai’s Vang might thus be considered as a broad designation for areas
of backwaters fed by streams and where water remains fresh rather than a
specific place.
•There happen precisely to be numerous places whose toponyms contain
the term [vaŋA4]in the Annamite Range from Savannakhet to Houaphanh!
Phu Thai homelands in Laos –Three main areas
•To summarize the tentative localizations proposed by local
scholars, Phu Thai's original locations in Central Laos can be
ascribed to three main areas:
1. A first area from Khamkeuth district (11-05 in Bolikhamxay
province) to Mahaxay district (12-02 in Khammouane
province), which might correspond to the area called
[maʔDS4 haaA1 sajA4 kɔ:ŋA1 kɛ:wC2] in Phu Thai accounts;
2. A second area consisting of parts of Xépône district (13-05
in Savannakhet province), Vilaboury district (13-12) and
neighboring districts of Khammouane province (Boualapha
12-06 and Xaybouathong 12-09);
3. A third area consisting of present-day Phine and Xépône
districts (13-04 and 13-05 in Savannakhet province), which
are actually located just South of Vilaboury district.
•On the right: maps from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Laos
Phu Thai's ethnic identity and linguistic information?
•Toponyms of the various places Phu Thai claim to hail from can be found in
present-day surnames, such as [vaŋA4 khaʔDS4 ha:tDL4],
[mɯaŋA4 vaŋA4], [chɯaC4 vaŋA4 khamA4], [chɯaC4 khamA4
canA2], [thinB1 se:A4 po:nA2], [mɯaŋA4 phinA4], etc. Those
surnames were most often chosen at village (or even subdistrict) levels
between 1920 and 1970.
•Some Phu Thai groups in Northeast Thailand add those toponyms (referring to
their alleged original locations) to the Phu Thai common autonym ([phu:C1
thajA4]), tentatively building new ethnic identities. For example, one will find
Phu Thai calling themselves Phu Thai Vang, Phu Thai Kapong, etc.
•Although that trend does not concern Phu Thai in Laos (and is not even
followed by all Phu Thai groups in Northeast Thailand), are such ethnic
groupings likely to provide any linguistic information (for dialect
subgrouping)?
Phu Thai ethnic groups: the case of Sakon Nakhon
•To start with a clear-cut example, let us take a common map of Sakon
Nakhon province, a case of what James R. Chamberlain has called
“dialect diversity”(Chamberlain 1991a: 457).
•There are many Phu Thai groups in this province. The ethnonyms of the
following Phu Thai contain the names of their alleged original places in
Central Laos:
- Phu Thai Kata in Tao Ngoi district,
- Phu Thai Mahasai in Khok Si Suphan District,
- Phu Thai Vang in Phanna Nikhom district,
- Phu Thai Kapong in Waritchaphum district,
- Phu Thai Lamang in a few subdistricts of Sawang Daen Din and Song Dao
districts.
•As for the Phu Thai of Ban Muang district, they just refer to themselves
as Phu Thai. They also say that their group first settled in Khamcha-i
district (Mukdahan province), where one mainly finds Phu Thai Vang,
before relocating to Ban Muang.
•Map on the right from
http://www.mapsofworld.com/thailand/provinces/sakon-nakhon-
map.html.
Some language items of Phu Thai Vang varieties
•Here are a few language items which can be related to Phu Thai varieties
named after their alleged original locations in Central Laos.
•One can find many specific lexical items in local compilations for
varieties of the Phu Thai Vang dialect, the Phu Thai dialect which
appears to have the most numerous varieties.
•The following words are worth mentioning.
•[sapDS4] means 'beautiful'.
•[thomA4] is a preverbal auxiliary expressing the present continuous.
•Some Phu Thai varieties spoken in Laos which can be related to Phu Thai
Vang varieties in Northeast Thailand use both [khe:tDL1] and
[khwe:tDL1] 'small frog', the latter being the form commonly used in Tai
Don (Gedney 1989b: 432).
An idiomatic phrase of Phu Thai Vang
varieties
•The presenter has not found in any compilation the following
idiomatic verbal phrase, which means 'to go to the paddy field'
(usually [pajA2 na:A4]).
•In Phu Thai Vang varieties, one can hear:
[pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4], [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4] or [pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4]
•Even if speakers generally describe the second syllable as a mere
added syllable devoid of meaning, the following word-for-word
translations still make sense.
-[pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4] to go/ group/ paddy field(s)
-[pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4] to go/ to return/ paddy field
[mɤ:C1] as a local Phu Thai
word in Atsaphone?
