Tày or Thổ (a name shared with the unrelated
Thổ and
Cuoi languages) is the major
Tai language
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or S ...
of
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, spoken by more than a million
Tày people
The Tày people, also known as the Thô, T'o, Tai Tho, Ngan, Phen, Thu Lao, or Pa Di, are a Central Tai languages, Tai-speaking ethnic group who live in northern Vietnam. According to a 2009 census, there are 1.7 million Tày people living in Vi ...
in Northeastern Vietnam.
Varieties
Tày linguistic varieties include the following:
*Tày Bảo Lạc – spoken in Bảo Lạc District, western Cao Bang province.
*Tày Trùng Khánh – spoken in Trùng Khánh District, northeastern Cao Bang province.
*Thu Lao or
Dai Zhuang varieties are considered to be a different language.
Phonology
Consonants
* The Cao Bẳng Tày dialect is the only variety to have the sounds .
Vowels
* There are also three semivowels that mainly occur in syllable-coda position in combination with other vowel sounds. are typically realized as consonant sounds . follows front vowels and central vowels . follows back vowels as well as central vowels . However, only follows .
Tones
Six tones are present in Cao Bẳng Tày:
Vocabulary
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tay Language
Languages of Vietnam
Tai languages