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Kra–Dai languages

November 03, 2023

The Kra–Dai languages (/ˈkrɑː.daɪ/ KRAH-dy, also known as Tai–Kadai /ˈtaɪ.kəˌdaɪ/ TIE-kə-DYE and Daic /ˈdaɪ.ɪk/ DYE-ik), are a language family in Mainland Southeast Asia, Southern China and Northeastern India. All languages in the family are tonal, including Thai and Lao, the national languages of Thailand and Laos, respectively.[1] Around 93 million people speak Kra–Dai languages; 60% of those speak Thai.[2] Ethnologue lists 95 languages in the family, with 62 of these being in the Tai branch.[3]

Kra–Dai
Tai–Kadai, Daic
EthnicityDaic people
Geographic
distribution		Southern China, Hainan Island,
Indochina, and Northeast India
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
Proto-languageProto-Kra–Dai
Subdivisions
Glottologtaik1256
Distribution of the Tai–Kadai language family.

Names edit

The name "Kra–Dai" was proposed by Weera Ostapirat (2000), as Kra and Dai are the reconstructed autonyms of the Kra and Tai branches respectively.[4] "Kra–Dai" has since been used by the majority of specialists working on Southeast Asian linguistics, including Norquest (2007),[5] Pittayaporn (2009),[6][7] Baxter & Sagart (2014)[8] and Enfield & Comrie (2015).[9]

The name "Tai–Kadai" is used in many references, as well as Ethnologue and Glottolog, but Ostapirat (2000) and others suggest that it is problematic and confusing, preferring the name "Kra–Dai" instead.[4] "Tai–Kadai" comes from an obsolete bifurcation of the family into two branches, Tai and Kadai, which had first been proposed by Paul K. Benedict (1942).[10] In 1942, Benedict placed three Kra languages (Gelao, Laqua (Qabiao) and Lachi) together with Hlai in a group that he called "Kadai", from ka, meaning "person" in Gelao and Laqua (Qabiao) and Dai, a form of a Hlai autonym.[10] Benedict's (1942) "Kadai" group was based on his observation that Kra and Hlai languages have Austronesian-like numerals. However, this classification is now universally rejected as obsolete after Ostapirat (2000) demonstrated the coherence of the Kra branch, which does not subgroup with the Hlai branch as Benedict (1942) had proposed. "Kadai" is sometimes used to refer to the entire Kra–Dai family, including by Solnit (1988).[11][12] Adding to the confusion, some other references restrict the usage of "Kadai" to only the Kra branch of the family.

The name "Daic" is used by Roger Blench (2008).[13]

Origin edit

 
Tai-Kadai migration route according to Matthias Gerner's Northeast to Southwest Hypothesis.[14]

James R. Chamberlain (2016) proposes that the Tai-Kadai (Kra-Dai) language family was formed as early as the 12th century BCE in the middle of the Yangtze basin, coinciding roughly with the establishment of the Chu fiefdom and the beginning of the Zhou dynasty.[15] The high diversity of Kra–Dai languages in Southern China points to the origin of the Kra–Dai language family in Southern China. The Tai branch moved south into Southeast Asia only around 1000 AD. Genetic and linguistic analyses show great homogeneity among Kra–Dai-speaking people in Thailand.[16]

Although the position of Kra-Dai in relation to Austronesian is still contested, some propose that Kra-Dai and Austronesian are genetically connected. Weera Ostapirat (2005) sets out a series of regular sound correspondences between them, assuming a model of a primary split between the two; they would then be co-ordinate branches.[17] Weera Ostapirat (2013) continues to maintain that Kra-Dai and Austronesian are sister languages, based on some phonological correspondences.[18] On the other hand, Laurent Sagart (2008) proposes that Kra-Dai is a later form of FATK,[a] a branch of Austronesian belonging to subgroup Puluqic developed in Taiwan, whose speakers migrated back to the mainland, both to Guangdong, Hainan and north Vietnam around the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE.[19] Upon their arrival in this region, they underwent linguistic contact with an unknown population, resulting in a partial relexification of FATK vocabulary.[20] If Sagart's theory that Kra-Dai being a sub-group of proto-Austronesian migrated out of Taiwan and back to the coastal regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and (possibly) Vietnam is right, they would simply not have had a development resembling anything like the fate of other proto-Austronesian languages that migrated out of Taiwan to the Philippines and other islands in Southeast Asia.[21] Besides various concrete evidences for a Kra-Dai existence in the present-day Guangdong, remnants of Kra–Dai languages spoken further north can be found in unearthed inscriptional materials and non-Han substrata in Min- and Wu Chinese.

Wolfgang Behr (2002, 2006, 2009, 2017)[22][23][24] points out that most of non-Sinitic words found in Chu inscriptional materials are of Kra-Dai origin. For example, the Chu graph for "one, once" written as   (? < OC *nnəŋ) in the E jun qijie 鄂君啟筯 bronze tally and in Warring States bamboo inscriptions, which represents a Kra-Dai areal word; compare proto-Tai *hnïŋ = *hnɯŋ (Siamese 22nɯŋ, Dai 33nɯŋ, Longzhou nəəŋA etc.) "one, once".[25]

In the early 1980s, Wei Qingwen (韦庆稳), a Zhuang linguist, proposed that the Old Yue language recorded in the "Song of the Yue Boatman" is in fact a language ancestral to Zhuang.[26] Wei used reconstructed Old Chinese for the characters and discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to modern Zhuang.[27] Later, Zhengzhang Shangfang (1991) followed Wei’s insight but used Thai script for comparison, since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms not found in modern pronunciation.[27][28] Zhengzhang notes that 'evening, night, dark' bears the C tone in Wuming Zhuang xamC2 and ɣamC2 'night'. The item raa normally means 'we inclusive' but in some places, e.g. Tai Lue and White Tai 'I'.[29] However, Laurent Sagart criticizes Zhengzhang's interpretation as anachronistic, because however archaic that Thai script is, the Thai language was only written 2000 years after the song had been recorded; even if the Proto-Kam-Tai had emerged by the 6th century BCE, its pronunciation would have been substantially different from Thai.[30]

 
Map of the Chinese plain at the start of the Warring States Period in the 5th century BC.