•As for [pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4], the use of
[mɤ:C1] is specific to some Phu Thai villages
in Atsaphone district (13-13 in Savannakhet
province).
•According to Sipaseuth Phongphanith
(personal communication), a Phu Thai
speaker from Atsaphone district who teaches
at Savannakhet University, the syllable she
interprets as [mɤ:C1] is a local word with the
same meaning as the Lao and Phu Thai term
[thoŋB4] 'field as a piece of land'.
•In addition, [mɤ:C1] can be found in other
collocations, such as [pajA2 mɤ:C1 hajB4] or
[pajA2 mɤ:C1 so:nA1].
Phu Thai Phin and Phu Thai Sepon varieties
in Northeast Thailand
•For each local variety of Phu Thai, one can see local scholars list lexical
items and language particularities. A local compiler in Ban Ummao
claims to have listed as many as 600 specific items, before his work
got eaten by insects!
•When it comes to Phu Thai Phin and Phu Thai Sepon varieties which
are spoken in Don Tan district (Mukdahan province), Chanuman
district (Amnat Charoen province) and Loeng Nok Tha district
(Yasothon province), they have not yet been documented.
•The names of those varieties link them to two Phu Thai original
locations (Romanized as Phine and Xépône in Laos), from which two
present-day districts of Savannakhet province have been named.
Two kinship terms used in Phu Thai Phin
and Phu Thai Sepon varieties
•In some Phu Thai Phin and Phu Thai Sepon varieties, [lɔ:jA1] refers to
the last child of a family or the last sibling of a group of brothers and
sisters.
•In this meaning, other Phu Thai varieties use [la:C1].
•In dialects in which [lɔ:jA1] means 'the last child of a family', [la:C1]
refers to the mother’s younger siblings before they get married.
Phu Thai Phin varieties of Northeast Thailand
and Phu Thai of present-day Phin (Laos)
•As Phu Thai varieties spoken in villages located around the present-
day headquarters of Phine district (Savannakhet province) show the
same semantic distribution of [lɔ:jA1] and [la:C1], the previous
example can be used to document a link between Phu Thai Phin
varieties in Northeast Thailand and the Phu Thai spoken in their
alleged original location in Laos.
Ethnic grouping and linguistic information?
A preliminary assessment
•A linguistic research linking Phu Thai ethnonyms containing one
toponym or another of Phu Thai original locations in Laos to the
varieties spoken by the concerned groups in Northeast Thailand may
thus yield some results (even if those are likely to be limited).
•Such a research helps assess the dialectal status of some Phu Thai
lexical items.
•For example, the collocation [ho:A1 kho:jC4], which means 'knee', is
used in Phu Thai Vang varieties only.
•If one does not find [ho:A1 kho:jC4] in another Phu Thai variety, it
does not mean that [ho:A1 kho:jC4] has been lost or that informants
are ignorant. The reason is rather that speakers of that given variety
never used [ho:A1 kho:jC4]!
About language loss
•The overall picture of Phu Thai depicts a situation of a language in contact.
•In the case of present-day Phu Thai, contacts with Lao, or rather Lao
varieties spoken in Central Laos and in Northeast Thailand, as well as with
Thai (often referred to as Central Thai), are obvious. Sociolinguists can thus
describe a Laoization for Phu Thai varieties spoken in Laos and Northeast
Thailand and even a 'Thai-ization' for Phu Thai varieties of Northeast
Thailand.
•That situation tends to be perceived in terms of language loss by local
scholars and elderly speakers.
•The personal view of the presenter is that one should be cautious before
saying that a language item is lost or used only by older generations!
When a pronoun is not so much endangered!
•Let us take the example of [khɔʔC1?] 'I (first person singular
pronoun)'.
•One can read in local descriptions that only elderly speakers
remember it.
•In some specific places where I collected Phu Thai data in Northeast
Thailand –whether the variety is a Phu Thai Vang variety (Ban
Ummao) or a Phu Thai Phin/Phu Thai Sepon variety (Don Tan district
or Chanuman district) –, this pronoun is still very much in use, and
one can even elicit it from young speakers (below 20).
•This pronoun is also commonly used by Phu Thai speakers in
Vilaboury district (Savannakhet province).
Before Phu Thai’s original
locations in Laos: before the
Laoization of Phu Thai
About the process of Laoization
•The process of Laoization should not be seen only as a synchronic
process occurring nowadays under our eyes, which sociolinguists can
thus observe and possibly follow step by step.
