Yoy is a

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 Sia ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. The Yoy language is now in the critical endangered state due to a rapid

language shift Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are perceiv ...

, which may eventually lead to complete language loss.

Phonology

The phonology of Yoy, according to Phakkahn (2017).

Consonants

Only occur in word-final position. Yoy also has six initial

consonant cluster In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...

s which are , , , , , and . Some words show alternate pronunciations between the initial syllable consonants: :/jaːk⁵/ ~ /ɲaːk⁵/ ''to want'' :/jaːw²/ ~ /ɲaːw²/ ''long'' :/joːj⁴/ ~ /ɲoːj⁴/ ''Yoy''

Vowels

Yoy has two different phonemic

vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...

s. 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 syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s and non-final

open syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

s, short and long vowels are distinctive.

Tones

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).

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Tones

Vocabulary

Numberals

Verbs

Nouns

Adjectives

References