Internal classification edit

 
Example of the divergence among the Kra-Dai Languages, using the word for "tooth".

Kra–Dai consists of at least five well established branches, namely Kra, Kam–Sui, Tai, Be and Hlai (Ostapirat 2005:109).

Tai
Southern China and Southeast Asia
Kra
Southern China, Northern Vietnam; called Kadai in Ethnologue and Geyang (仡央) in Chinese
Kam–Sui
Guizhou and Guangxi, China
Be
Hainan; possibly also includes Jizhao of Guangdong
Hlai
Hainan

Chinese linguists have also proposed a Kam–Tai group that includes Kam–Sui, Tai and Be.[31][32]

Kra–Dai languages that are not securely classified and may constitute independent Kra–Dai branches, include the following.

  • Lakkia and Biao, which may or may not subgroup with each other, are difficult to classify due to aberrant vocabulary, but are sometimes classified as sisters of Kam–Sui (Solnit 1988).[11]
  • Jiamao of Southern Hainan, China is an aberrant Kra–Dai language traditionally classified as a Hlai language, although Jiamao contains many words of non-Hlai origin.
  • Jizhao of Guangdong, China is currently unclassified within Kra–Dai, but appears to be most closely related to Be (Ostapirat 1998).[33]

Kra–Dai languages of mixed origins are:

Edmondson and Solnit (1988) edit

An early but influential classification, with the traditional Kam–Tai clade, was Edmondson and Solnit's classification from 1988:[12][34]

This classification is also used by Liang and Zhang (1996),[35] Chamberlain (2016: 38),[36] and Ethnologue, though by 2009 Lakkia was made a third branch of Kam–Tai and Biao was moved into Kam–Sui.

Ostapirat (2005); Norquest (2007) edit

Weera Ostapirat (2005:128) suggests the possibility of Kra and Kam–Sui being grouped together as Northern Kra–Dai and Hlai with Tai as Southern Kra–Dai.[37] Norquest (2007) has further updated this classification to include Lakkia and Be. Norquest notes that Lakkia shares some similarities with Kam–Sui, while Be shares some similarities with Tai. Norquest (2007:15) notes that Be shares various similarities with Northern Tai languages in particular.[5] Following Ostapirat, Norquest adopts the name Kra–Dai for the family as a whole. The following tree of Kra–Dai is from Norquest (2007:16).

Additionally, Norquest (2007) also proposes a reconstruction for Proto-Southern Kra–Dai.

Norquest (2015, 2020) edit

A classification of Kra–Dai by Norquest (2015, 2020) is provided as follows.[38][39]

Norquest (2021) edit

Based on shared lexical innovations, Norquest (2021) significantly revised his classification of Kra–Dai. Together, Biao and Lakkja the most divergent subgroup of Kra–Dai. Be–Tai and Hlai are placed together as part of a Hlai–Tai group.[40]

Hypotheses regarding external relationships edit

Austro-Tai edit

Main article: Austro-Tai languages
 
Proposed genesis of Daic languages and their relation with Austronesian languages (Blench, 2018)[41]

Several scholars have presented evidence that Kra–Dai may be related to, or even be a branch of the Austronesian language family.[42] There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary displaying regular sound correspondences. Among proponents, there is yet no agreement as to whether they are a sister group to Austronesian in a family called Austro-Tai, a back-migration from Taiwan to the mainland or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion.[18]

The inclusion of Japanese in the Austro-Tai family, as proposed by Paul K. Benedict in the late 20th century,[43] is not supported by the current proponents of the Austro-Tai hypothesis.

Sino-Tai edit

The Kra–Dai languages were formerly considered to be part of the Sino-Tibetan family, partly because they contain large numbers of words that are similar to Sino-Tibetan languages. However, Western scholars generally consider them to be Sinitic loanwords and note that basic vocabulary words in Kra–Dai languages often have cognates with Austronesian instead.[37] Outside China, the Kra–Dai languages are now classified as an independent family. In China, they are called Dong–Tai (侗台) or Zhuang–Dong (壮侗) languages and are generally included, along with the Hmong–Mien languages, in the Sino-Tibetan family.[44]

Hmong-Mien edit

Kosaka (2002) argued specifically for a Miao–Dai family. Based on proposed lexical cognates, he argues for a genetic relation between Hmong–Mien and Kra–Dai languages. He further suggests that similarities between Kra–Dai and Austronesian are due to later areal contact in the coastal areas of Eastern and Southeastern China or an older ancestral relation (Proto-East Asian).[45]

Japonic edit

Vovin (2014) proposed that the location of the Japonic Urheimat (linguistic homeland) is in Southern China. Vovin argues for typological evidence that Proto-Japanese may have been a monosyllabic, SVO syntax and isolating language, which are also characteristic of Kra–Dai languages. According to him, these common features are however not due to a genetic relationship, but rather the result of intense contact.[46]

Reconstruction edit

Main article: Proto-Kra–Dai language

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Formosan ancestor of Tai-Kadai.