•According to Michel Ferlus (personal communication), that process
actually took place many generations before and is now completed.
A language such as Phu Thai, which has been in contact with Lao for
long –it had most likely been in contact already with Lao for many
generations at the time of the Lao king Chao Anou –, has now become
a mixed language, and some of its original features might have nearly
disappeared.
The coalescence of the DL column
•Among original features likely to have remained in Phu Thai, that
means which have not been Laoized, Michel Ferlus (2008: 306)
mentions the coalescence of the DL column, which is exceptional in
the Tai family.
•The coalescence of the DL column is specific to two Tai dialects of
Nghệ An, Tai Yo and Tai Muong, and can be used as a “linguistic
marker to follow migrations to Laos and Northeast Thailand”.
•Figure below: the tone box of Tai Yo (Ferlus, 2008: 305).
About Tai Yo and Tai Muong
•The Tai Yo ([tajA4 jɔ:C4]) “are mainly
localized in the present-day Quỳ Hợp, Quỳ
Châu and Quế Phong districts of Nghệ An
province, which appear to be their original
location” (Ferlus 2008: 299).
•The Tai Muong ([tajA4 mɯaŋA4]) live in
Tương Dương district. They are also known
as Tai Pao, after the Tai name (Nam Pao) of
the Sông Cà river. Vietnamese call them Tai
Hang Tong.
•On the right: a common map of Nghệ An
province with its present-day districts
http://investinvietnam.vn/report/parent-
region/89/122/Nghe-An.aspx
A homeland for the Phu Thai in Nghệ An?
•Michel Ferlus’ linguistic argument
points to a homeland in Nghệ An for
the ancestral language of present-day
Phu Thai varieties.
•According to Michel Ferlus (personal
communication), “before the forced
migration of Phu Thai from Laos to
Thailand”, we have to assume that “a
previous migration had taken place
from Vietnam to Laos”, or rather from
the Eastern side of the Annamite
Range to the Western side.
The historical scenario
•Concerning the origin of the Tai Yo dialect of Nghệ An, the scenario
proposed by Michel Ferlus (1993:87) is the following.
•“[…] these Tai people represent a Yay group who were forced out of
Southern China, settled in the Qui-Châu area, and were later
submerged by the migration of other Tai groups from Northern Laos”,
and also from the Tai Dam/Tai Don area.
•Among those “other Tai groups”, we have the present-day Tai Daeng –
who owe their ethnonym to “Mường Dèng” (Robert 1941: 8), the Tai
name of Yên Khương in Thanh Hóa (Degeorge 1927: 911).
Linking Phu Thai to the Tai dialects of Nghệ An
•Linguistically speaking, can we relate Phu Thai varieties, which we have
nowadays in Central Laos and Northeast Thailand, to Tai dialects of Nghệ
An, for which we have two representatives, Tai Yo and Tai Muong?
•To start with the coalescence of the DL column, the survey of Pojanee
Sritarat (1983: 163) shows that as many as 16 dialects among the 24
dialects she studied exhibit that feature.
•When there is a split in the DL column, it is mostly associated to the Phu
Thai Kapong and Phu Thai Kata varieties. A recent work by Mudjalin
Luksanawong (2008: 52) for a Phu Thai Kapong variety of Waritchaphum
district (Sakon Nakhon province) confirms that split.
•Another feature shared by Phu Thai varieties and the Tai dialects of Nghệ
An mentioned above is the evolution of ancient velar initials: *kh > h
([ha:A1] 'leg', [hɛ:nA1] 'arm', etc.) or *x > h ([hawC1] 'to enter', etc.).
Isolated PH dialects in non-PH areas?
•The main obstacle to relating Phu Thai to languages such as Tai Yo and
Tai Muong is that Phu Thai varieties have consonant systems of the
PH languages’ type.
•One can propose the following hypothesis: Phu Thai varieties would
stem from a PH language of that area.
•Then we would have a situation quite similar to what James R.
Chamberlain observed in the Tai Dam area.
“The dialect of Muang Vat is a PH language while all the rest of the
Black Tai speak a P dialect.” (Chamberlain 1991a:457)
A Northern Tai substratum
•However Tai Yo and Tai Muong cannot be compared to other P
languages such as Tai Dam.
•Tai Yo and Tai Muong are two representatives of a dialect continuum
in Nghệ An for which a significant Northern Tai substratum has been
identified (Ferlus 2008:308-309, and also Chamberlain 1991b).
