Laha () is a

Kra language The Kra languages (also known as the Geyang 仡央 or Kadai languages) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family spoken in southern China ( Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan) and in northern Vietnam (Hà Giang Province). Names The name ''Kra'' c ...

spoken by approximately 1,400 people out of a total population of 5,686 Laha. It is spoken in

Lào Cai Lào Cai () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Province. The city borders Bảo Thắng District, Bát Xát District, Sa Pa and the city of Hekou Yao Autonomous County, in Yunnan province of southw ...

and Sơn La provinces, Vietnam. Laha dialects had been documented in 1986 by Russian linguists and in 1996 by American linguist Jerold A. Edmondson. Many Laha can also converse in the Khmu language, and Laha-speaking areas also have significant Black Thai (

Tai Dam The Tai Dam ( Tai Dam: , lo, ໄຕດຳ, th, ไทดำ) are an ethnic minority predominantly from China, northwest Vietnam, Laos, Thailand. They are part of the Tai peoples and ethnically similar to the Thai from Thailand, the Lao fro ...

), Kháng, Ksongmul ( Ksingmul, Xinh-mun), and Hmong populations. Ostapirat (2000) considers the Laha dialects to form a subgroup of their own (Southern Kra) within the Kra branch.Ostapirat, Weera (2000).
Proto-Kra
. ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' 23 (1): 1-251

Geographic distribution

Gregerson & Edmondson (1997) and Wardlaw (2000) report the following locations of two Laha dialects, namely the Wet Laha and Dry Laha dialects. Wet Laha (Laha Ung, ') of

and

Lai Châu Lai Châu () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital city of Lai Châu Province. The city borders Phong Thổ District, Sìn Hồ District và Tam Đường District. History Lai Châu, or Muang Lay (Vietnamese: Mư ...

*Tà Mít Commune, Tân Uyên,

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 ...

(just north of the Black River) — known as the "Wet Laha". Edmondson's informant is from Bản Muot Village, Tà Mít Commune (Edmondson & Gregerson 1997). There are 8 Laha villages numbering no more than 1,000 people in

Than Uyên District ''Than'' is a grammatical particle analyzed as both a conjunction and a preposition in the English language. It introduces a comparison and is associated with comparatives and with words such as more, less, and fewer. Typically, it measures ...

. *Pha Mu and Nặm Cần Communes, Tân Uyên,

Dry Laha (Laha Phlao) of Sơn La — around the Sông Đà and Nậm Mu Rivers *Noong Lay and Nặm Ét Communes, Thuận Châu, Sơn La,

(just south of the Black River; in Bản Muot, etc.) — known as the "Dry Laha" *Chiền Xòm, Liềp Tè, Noong Giông, and Nặm Ét in Sơn La *Nặm Giôn, Chiền Xàng, Chiền Dong, Pi Toong, and Mường Bú of Mường La District,

Sơn La Province ''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...

. Laha of Nà Tạy, Pi Toong commune is documented in Hsiu (2017).Hsiu, Andrew. 2017
Laha (Na Tay) audio word list
Zenodo.
word list
* Thuận Châu, Mường La, Quỳnh Nhai districts of

*Bản Bung and Phù Yên near

on the north bank of the Black River

Phonology

Consonants

* In both dialects, can be heard as when occurring before front vowels.

Final consonants

Both have the same final consonants, except is only in the Noong Lay dialect.

Vowels

* Vowel sounds can occur long as . Both dialects have two vowels in final position. They also may be heard as glide sounds .

References

* Benedict, Paul K. 1992.
Laha Reexamined
" In ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'', 15, no. 2: 207–218. * Diller, Anthony, Jerold A. Edmondson, and Yongxian Luo ed. ''The Tai–Kadai Languages''. Routledge Language Family Series. Psychology Press, 2008. * Gregerson, Kenneth and Jerold A. Edmondson. 1997.
Outlying Kam-Tai: Notes On Ta Mit Laha
" In the ''Mon-Khmer Studies Journal'', 27: 257–269. * Ostapira, Weera. 1995.
Notes on Laha final -l
. In ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'', vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 173–181. * Wardlaw, Terrance Randall. ''A phonological comparison between two varieties of Laha: Syllable constituents and tone in Ta Mit and Noong Lay Laha''. M.A. Thesis, The University of Texas at Arlington, 2000.

External links

ABVD: Laha (Ta Mit) word list
*https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230717/http://cema.gov.vn/modules.php?name=Content&op=details&mid=512 {{DEFAULTSORT:Laha Language Kra languages Languages of China Languages of Vietnam