References edit

  1. ^ Diller, Anthony, Jerry Edmondson, Yongxian Luo. (2008). The Tai–Kadai Languages. London [etc.]: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-1457-5
  2. ^ "Taikadai". www.languagesgulper.com. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  3. ^ "Ethnologue Tai–Kadai family tree".
  4. ^ a b Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "Proto-Kra." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 23 (1): 1–251.
  5. ^ a b Norquest, Peter K. 2007. A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
  6. ^ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University
  7. ^ Peter Jenks and Pittayawat Pittayaporn. Kra-Dai Languages. Oxford Bibliographies in "Linguistics", Ed. Mark Aranoff. New York: Oxford University Press.
  8. ^ Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent (2014), Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-994537-5.
  9. ^ N. J. Enfield and B. Comrie, Eds. 2015. Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The State of the Art. Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter.
  10. ^ a b Benedict, Paul K. (1942). "Thai, Kadai, and Indonesian: A New Alignment in Southeastern Asia". American Anthropologist. 44 (4): 576–601. doi:10.1525/aa.1942.44.4.02a00040. JSTOR 663309.
  11. ^ a b Solnit, David B. 1988. "The position of Lakkia within Kadai." In Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai, Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.). pages 219–238. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington.
  12. ^ a b Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1988. Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vii, 374 p.
  13. ^ Blench, Roger. 2008. The Prehistory of the Daic (Tai-Kadai) Speaking Peoples 2019-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. Presented at the 12th EURASEAA meeting Leiden, 1–5 September 2008. (PPT slides)
  14. ^ Gerner, Matthias (2014). Project Discussion: The Austro-Tai Hypothesis (PDF). The 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14). p. 158.
  15. ^ Chamberlain, James R. (2016). "Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam", pp. 27–77. In Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 104, 2016.
  16. ^ Srithawong, Suparat; Srikummool, Metawee; Pittayaporn, Pittayawat; Ghirotto, Silvia; Chantawannakul, Panuwan; Sun, Jie; Eisenberg, Arthur; Chakraborty, Ranajit; Kutanan, Wibhu (July 2015). "Genetic and linguistic correlation of the Kra-Dai-speaking groups in Thailand". Journal of Human Genetics. 60 (7): 371–380. doi:10.1038/jhg.2015.32. ISSN 1435-232X. PMID 25833471. S2CID 21509343.
  17. ^ Blench 2017, p. 11.
  18. ^ a b Ostapirat 2013, pp. 1–10.
  19. ^ Sagart 2008, pp. 146–152.
  20. ^ Sagart 2008, p. 151.
  21. ^ Brindley 2015, p. 51.
  22. ^ Behr 2002.
  23. ^ Behr 2006.
  24. ^ Behr 2009.
  25. ^ Behr 2017, p. 12.
  26. ^ Holm 2013, p. 785.
  27. ^ a b Edmondson 2007, p. 16.
  28. ^ Zhengzhang 1991, pp. 159–168.
  29. ^ Edmondson 2007, p. 17.
  30. ^ Sagart 2008, p. 143.
  31. ^ Liang Min 梁敏 & Zhang Junru 张均如. 1996. Dongtai yuzu gailun 侗台语族概论 / An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社. ISBN 9787500416814
  32. ^ Ni Dabai 倪大白. 1990. Dongtai yu gailun 侗台语概论 / An introduction to the Kam-Tai languages. Beijing: Central Nationalities Research Institute Press 中央民族学院出版社.
  33. ^ Ostapirat, W. (1998). A Mainland Bê Language? / 大陆的Bê语言？. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 26(2), 338–344
  34. ^ Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vi, 382 p.
  35. ^ Liang Min & Zhang Junru. 1996. An introduction to the Kam-Tai languages. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press.
  36. ^ Chamberlain, James R. 2016. Kra-Dai and the proto-history of South China and Vietnam. Journal of the Siam Society 104. 27–77.
  37. ^ a b Ostapirat, Weera. (2005). "Kra–Dai and Austronesian: Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution", pp. 107–131 in Sagart, Laurent, Blench, Roger & Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia (eds.), The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. London/New York: Routledge-Curzon.
  38. ^ Norquest, Peter (2015-09-29). A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004300521. hdl:10150/194203. ISBN 978-90-04-30052-1.
  39. ^ Norquest, Peter. 2020. A Hypothesis on the Origin of Preglottalized Sonorants in Kra-Dai. 38th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. Vancouver: Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia. doi:10.14288/1.0389866
  40. ^ Norquest, Peter (2021). "Classification of (Tai-)Kadai/Kra-Dai languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 225–246. doi:10.1515/9783110558142-013. ISBN 9783110558142. S2CID 238672319.
  41. ^ Blench, Roger (2018). Tai-Kadai and Austronesian are Related at Multiple Levels and their Archaeological Interpretation (draft). The volume of cognates between Austronesian and Daic, notably in fundamental vocabulary, is such that they must be related. Borrowing can be excluded as an explanation
  42. ^ Sagart, Laurent (2004). "The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai–Kadai" (PDF). Oceanic Linguistics. 43 (2): 411–440. doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0012. S2CID 49547647.
  43. ^ Benedict, Paul K. (1990). Japanese/Austro-Tai. Karoma. ISBN 978-0-89720-078-3.
  44. ^ Luo, Yongxian. 2008. Sino-Tai and Tai-Kadai: Another look. In Anthony V. N. Diller and Jerold A. Edmondson and Yongxian Luo (eds.), The Tai-Kadai Languages, 9–28. London & New York: Routledge.
  45. ^ Kosaka, Ryuichi. 2002. "On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao-Dai family." Mon-Khmer Studies 32:71–100.
  46. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2014). Out Of Southern China? --some linguistic and philological musings on the possible Urheimat of the Japonic language family-- XXVIIes Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale 26–27 juin 2014.