•Tai Yo and Tai Muong’s consonant systems became close to P
languages’ consonant systems, most likely under the influence of Tai
Daeng.
•That assimilation to the P type could have been completed only
recently. According to Michel Ferlus (personal communication), who
consulted the unpublished materials left by Henri Maspéro, the
Proto-Tai voiced initials were not yet completely devoiced in Tai Yo at
the beginning of the 20th century.
Phu Thai is not the only PH language
with an ancestral language in Nghệ An!
•Furthermore, before making the assumption of a PH language in Tai Yo and Tai
Muong areas, we had better consider a larger picture of SWT languages linked
to Nghệ An.
•Phu Thai varieties are not the only PH languages which are likely to have an
ancestral language in Nghệ An.
•Nyo dialects of Northeast Thailand (such as the variety of Tha Uthen in
Nakhon Phanom Province) and Central Laos (Nyo varieties spoken in a few
villages of Hinboun and Khounkham districts, Khammouane province, and of
Khamkeuth District, Bolikhamxay province) can also be related to the Tai Yo of
Nghệ An, at least on the basis of their name (Nyo [ɲɔ:C4] is the Laoized form
of Yo [jɔ:C4]), and all of them are of the PH type.
The hypothesis of this presentation
about Tai dialects originating from Nghệ An
•Then another interpretation of the linguistic situation is to make the following
assumption –and this is the hypothesis of this presentation.
•The first Tai dialects of Nghệ An which left the Vietnamese side of the Annamite
Range (at least 300-400 years ago) got Laoized on the Lao side. One major aspect of
that Laoization is that their consonant systems became of the PH type.
•The dialects which remained on the Vietnamese side of the Annamite Range
developed consonant systems close to the P type under the influence of Tai Daeng.
•The dialects whose migrations are recent, such as Tai Mène (Chamberlain 1991b:
103), had already followed the second evolution at the time of their migrations.
I am adding here Tai Moei varieties spoken in Khamkeuth district (Bolikhamxay
province), which are P languages. They can be related to Tai Daeng and at the same
time they have specific features of Tai Yo (presenter’s field notes, with the help of
Tiengkham Chanthavyxay).
Towards a linguistic area with Saek …
•A picture of a linguistic area with language contacts starts emerging when we take
into account the presence of two more languages in the same area.
•The first one is Saek, and we actually follow here a suggestion by James R.
Chamberlain (1991a:457).
“In the 1972 paper, following the principle that areas of dialect diversity are older than
areas of dialect sameness […], I provided evidence that the location of greatest
Southwestern Tai diversity was along the Lao-Vietnamese border. Later, in 1984, I
proposed that this diversity was particularly evident in the provinces of Houa Phanh,
Xieng Khwang, Khammouan, Nghê An, and Thanh Hoá, and that it included the
Northern Branch languages as well, such as Saek […] and remnants of such languages as
in the Tai Mène dialect.”
•The Northern Tai substratum in Saek is not exactly the same as in Tai Yo.
•The consonant system of Saek has not been assimilated to any of the SWT types.
… and Tai Daeng
•The other language which has to be taken into
account in that linguistic area is Tai Daeng,
which, as already mentioned, is reputed to
have “submerged” the area (Ferlus 1993:87).
•Tai Daeng is a P language and shares many
linguistic features with the Tai Dam/Tai Don
area types.
•If Phu Thai varieties stem from a language of
the dialect continuum of Nghệ An, that
language is likely to have been in contact with
Tai Daeng before the migration of its speakers.
•On the right: map of Tai Dam, Tai Don and Tai
Daeng Settlements (Yukti Mukdawijitra 2011:
96)
Phu Thai and Saek
•Although one cannot identify a Northern Tai substratum in Phu Thai, some still
unexplained language items of Phu Thai can be found in Saek as well. Here are
two examples.
•[sapDS4] 'beautiful, handsome' is shared by Phu Thai Vang varieties and Saek
(Hudak 2010). This presentation proposes the following hypothesis: [sapDS4]
could be a Northern Tai cognate of [copDS2] 'good looking' (which is also used in
Phu Thai), in the same way as we have [kapDS2] in Saek as against [kopDS2] in
SWT.
•The previously mentioned preverbal [thomA4], expressing present continuous in
Phu Thai, has a cognate [thuamA4], with the same aspectual value, in the Saek
spoken at Ban Beuk (Nakay district, Khammouane province). [thomA4] can also
be found in the Tai Moei complex preverbal auxiliary [daŋA3 thomA4].
