Sapa, or Tày Sa Pa, is a
Southwestern Tai language of
Sa Pa,
Lào Cai Province,
northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam or '' Tonkin'' () is one of three geographical regions in Vietnam. It consists of three geographic sub-regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sôn ...
. According to Pittayaporn (2009) and ''Glottolog'', it is the closest relative of the
Southwestern Tai languages, but does not share the phonological innovations that define that group. There are about 300 speakers.
[ ] Tày Sa Pa speakers are classified by the Vietnamese as ethnic
Tay people, most of whom speak
Central Tai languages rather than
Southwestern Tai languages. According to Jerold Edmondson, the phonology, tones, and lexicon of Tày Sa Pa is similar to that of Standard
Thai.
A similar Southwestern Tai language called
Padi is spoken in
Mường Khương District,
Lao Cai Province,
northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam or '' Tonkin'' () is one of three geographical regions in Vietnam. It consists of three geographic sub-regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sôn ...
.
References
Sources
* Bùi Quốc Khánh. 2013. ''Tri thức dân gian trong canh tác cây lúa nước của người Pa Dí ở Lào Cai''. Nhà xuất bản Thời Đại.
* Pittayaporn, Pittayawat, 2007. Tai dialects of Northern Vietnam: Sapa , Vinh Yen, and Cao Bang (Kra-Dai).
Languages of Vietnam
Southwestern Tai languages
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