Sources edit

  • Behr, Wolfgang (2017). "The language of the bronze inscriptions". In Shaughnessy, Edward L. (ed.). Kinship: Studies of Recently Discovered Bronze Inscritpions from Ancient China. The Chinese University Press of Hong Kong. pp. 9–32. ISBN 978-9-629-96639-3.
  • ——— (2009). "Dialects, diachrony, diglossia or all three? Tomb text glimpses into the language(s) of Chǔ". TTW-3, Zürich, 26.-29.VI.2009, "Genius Loci": 1–48.
  • ——— (2006). "Some Chŭ 楚 words in early Chinese literature". EACL-4, Budapest: 1–21.
  • ——— (2002). "Stray loanword gleanings from two Ancient Chinese fictional texts". 16e Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale, Centre de Recherches Linguistiques Sur l'Asie Orientale (E.H.E.S.S.), Paris: 1–6.
  • Blench, Roger. 2004. Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology? Paper for the Symposium "Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan: genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence". Geneva June 10–13, 2004. Université de Genève.
  • Blench, Roger (2017) [2015]. "Origins of Ethnolinguistic Identity in Southeast Asia" (PDF). In Habu, Junko; Lape, Peter; Olsen, John (eds.). Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology. Springer. ISBN 978-1-493-96521-2.
  • Brindley, Erica F. (2015). Ancient China and the Yue. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-08478-0.
  • Edmondson, J.A. and D.B. Solnit eds. 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. ISBN 0-88312-066-6
  • Edmondson, Jerold A. (2007). (PDF). Studies in Southeast Asian Languages and Linguistics, Jimmy G. Harris, Somsonge Burusphat and James e. Harris, ed. Bangkok, Thailand: Ek Phim Thai Co. LTD.: 1–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  • Holm, David (2014). "A Layer of Old Chinese Readings in the Traditional Zhuang Script". Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 79: 1–45.
  • ——— (2013). Mapping the Old Zhuang Character Script: A Vernacular Writing System from Southern China. BRILL. ISBN 978-9-004-22369-1.
  • Li, Hui (2001). (PDF). Proceedings for Conference of Minority Cultures in Hainan and Taiwan, Haikou: Research Society for Chinese National History: 15–26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  • Ostapirat, Weera (2013). "Austro-Tai revisited" (PDF). Plenary Session 2: Going Beyond History: Reassessing Genetic Grouping in SEA the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, May 29–31, 2013, Chulalongkorn University: 1–10.
  • Sagart, Laurent (2008). "The expansion of Setaria farmers in East Asia". In Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia; Blench, Roger; Ross, Malcolm D.; Peiros, Ilia; Lin, Marie (eds.). Past Human Migrations in East Asia: Matching Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics (Routledge Studies in the Early History of Asia) 1st Edition. Routledge. pp. 133–157. ISBN 978-0-415-39923-4.
  • Zhengzhang, Shangfang (1991). "Decipherment of Yue-Ren-Ge (Song of the Yue boatman)". Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale. 20 (2): 159–168. doi:10.3406/clao.1991.1345.

Further reading edit

  • Chamberlain, James R. (2016). Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam. Journal of the Siam Society, 104, 27-76.
  • Diller, A., J. Edmondson, & Yongxian Luo, ed., (2005). The Tai–Kadai languages. London [etc.]: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1457-X
  • Edmondson, J. A. (1986). Kam tone splits and the variation of breathiness.
  • Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (eds.) (1988). Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. Arlington, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 0-88312-066-6
  • Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families. 2019-03-24 at the Wayback Machine Chiang Mai: Payap University.
  • Norquest, Peter (2021). "Classification of (Tai-)Kadai/Kra-Dai languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 225–246. doi:10.1515/9783110558142-013. ISBN 9783110558142. S2CID 238672319.
  • Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "Proto-Kra." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 23 (1): 1-251.
  • Somsonge Burusphat, & Sinnott, M. (1998). Kam–Tai oral literatures: collaborative research project between. Salaya Nakhon Pathom, Thailand: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University. ISBN 974-661-450-9

External links edit

  • Tai–Kadai word lists by Ilya Peiros (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)
  • StarLing: Tai–Kadai 100-word lists and etymology
    • StarLing: Zhuang–Tai 100-word lists and etymology
    • StarLing: Kam–Sui 100-word lists and etymology
  • Appendix:Kra–Dai Swadesh lists (from Wiktionary's Swadesh list appendix)
  • Kra–Dai vocabulary lists (from Wiktionary's Vocabulary lists appendix)