Phu Thai and Tai Daeng (1)
•Tai Daeng and a few varieties of Phu Thai share similar features in cognates.
•Some of those features can be related to the Tai Dam/Tai Don area as in the
following example.
•[metDS1] 'to be finished, all gone' is the form regularly used in Tai Daeng (Gedney
1989b: 430). Although another vowel ([mɤtDS1]) is found in most Phu Thai varieties,
the form [metDS1] with the same vowel as in Tai Daeng can be elicited from some
villages in Vilaboury and Atsaphone districts (Savannakhet province).
•Another example in which some Phu Thai varieties share the vowel [e] with Tai
Daeng is [theŋA4]'on, above'. The Tai Daeng cognate is [teŋA4]'on, above', with the
expected unaspirated initial in a P language. Most Phu Thai varieties have [thɤŋA4],
but [theŋA4]is used in a few villages of Khao Wong district (Kalasin province) as well
as in Ban Ummao.
Phu Thai and Tai Daeng (2)
•Some cognates are more specific to Phu Tai and Tai Daeng.
•[ʔetDS3]'to do' is used in most Phu Thai dialects and in Tai Daeng. In that
word, the initial consonant [ʔ]can be related to the initial of the Tai Yo (and
Tai Moei) form [ʔe:A4] and seems to be specific to the Tai linguistic area of
Nghệ An. Tai Daeng here does not agree with the Tai Dam and Tai Don form
[jetDS3] (Gedney 1989b: 457). [hitDS4] of Saek has the same initial
consonant as [hetDS4] of Lao.
•For 'tubers', a few Phu Thai varieties and Tai Daeng use [menA4] along with
[manA4]. We also find [menA4] in Tai Moei, while Tai Yo has [manA4]
together with [mɐnA4](Ferlus 2008:305).
Phu Thai and Tai Daeng (3)
•Most Phu Thai varieties share [khɤ:C1]'near' with Tai Daeng (Gedney
1989b: 456).
•The Phu Thai verb [jawA3] 'to cure' corresponds to the verbal use of
[ja:A3] in Tai Daeng.
-[mɔ:A1 jawA3]in Phu Thai refers to the traditional healer.
-[mɔ:A1 ja:A3], the Tai Daeng cognate of [mɔ:A1 jawA3], appears in
the corpus of J.-B. Degeorge (1927: 930). In that compound, present-
day Tai Daeng speakers of Thanh Hóa replace the Tai element [mɔ:A1]
'doctor, healer' by the Vietnamese word thầy 'teacher, competent
expert', which they pronounce [sajA4], hence [sajA4 ja:A3].
Phu Thai and Tai Daeng (4)
•A similar use of some function words in Phu Thai and Tai Daeng points
to earlier language contacts. The following example is worth
mentioning.
•Some varieties of Tai Daeng and Phu Thai use [kanA2] as the first
person singular pronoun (and not to express reciprocity).
•In varieties using [kanA2] as the first person singular pronoun,
[diawA3] –[de:wA3] in Phu Thai, [diawA3] or [liawA3] in Tai Daeng –
is used to denote the meaning of reciprocity.
•This presentation assumes that the Tai Yo and Tai Moei form [ka:A4]
corresponds to [kanA2]. While in Tai Yo [ka:A4] expresses reciprocity
(Ferlus 2008:309), in Tai Moei [ka:A4] is one of the available first
person singular pronouns.
Phu Thai, Tai Daeng and Saek (1)
•The following items are cognates shared by Phu Thai, Tai Daeng, Tai
Moei and Saek.
•Tai Daeng and Tai Moei make a distinction between the father’s
younger sister ([kuaC4]) and the wife of the father’s younger brother
([luaA4]in Tai Daeng and [luaA4 pɤ:C4]in Tai Moei). While Phu Thai
does not have any cognate for [kuaC4], some Phu Thai Vang dialects
have [lo:A4] 'wife of the father’s younger brother', the expected
cognate in Phu Thai. In this meaning, Saek has the related form
[luawA4].
Phu Thai, Tai Daeng and Saek (2)
•[sɯ:mA4]'dirty, disgusting', used in the Phu Thai village of Ban
Ummao, has its expected cognate ([cɯ:mA4]) in Tai Daeng and Tai
Moei. For the same meaning, Saek has [si:mA4].
