Phu Thai (Phuu Thai; Thai, Phu Thai: ''Phasa Phuthai'', ภาษาผู้ไท or ภูไท) is a Southwestern Tai language spoken in

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

and

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 b ...

. Although it appears different from the

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan ( Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 prov ...

and the

Lao language Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian (, 'Lao' or , 'Lao language'), is a Kra–Dai language of the Lao people. It is spoken in Laos, where it is the official language for around 7 million people, as well as in northeast Thailand, where ...

s, it is spoken in areas where these languages are predominant and has been influenced by them. Comparisons of Phu Thai with other Tai languages such as Tay Khang have not yet been done systematically enough to yield convincing results.
Another aspect of Phu Thai is its contact with the

Katuic languages The fifteen Katuic languages form a branch of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia. People who speak Katuic languages are called the Katuic peoples. Paul Sidwell is the leading specialist on the Katuic ...

, a branch of the

Austroasiatic languages The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...

. Whether in the Phu Thai areas of Central

or in more recent locations of Northeastern Thailand, one can find, along with Phu Thai, a few Katuic dialects known locally as Bru, So or Katang. James R. Chamberlain (2012) focusing on anthropological issues describes “the Phou Thay – Brou relationship” as a “

symbiosis Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or para ...

” and states that “the Phou Thay – Brou relationship has never evolved into a

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

”.

Speakers

Speakers of the Phu Thai language in Thailand numbered about 156,000 in 1993. They can be found mainly in the areas around Mukdahan, especially Khamcha-i District,

Nakhon Phanom Nakhon Phanom ( th, นครพนม, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeastern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Phanom Province. The town covers ''tambons'' Nai Mueang and Nong Saeng and parts of ''tambons'' At Samat and Nong Yat, all in ...

Kalasin Kalasin ( th, กาฬสินธุ์) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeast Thailand, the capital of Kalasin Province. As of 2015, it has a population of 34,429 It covers the whole ''tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a loc ...

and

Sakon Nakhon Sakon Nakhon ( th, สกลนคร, ; sometimes written Sakhon Nakhon) is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Thailand within the Isan region, and capital city of Sakon Nakhon Province as well as Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, with a population of ...

. Phu Thai speakers live as well in the Khammouane and Savannakhet Province of Laos. Some speakers have been reported in Salavan, and Champasak Provinces of

, in

Hoa Binh province The Hoa people ( Vietnamese: ''Người Hoa'', or ) are citizens of Vietnam of full or partial Chinese origin. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia but most Hoa today derive their recent ancestral Chinese heritage from the 18t ...

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 ...

, and possibly also in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. There is little dialect differentiation between the varieties spoken in central Laos and in northeastern Thailand. Speakers identified as (or identifying themselves as) Phu Thai or Phu Tai in Vietnam speak other dialects with different tone systems. Tai Gapong or Tai Kapong found in the Nape District of Ban Nahuong, Bolikhamsai Province, Laos speak a slightly different dialect. In Vietnam the Phu Thai are included in the group of the

Thái people Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...

, together with the Thái Đen ('Black Tai'), Thái Đỏ ('Red Tai'), Thái Trắng ('White Tai'), Tày Thanh and Thái Hàng Tổng. The group of the Thái people is the third largest of the fifty-four ethnic groups recognized by the Vietnamese government.

Status

Despite its rich heritage, and regional use, in Thailand this language group is increasingly becoming integrated into the mainstream

language.

Phonology

The following information is of the Waritchaphum dialect:

Consonants

* Final plosive sounds can be realized as unreleased .

Vowels

* Diphthong sounds consist of a single vowel with a final glide sound, or .

References

External links

Ban Khok Kong Phu-Thai Village
: Phutai Healing

: A comparative study of the Phutai in Thailand and Laos P.D.R.

*About Some Linguistic Variations in Phu Tai https://mekongjournal.kku.ac.th/Vol07/Issue01/02.pdf Pacquement, Jean. 2011. About Some Linguistic Variations in Phu Tai. Journal of Mekong Societies : Vol.7 No.1 January-April 2011, pp. 17-38 *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 http://gerflint.fr/Base/Mekong4/pacquement.pdf Pacquement, Jean and Phongphanith, Sipaseuth. 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 n°4 - 2012, pp. 129-139 *Phou Thay and Brou Symbiosis https://www.academia.edu/28104238/Phou_Thay_and_Brou_Symbiosis 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. *Languages in contact: the case for Phu Thai https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326668800_Languages_in_contact_the_case_of_Phu_Thai Pacquement, Jean. 2015. Languages in contact: the case for Phu Thai. Presentation at SEALS 25. Payap University. Chiang Mai. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.36053.73441 *Contribution à l'étude du système tonal de la langue phu thai : les tons du dialecte phu thai de Ban Phak Kha Nya https://www.academia.edu/35444426/Contribution_à_létude_du_système_tonal_de_la_langue_phu_thai_les_tons_du_dialecte_phu_thai_de_Ban_Phak_Kha_Nya_district_de_Atsaphone_province_de_Savannakhet_Laos Phongphanith, Sipaseuth. 2017. Contribution à l'étude du système tonal de la langue phu thai : les tons du dialecte phu thai de Ban Phak Kha Nya (district de Atsaphone, province de Savannakhet, Laos. PowerPoint de soutenance: Pré-mémoire de Master 1 présenté par Sipaseuth Phongphanith. Sous la direction de Joseph Thach. Consultant du mémoire: Jean Pacquement. INALCO, Paris, France. MANUSASTRA Projet international de formation à la recherche, délocalisé à la Faculté d'Archéologie, Université royale des beaux-arts, Phnom Penh. *Phu Thai Data for Subgrouping Southwestern Tai https://www.academia.edu/39910336/Phu_Thai_Data_for_Subgrouping_Southwestern_Tai Pacquement, Jean and Thongmany, Vanh. 2019. Phu Thai Data for Subgrouping Southwestern Tai. Presentation at SEALS 29. 貸し会議室 KFC Hall & Rooms. Tokyo. {{Tai-Kadai languages Languages of Thailand Languages of Laos Languages of Vietnam Tai languages