November 03, 2023
languages, ɑː, krah, also, known, kadai, daic, language, family, mainland, southeast, asia, southern, china, northeastern, india, languages, family, tonal, including, thai, national, languages, thailand, laos, respectively, around, million, people, speak, thos. The Kra Dai languages ˈ k r ɑː d aɪ KRAH dy also known as Tai Kadai ˈ t aɪ k e ˌ d aɪ TIE ke DYE and Daic ˈ d aɪ ɪ k DYE ik are a language family in Mainland Southeast Asia Southern China and Northeastern India All languages in the family are tonal including Thai and Lao the national languages of Thailand and Laos respectively 1 Around 93 million people speak Kra Dai languages 60 of those speak Thai 2 Ethnologue lists 95 languages in the family with 62 of these being in the Tai branch 3 Kra DaiTai Kadai DaicEthnicityDaic peopleGeographicdistributionSouthern China Hainan Island Indochina and Northeast IndiaLinguistic classificationOne of the world s primary language familiesProto languageProto Kra DaiSubdivisionsKra Kam Sui Lakkia Biao Be Jizhao Tai HlaiGlottologtaik1256Distribution of the Tai Kadai language family Kra Kam Sui Be Hlai Northern Tai Central Tai Southwestern Tai Contents 1 Names 2 Origin 3 Internal classification 3 1 Edmondson and Solnit 1988 3 2 Ostapirat 2005 Norquest 2007 3 3 Norquest 2015 2020 3 4 Norquest 2021 4 Hypotheses regarding external relationships 4 1 Austro Tai 4 2 Sino Tai 4 3 Hmong Mien 4 4 Japonic 5 Reconstruction 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksNames editThe name Kra Dai was proposed by Weera Ostapirat 2000 as Kra and Dai are the reconstructed autonyms of the Kra and Tai branches respectively 4 Kra Dai has since been used by the majority of specialists working on Southeast Asian linguistics including Norquest 2007 5 Pittayaporn 2009 6 7 Baxter amp Sagart 2014 8 and Enfield amp Comrie 2015 9 The name Tai Kadai is used in many references as well as Ethnologue and Glottolog but Ostapirat 2000 and others suggest that it is problematic and confusing preferring the name Kra Dai instead 4 Tai Kadai comes from an obsolete bifurcation of the family into two branches Tai and Kadai which had first been proposed by Paul K Benedict 1942 10 In 1942 Benedict placed three Kra languages Gelao Laqua Qabiao and Lachi together with Hlai in a group that he called Kadai from ka meaning person in Gelao and Laqua Qabiao and Dai a form of a Hlai autonym 10 Benedict s 1942 Kadai group was based on his observation that Kra and Hlai languages have Austronesian like numerals However this classification is now universally rejected as obsolete after Ostapirat 2000 demonstrated the coherence of the Kra branch which does not subgroup with the Hlai branch as Benedict 1942 had proposed Kadai is sometimes used to refer to the entire Kra Dai family including by Solnit 1988 11 12 Adding to the confusion some other references restrict the usage of Kadai to only the Kra branch of the family The name Daic is used by Roger Blench 2008 13 Origin edit nbsp Tai Kadai migration route according to Matthias Gerner s Northeast to Southwest Hypothesis 14 James R Chamberlain 2016 proposes that the Tai Kadai Kra Dai language family was formed as early as the 12th century BCE in the middle of the Yangtze basin coinciding roughly with the establishment of the Chu fiefdom and the beginning of the Zhou dynasty 15 The high diversity of Kra Dai languages in Southern China points to the origin of the Kra Dai language family in Southern China The Tai branch moved south into Southeast Asia only around 1000 AD Genetic and linguistic analyses show great homogeneity among Kra Dai speaking people in Thailand 16 Although the position of Kra Dai in relation to Austronesian is still contested some propose that Kra Dai and Austronesian are genetically connected Weera Ostapirat 2005 sets out a series of regular sound correspondences between them assuming a model of a primary split between the two they would then be co ordinate branches 17 Weera Ostapirat 2013 continues to maintain that Kra Dai and Austronesian are sister languages based on some phonological correspondences 18 On the other hand Laurent Sagart 2008 proposes that Kra Dai is a later form of FATK a a branch of Austronesian belonging to subgroup Puluqic developed in Taiwan whose speakers migrated back to the mainland both to Guangdong Hainan and north Vietnam around the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE 19 Upon their arrival in this region they underwent linguistic contact with an unknown population resulting in a partial relexification of FATK vocabulary 20 If Sagart s theory that Kra Dai being a sub group of proto Austronesian migrated out of Taiwan and back to the coastal regions of Guangdong Guangxi Hainan and possibly Vietnam is right they would simply not have had a development resembling anything like the fate of other proto Austronesian languages that migrated out of Taiwan to the Philippines and other islands in Southeast Asia 21 Besides various concrete evidences for a Kra Dai existence in the present day Guangdong remnants of Kra Dai languages spoken further north can be found in unearthed inscriptional materials and non Han substrata in Min and Wu Chinese Wolfgang Behr 2002 2006 2009 2017 22 23 24 points out that most of non Sinitic words found in Chu inscriptional materials are of Kra Dai origin For example the Chu graph for one once written as nbsp lt OC nneŋ in the E jun qijie 鄂君啟筯 bronze tally and in Warring States bamboo inscriptions which represents a Kra Dai areal word compare proto Tai hniŋ hnɯŋ Siamese 22nɯŋ Dai 33nɯŋ Longzhou neeŋA etc one once 25 In the early 1980s Wei Qingwen 韦庆稳 a Zhuang linguist proposed that the Old Yue language recorded in the Song of the Yue Boatman