•Phu Thai, Tai Daeng and also Tai Moei share the word [ŋenA4]'sun',
while Saek has [ɲɛnA4], as against Lao which has [wenA4].
Reconsidering [pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4],
[pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4] and [pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4]
•Are comparisons with other dialects of that tentative linguistic area
likely to give us any additional clue for the previously discussed Phu
Thai idiomatic phrases [pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4], [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4]
and [pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4], whose meaning is 'to go to the field'?
Phu Thai [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4]
and Tai Daeng [mɯaA4 na:A4]
•The cognate of [mɤ:A4] in Tai Daeng as well as in Lao is [mɯaA4]. In Lao,
[mɯaA4] means 'to return'.
•A specific meaning of [mɯaA4] in Tai Daeng is 'to go uphill', hence
[mɯaA4 na:A4] 'to go to a paddy field which is located uphill', as opposed
to [loŋA4 na:A4] 'to go to a paddy field which is located downhill'.
•If one relates Phu Thai [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4] to Tai Daeng [mɯaA4 na:A4],
the use of [pajA2] together with [mɤ:A4] can be interpreted as a case of
verbal serialization (comparable to đi đến in Vietnamese).
•However in Tai Daeng [pajA2 mɯaA4 na:A4] or [pajA2 mɯaA4 na:A4
pajA2] is mostly understood as an exhortation 'let us go and go up to the
paddy field!' and does not have the same meaning as [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4]
has in Phu Thai.
[pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4], [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4] or
[pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4] the Saek way!
•Now let us try to understand [pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4], [pajA2 mɤ:A4
na:A4] and [pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4] the Saek way.
•The variations in the pronunciation of the second syllable [mu:B1],
[mɤ:A4]or [mɤ:C1]–which Phu Thai speakers consider as devoid of
meaning –could reflect the various ways Phu Thai groups have
interpreted the Saek preposition of location [maʔDS1].
•[pajA2 mu:B1 na:A4], [pajA2 mɤ:A4 na:A4] and [pajA2 mɤ:C1 na:A4]
could thus be considered as 'Phu Thai-izations' of the Saek [pajA2
maʔDS1 na:A4] 'to go to the paddy field'.
The Phu Thai and the Bru
The Phu Thai and the Bru:
What kind of relationship?
•Whether in the Phu Thai’s original areas in Central Laos or in some of
their more recent locations in Northeast Thailand, one can find, along
with Phu Thai dialects, a few North Katuic dialects known locally as
Bru, So or Katang (Miller & Miller 1996: 256).
•James R. Chamberlain (2012) focusing on anthropological issues
describes “the Phou Thay –Brou relationship” as a “symbiosis” and
states that “the Phou Thay –Brou relationship has never evolved into
a feudal system”.
A nonreciprocal linguistic relationship
•From the synchronic point of view of sociolinguistics, the Phu Thai-
Bru relationship appears to be another case among numerous
nonreciprocal relationships which can be observed in MSEA.
•Whereas Bru (more specifically Bru Tri or Bru Katang in Laos) speakers
understand and speak Phu Thai, Phu Thai speakers do not know Bru
(Pacquement & Sipaseuth Phongphanith 2012: 134-135).
•Very few Phu Thai speakers can actually catch Bru language items,
and they will not use those to communicate. At the most, they will
repeat Bru words or sentences to have fun.
Nonreciprocal ethnonyms!
•When it comes to ethnonyms, we find the same nonreciprocal relationship.
•For the Phu Thai of Northeast Thailand, Bru and So are indistinctly called [kha:C1]
'slaves'.
•As for the designation 'So' [so:A4], it is not an autonym, and one will note that
[so:A4] also means 'bad' in Phu Thai. The So would thus be 'the bad (people)'!
•In modern Laos, Bru and Katang might not be called [kha:C1] 'slaves' any longer,
but there is nothing either precise or specific in their new official designation as
[la:wA4 thɤŋA4]'Midland Lao'.
•Bru speakers in Laos (Bru Tri, Bru Katang) refer to the Phu Thai as [kraj]/[karaj].
•Bru speakers thus make a distinction between the Phu Thai and the Lao, calling
the latter [liaw].
•The literal meaning of [kraj] being 'correct, right', one might comment this Bru
designation of the Phu Thai by comparing it to the previously mentioned Phu Thai
designation of the Bru as [so:A4] 'bad'!
Bru [kraj] and [karaj] < [kuaj raj]
•However, the terms [kraj] and [karaj] appear to stem from the
collocation [kuaj raj], in which [kuaj] means 'human being'.