is in fact a language ancestral to Zhuang 26 Wei used reconstructed Old Chinese for the characters and discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to modern Zhuang 27 Later Zhengzhang Shangfang 1991 followed Wei s insight but used Thai script for comparison since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms not found in modern pronunciation 27 28 Zhengzhang notes that evening night dark bears the C tone in Wuming Zhuang xamC2 and ɣamC2 night The item raa normally means we inclusive but in some places e g Tai Lue and White Tai I 29 However Laurent Sagart criticizes Zhengzhang s interpretation as anachronistic because however archaic that Thai script is the Thai language was only written 2000 years after the song had been recorded even if the Proto Kam Tai had emerged by the 6th century BCE its pronunciation would have been substantially different from Thai 30 nbsp Map of the Chinese plain at the start of the Warring States Period in the 5th century BC Internal classification edit nbsp Example of the divergence among the Kra Dai Languages using the word for tooth Kra Dai consists of at least five well established branches namely Kra Kam Sui Tai Be and Hlai Ostapirat 2005 109 Tai Southern China and Southeast Asia Kra Southern China Northern Vietnam called Kadai in Ethnologue and Geyang 仡央 in Chinese Kam Sui Guizhou and Guangxi China Be Hainan possibly also includes Jizhao of Guangdong Hlai HainanChinese linguists have also proposed a Kam Tai group that includes Kam Sui Tai and Be 31 32 Kra Dai languages that are not securely classified and may constitute independent Kra Dai branches include the following Lakkia and Biao which may or may not subgroup with each other are difficult to classify due to aberrant vocabulary but are sometimes classified as sisters of Kam Sui Solnit 1988 11 Jiamao of Southern Hainan China is an aberrant Kra Dai language traditionally classified as a Hlai language although Jiamao contains many words of non Hlai origin Jizhao of Guangdong China is currently unclassified within Kra Dai but appears to be most closely related to Be Ostapirat 1998 33 Kra Dai languages of mixed origins are Hezhang Buyi Northern Tai and Kra E Northern Tai and Pinghua Chinese Caolan Northern Tai and Central Tai Sanqiao Kam Sui Hmongic and Chinese Jiamao Hlai and other unknown elements Austroasiatic Edmondson and Solnit 1988 edit An early but influential classification with the traditional Kam Tai clade was Edmondson and Solnit s classification from 1988 12 34 Kra Dai Kra Geyang Hlai Kam Tai Lakkia Biao Kam Sui Be Tai This classification is also used by Liang and Zhang 1996 35 Chamberlain 2016 38 36 and Ethnologue though by 2009 Lakkia was made a third branch of Kam Tai and Biao was moved into Kam Sui Ostapirat 2005 Norquest 2007 edit Weera Ostapirat 2005 128 suggests the possibility of Kra and Kam Sui being grouped together as Northern Kra Dai and Hlai with Tai as Southern Kra Dai 37 Norquest 2007 has further updated this classification to include Lakkia and Be Norquest notes that Lakkia shares some similarities with Kam Sui while Be shares some similarities with Tai Norquest 2007 15 notes that Be shares various similarities with Northern Tai languages in particular 5 Following Ostapirat Norquest adopts the name Kra Dai for the family as a whole The following tree of Kra Dai is from Norquest 2007 16 Kra Dai Northern Kra Northeastern Lakkia Kam Sui Southern Hlai Be Tai Tai Be Additionally Norquest 2007 also proposes a reconstruction for Proto Southern Kra Dai Norquest 2015 2020 edit A classification of Kra Dai by Norquest 2015 2020 is provided as follows 38 39 Kra Dai Kra Eastern Kra Dai Biao Lakkja Kam Tai Lakkja Kam Tai Kam Sui Western Kam Tai Hlai Be Tai Ong Be Tai Norquest 2021 edit Based on shared lexical innovations Norquest 2021 significantly revised his classification of Kra Dai Together Biao and Lakkja the most divergent subgroup of Kra Dai Be Tai and Hlai are placed together as part of a Hlai Tai group 40 Kra Dai Biao Lakkja Kam Tai Kam Sui Kra Tai Kra Hlai Tai Hlai Be Tai Be TaiHypotheses regarding external relationships editAustro Tai edit Main article Austro Tai languages nbsp Proposed genesis of Daic languages and their relation with Austronesian languages Blench 2018 41 Several scholars have presented evidence that Kra Dai may be related to or even be a branch of the Austronesian language family 42 There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary displaying regular sound correspondences Among proponents there is yet no agreement as to whether they are a sister group to Austronesian in a family called Austro Tai a back migration from Taiwan to the mainland or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion 18 The inclusion of Japanese in the Austro Tai family as proposed by Paul K Benedict in the late 20th century 43 is not supported by the current proponents of the Austro Tai hypothesis Sino Tai edit The Kra Dai languages were formerly considered to be part of the Sino Tibetan family partly because they contain large numbers of words that are similar to Sino Tibetan languages However Western scholars generally consider them to be Sinitic loanwords and note that basic vocabulary words in Kra Dai languages often have cognates with Austronesian instead 37 Outside China the Kra Dai languages are now classified as an independent family In China they are called Dong Tai 侗台 or Zhuang Dong 壮侗 languages and are generally included along with the Hmong Mien languages in the Sino Tibetan family 44 Hmong Mien edit Kosaka 2002 argued specifically for a Miao Dai family Based on proposed lexical cognates he argues for a genetic relation between Hmong Mien and Kra Dai languages He further suggests that similarities between Kra Dai and Austronesian are due to later areal contact in the coastal areas of Eastern and Southeastern China or an older ancestral relation Proto East Asian 45 Japonic edit Vovin 2014 proposed that the location of the Japonic Urheimat linguistic homeland is in Southern China Vovin argues for typological evidence that Proto Japanese may have been a monosyllabic SVO syntax and isolating language which are also characteristic of Kra Dai languages According to him these common features are however not due to a genetic relationship but rather the result of intense contact 46 Reconstruction editMain article Proto Kra Dai languageSee also editAustric languages Austro Tai languages Hmong Mien languages Proto Hlai language Proto Hmong Mien language Proto Kam Sui language Proto Kra language Proto Tibeto Burman language Proto Tai language Sino Austronesian languagesNotes edit Formosan ancestor of Tai Kadai References edit Diller Anthony Jerry Edmondson Yongxian Luo 2008 The Tai Kadai Languages London etc Routledge ISBN 978 0 7007 1457 5 Taikadai www languagesgulper com Retrieved 2017 10 15 Ethnologue Tai Kadai family tree a b Ostapirat Weera 2000 Proto Kra Linguistics of the Tibeto Burman Area 23 1 1 251 a b Norquest Peter K 2007 A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto Hlai Ph D dissertation Department of Anthropology University of Arizona Pittayaporn Pittayawat 2009 The phonology of Proto Tai Ph D Thesis Cornell University Peter Jenks and Pittayawat Pittayaporn Kra Dai Languages Oxford Bibliographies in Linguistics Ed Mark Aranoff New York Oxford University Press Baxter William H Sagart Laurent 2014 Old Chinese A New Reconstruction Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 994537 5 N J Enfield and B Comrie Eds 2015 Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia The State of the Art Berlin Mouton de Gruyter a b Benedict Paul K 1942 Thai Kadai and Indonesian A New Alignment in Southeastern Asia American Anthropologist 44 4 576 601 doi 10 1525 aa 1942 44 4 02a00040 JSTOR 663309 a b Solnit David B 1988 The position of Lakkia within Kadai In Comparative Kadai Linguistic studies beyond Tai Jerold A Edmondson and David B Solnit eds pages 219 238 Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics 86 Dallas Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington a b Edmondson Jerold A and David B Solnit editors 1988 Comparative Kadai Linguistic studies beyond Tai Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 86 Dallas Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington vii 374 p Blench Roger 2008 The Prehistory of the Daic Tai Kadai Speaking Peoples Archived 2019 04 29 at the Wayback Machine Presented at the 12th EURASEAA meeting Leiden 1 5 September 2008 PPT slides Gerner Matthias 2014 Project Discussion The Austro Tai Hypothesis PDF The 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics IsCLL 14 p 158 Chamberlain James R 2016 Kra Dai and the Proto History of South China and Vietnam pp 27 77 In Journal of the Siam Society Vol 104 2016 Srithawong Suparat Srikummool Metawee Pittayaporn Pittayawat Ghirotto Silvia Chantawannakul Panuwan Sun Jie Eisenberg Arthur Chakraborty Ranajit Kutanan Wibhu July 2015 Genetic and linguistic correlation of the Kra Dai speaking groups in Thailand Journal of Human Genetics 60 7 371 380 doi 10 1038 jhg 2015 32 ISSN 1435 232X PMID 25833471 S2CID 21509343 Blench 2017 p 11 a b Ostapirat 2013 pp 1 10 Sagart 2008 pp 146 152 Sagart 2008 p 151 Brindley 2015 p 51 Behr 2002 Behr 2006 Behr 2009 Behr 2017 p 12 Holm 2013 p 785 a b Edmondson 2007 p 16 Zhengzhang 1991 pp 159 168 Edmondson 2007 p 17 Sagart 2008 p 143 Liang Min 梁敏 amp Zhang Junru 张均如 1996 Dongtai yuzu gailun 侗台语族概论 An introduction to the Kam Tai languages Beijing China Social Sciences Academy Press 中国社会科学出版社 ISBN 9787500416814 Ni Dabai 倪大白 1990 Dongtai yu gailun 侗台语概论 An introduction to the Kam Tai languages Beijing Central Nationalities Research Institute Press 中央民族学院出版社 Ostapirat W 1998 A Mainland Be Language 大陆的Be语言 Journal of Chinese Linguistics 26 2 338 344 Edmondson Jerold A and David B Solnit editors 1997 Comparative Kadai the Tai branch Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics 124 Dallas Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington vi 382 p Liang Min amp Zhang Junru 1996 An introduction to the Kam Tai languages Beijing China Social Sciences Academy Press Chamberlain James R 2016 Kra Dai and the proto history of South China and Vietnam Journal of the Siam Society 104 27 77 a b Ostapirat Weera 2005 Kra Dai and Austronesian Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution pp 107 131 in Sagart Laurent Blench Roger amp Sanchez Mazas Alicia eds The Peopling of East Asia Putting Together Archaeology Linguistics and Genetics London New York Routledge Curzon Norquest Peter 2015 09 29 A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto Hlai Brill doi 10 1163 9789004300521 hdl 10150 194203 ISBN 978 90 04 30052 1 Norquest Peter 2020 A Hypothesis on the Origin of Preglottalized Sonorants in Kra Dai 38th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics Vancouver Department of Linguistics University of British Columbia doi 10 14288 1 0389866 Norquest Peter 2021 Classification of Tai Kadai Kra Dai languages The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia De Gruyter pp 225 246 doi 10 1515 9783110558142 013 ISBN 9783110558142 S2CID 238672319 Blench Roger 2018 Tai Kadai and Austronesian are Related at Multiple Levels and their Archaeological Interpretation draft The volume of cognates between Austronesian and Daic notably in fundamental vocabulary is such that they must be related Borrowing can be excluded as an explanation