Semantically speaking, [kuaj raj] corresponds to [phu:C1 thajA4]
'human beings (who are) Thai'.
•In any case, [kraj] and [karaj] appears to belong to a group of
ethnonyms identified as the “kəri:/kri: group from which derive
ethnonyms such as tai/thai, li/hlai and yi”(Ferlus 2006: 1).
•[kraj] and [karaj] can be related to [raj], which “in the language of the
Ödu/Ơdu (Khmuic, Nghệ An, Vietnam) refers to their Thái neighbors”
(Ferlus 2006: 1).
Phu Thai [mi:C1 dajC3] and Bru [tʌ: bə:n]
•One linguistic particularity of Phu Thai is that, in many varieties, one will
find the same verb for 'to have, there is' and 'to get, to obtain'.
•Whereas Thai, Lao and other SWT Tai languages have two verbs for those
meanings ([mi:A4] 'to have, there is' and [dajC3] 'to get, to obtain'), Phu
Thai uses only the verb [dajC3].
•In the same way, Bru, So or Katang varieties have only one verb [bə:n] for
'to have, there is' and 'to get, to obtain'.
•As a result, the negative phrase [mi:C1 dajC3] 'do not have, is not available'
([mi:C1] being the analysis of the Phu Thai negation by Sipaseuth
Phongphanith, a Phu Thai speaker from Atsaphone district), which is
commonly used in Phu Thai, is the semantical and syntactic counterpart of
[tʌ: bə:n] in Bru.
•If the Bru forms referred to here ([tʌ:] and [bə:n]) are from the Bru dialect
of Dong Luang (Mukdahan province), phonetically close cognates of [tʌ:]
and [bə:n] are found in other dialects.
Acknowledgements
•Michel Ferlus has contributed to this presentation by his numerous
comments.
•Sipaseuth Phongphanith, Arissa Nanok, Pimjai Chaiyajundee and others
have helped me collect Phu Thai data for many years. Tiengkham
Chanthavyxay has done the same for Tai Moei. Luon (Van Thongmany) is
still helping to make a Tai Daeng corpus.
•Roi Et Rajabhat University has sponsored my participation to this
conference. I got regular encouragements from Kochaporn (Kaewwieng)
Numnaphol, Sontaya Noivangklang and Sunchai Hamcumpai.
•Special thanks to Carolyn Miller, Ryan Gehrmann, Andrew Hsiu,
Thaithanawanh Keokaisone, Thongdy Treng and Lương Văn Bnh.
References (1)
•Chamberlain, James R. 1975, A new look at the history and classification of the Tai
languages. Studies in Tai Linguistics in Honor of William J. Gedney. Edited by
Jimmy G. Harris and James R. Chamberlain: 49-66. Central Institute of English
Language, Office of State Universities.
http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/chamberlain1975new.pdf
•Chamberlain, James R. 1984. The Tai Dialects of Khammouan Province: Their
Diversity and Origins. Science of Language Papers 4: 62-95. Bangkok :
Chulalongkorn University (Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts).
•Chamberlain, James R. 1991a. The efficacy of the P/PH distinction for Tai
Languages. The Ram Khamhaeng Controversy. Edited by James R. Chamberlain:
453-486. The Siam Society.
http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/chamberlain1991efficacy.pdf
References (2)
•Chamberlain, James R. 1991b. Mène: a Tai Dialect Originally Spoken in Nghê An
(Nghê Tinh), Vietnam: Preliminary Linguistic Observations and Historical
Implications. Journal of the Siam Society 79.2: 103-123. http://www.siamese-
heritage.org/jsspdf/1991/JSS_079_2j_Chamberlain_MeneTaiDialect.pdf
•Chamberlain, James R. 2012. Phou Thay and Brou Symbiosis. International
Workshop: Peoples and Cultures of the Central Annamite Cordillera: Ethnographic
and Ethno‐Historical Contributions –Towards a Comparative and Inter-
Disciplinary Dialogue. Institute of Anthropology and Religion (Laos) and University
of Gothenburg (Sweden), Vientiane.
•Degeorge J.-B. 1927. Proverbes, maximes et sentences Tays. Anthropos Bd. 22, H.
5./6. (Sep. - Dec., 1927): 911-932. (in French)
References (3)
•Ferlus, Michel. 1993. Phonétique et écriture du Tai de Qui Châu (Vietnam).
Cahiers de Linguistique - Asie Orientale 22.1: 87-106.