Sagart Laurent 2004 The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai Kadai PDF Oceanic Linguistics 43 2 411 440 doi 10 1353 ol 2005 0012 S2CID 49547647 Benedict Paul K 1990 Japanese Austro Tai Karoma ISBN 978 0 89720 078 3 Luo Yongxian 2008 Sino Tai and Tai Kadai Another look In Anthony V N Diller and Jerold A Edmondson and Yongxian Luo eds The Tai Kadai Languages 9 28 London amp New York Routledge Kosaka Ryuichi 2002 On the affiliation of Miao Yao and Kadai Can we posit the Miao Dai family Mon Khmer Studies 32 71 100 Vovin Alexander 2014 Out Of Southern China some linguistic and philological musings on the possible Urheimat of the Japonic language family XXVIIes Journees de Linguistique d Asie Orientale 26 27 juin 2014 Sources editBehr Wolfgang 2017 The language of the bronze inscriptions In Shaughnessy Edward L ed Kinship Studies of Recently Discovered Bronze Inscritpions from Ancient China The Chinese University Press of Hong Kong pp 9 32 ISBN 978 9 629 96639 3 2009 Dialects diachrony diglossia or all three Tomb text glimpses into the language s of Chǔ TTW 3 Zurich 26 29 VI 2009 Genius Loci 1 48 2006 Some Chŭ 楚 words in early Chinese literature EACL 4 Budapest 1 21 2002 Stray loanword gleanings from two Ancient Chinese fictional texts 16e Journees de Linguistique d Asie Orientale Centre de Recherches Linguistiques Sur l Asie Orientale E H E S S Paris 1 6 Blench Roger 2004 Stratification in the peopling of China how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology Paper for the Symposium Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan genetic linguistic and archaeological evidence Geneva June 10 13 2004 Universite de Geneve Blench Roger 2017 2015 Origins of Ethnolinguistic Identity in Southeast Asia PDF In Habu Junko Lape Peter Olsen John eds Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology Springer ISBN 978 1 493 96521 2 Brindley Erica F 2015 Ancient China and the Yue Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 107 08478 0 Edmondson J A and D B Solnit eds 1997 Comparative Kadai the Tai branch Dallas Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington ISBN 0 88312 066 6 Edmondson Jerold A 2007 The power of language over the past Tai settlement and Tai linguistics in southern China and northern Vietnam PDF Studies in Southeast Asian Languages and Linguistics Jimmy G Harris Somsonge Burusphat and James e Harris ed Bangkok Thailand Ek Phim Thai Co LTD 1 25 Archived from the original PDF on 2014 01 01 Retrieved 2021 07 17 Holm David 2014 A Layer of Old Chinese Readings in the Traditional Zhuang Script Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 79 1 45 2013 Mapping the Old Zhuang Character Script A Vernacular Writing System from Southern China BRILL ISBN 978 9 004 22369 1 Li Hui 2001 Daic Background Vocabulary in Shanghai Maqiao Dialect PDF Proceedings for Conference of Minority Cultures in Hainan and Taiwan Haikou Research Society for Chinese National History 15 26 Archived from the original PDF on 2018 03 27 Retrieved 2021 07 17 Ostapirat Weera 2013 Austro Tai revisited PDF Plenary Session 2 Going Beyond History Reassessing Genetic Grouping in SEA the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society May 29 31 2013 Chulalongkorn University 1 10 Sagart Laurent 2008 The expansion of Setaria farmers in East Asia In Sanchez Mazas Alicia Blench Roger Ross Malcolm D Peiros Ilia Lin Marie eds Past Human Migrations in East Asia Matching Archaeology Linguistics and Genetics Routledge Studies in the Early History of Asia 1st Edition Routledge pp 133 157 ISBN 978 0 415 39923 4 Zhengzhang Shangfang 1991 Decipherment of Yue Ren Ge Song of the Yue boatman Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale 20 2 159 168 doi 10 3406 clao 1991 1345 Further reading editChamberlain James R 2016 Kra Dai and the Proto History of South China and Vietnam Journal of the Siam Society 104 27 76 Diller A J Edmondson amp Yongxian Luo ed 2005 The Tai Kadai languages London etc Routledge ISBN 0 7007 1457 X Edmondson J A 1986 Kam tone splits and the variation of breathiness Edmondson J A amp Solnit D B eds 1988 Comparative Kadai linguistic studies beyond Tai Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics no 86 Arlington TX Summer Institute of Linguistics ISBN 0 88312 066 6 Mann Noel Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova 2009 Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia an overview of the language families Archived 2019 03 24 at the Wayback Machine Chiang Mai Payap University Norquest Peter 2021 Classification of Tai Kadai Kra Dai languages The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia De Gruyter pp 225 246 doi 10 1515 9783110558142 013 ISBN 9783110558142 S2CID 238672319 Ostapirat Weera 2000 Proto Kra Linguistics of the Tibeto Burman Area 23 1 1 251 Somsonge Burusphat amp Sinnott M 1998 Kam Tai oral literatures collaborative research project between Salaya Nakhon Pathom Thailand Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development Mahidol University ISBN 974 661 450 9External links editWord lists of Tai Kadai languages from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database Tai Kadai word lists by Ilya Peiros Intercontinental Dictionary Series StarLing Tai Kadai 100 word lists and etymology StarLing Zhuang Tai 100 word lists and etymology StarLing Kam Sui 100 word lists and etymology Appendix Kra Dai Swadesh lists from Wiktionary s Swadesh list appendix Kra Dai vocabulary lists from Wiktionary s Vocabulary lists appendix Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kra Dai languages amp oldid 1181170186, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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