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/clao_0153-
3320_1993_num_22_1_1432
•Ferlus, Michel. 2006. Sur l'origine de quelques ethnonymes : tai/thai, li/hlai, yi,
gelao, lao, ... (Chine du Sud, Asie du Sud-Est). XXèmes Journées de Linguistique
Asie Orientale, Jun 2006, Paris, France. <halshs-00932875> (in French)
https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00932875
•Ferlus, Michel. 2008. The Tai Dialects of Nghệ An, Vietnam (Tay Daeng, Tay Yo, Tay
Muong). The Tai-Kadai Languages, edited by Anthony V.N. Diller, Jerold A.
Edmondson and Yongxian Luo, 298-316. London and New York, Routledge. (in
French)
References (4)
•Gedney, William J. 1989a. A checklist for determining tones in Tai dialects. Selected
Papers on Comparative Tai Studies. Edited by R.J. Bickner et al.: 191-206. Center for
South and Southeast Asian studies, the University of Michigan.
http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/gedney1989checklist.pdf
•Gedney, William J. 1989b. A comparative sketch of White, Black, and Red Tai. Selected
Papers on Comparative Tai Studies. Edited by R.J. Bickner et al.: 415-462. Center for
South and Southeast Asian studies, the University of Michigan.
http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/gedney1989comparative.pdf
•Hartmann, John. 1984. Linguistic and Historical Continuities of the Tai Dam and Lao
Phuan: Case Studies in Boundary Crossings. 14th Meeting of the Southeast Asian
Linguistics Society (SEALS 14), May 2004, Bangkok.
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/hartmann/hartmann/SEALS%20XIV%20Presentation.doc
References (5)
•Hudak, Thomas John. 2010. William J. Gedney’s Concise Saek-English English-Saek
Lexicon. Edited with an introduction by Thomas John Hudak. Oceanic Linguistics
Special Publications No. 37. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
•Malglaive & Rivière. 1902. Mission Pavie Indo-Chine 1879-1895. Géographie et
voyages IV. Voyages au centre de l’Annam et du Laos et dans les régions sauvages
de l’est de l’Indo-Chine par le Capitaine de Malglaive et le Capitaine Rivière.
Introductions par Auguste Pavie. Paris : Ernest Leroux. (in French)
•Miller, John & Miller, Carolyn. 1996. Lexical comparison of Katuic Mon-Khmer
languages with special focus on So-Bru groups in Northeast Thailand. The Mon-
Khmer Studies Journal 26:255-290. http://sealang.net/archives/mks/pdf/26:255-
290.pdf
References (6)
•Mudjalin Luksanawong. 2008. A comparative Lexical Study of Tai
Dialects in Sakon Nakhon Province. MA thesis. Silpakorn University.
(in Thai)
•Pacquement, Jean & Sipaseuth Phongphanith. 2012. Multilinguisme,
plurilinguisme et compétence linguistique chez les Phu Thaï du centre
du Laos et du nord-est de la Thaïlande : le cas des étudiants phu thaï
de l’Université de Savannakhet. Synergies Pays Riverains du Mékong,
4: 129-139
•Pojanee Sritarat. 1983. A Tonal Comparison of Phuthai Dialect in
Three Provinces. MA thesis. Mahidol University. (in Thai)
References (7)
•Rochini Khonharn. 2003. A Study of Basic Vocabularies in Phuthai : A Historical
Linguistic Approach. MA thesis. Mahasarakham University. (in Thai)
•Robert, R. 1941. Notes sur les Tay Dèng de Lang Chánh (Thanh-hoá –Annam).
Institut Indochinois pour l’Etude de L’Homme (Mémoire N°1). Hanoi:
Imprimerie d’Extrême-Orient.
•Simons, Gary F. & Fennig, Charles D. (Ed.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the
World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version:
http://www.ethnologue.com.
References (8)
•Smalley, William A. 1994. Language Diversity and National Unity: Language
Ecology in Thailand. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press.
•Suwilai Premsrirat et al. 2004. Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand. Bangkok:
Office of the Cultural Commission of Thailand. (in Thai)
http://www.langrevival.mahidol.ac.th/book/Ethnolinguistic%20maps%20of%2
0Thailand.html
•Yukti Mukdawijitra. 2011. Language Ideologies of Ethnic Orthography in a
Multilingual State: the Case of Ethnic Thái Orthographies in Vietnam. Journal
of Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 4.2: 92-119.
http://www.jseals.org/JSEALS-4-2.pdf