| Tai Lü Language |
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Information About ®Tai Lü Language |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TAI Lü LANGUAGE | |
| tai-kadai languages | |
| languages of china | |
| languages of myanmar | |
| languages of laos | |
| languages of thailand | |
| languages of vietnam | |
| tonal languages | |
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In Vietnam, Tai Lü speakers are officially recognised as the Lự ethnic minority, although in China they are classified as part of the Dai People , along with speakers of the other Tai Languages (except Zhuang ). PHONOLOGY Tai Lü has 21 syllable-initial consonants, 91 syllable finals and six tones (three different tones in checked syllables, six in other syllables). Initials The initials ʦ- and s- are palatalised before i, e and ɛ and become - and -, respectively. Finals Tones There are six tones for unchecked syllables, although only three are allowed in checked syllables (those ending with -p, -t or -k). GRAMMAR Word order is usually Subject - Verb - Object; Modifiers (e.g. adjectives) follow nouns. VOCABULARY Tai Lü has many loanwords from Pali, as well as from the local Chinese dialect and modern Standard Chinese. Numbers WRITING SYSTEMS Tai Lü is written in two different alphabets. The old writing system was reformed in the 1950s, but is still in use and has recently regained government support. The new alphabet is a simplified version of the old script. Old Tai Lü New Tai Lü "New Tai Lü" is a modernisation of the Lanna alphabet, similar to the Thai alphabet, and consists of 42 initial consonant signs (21 high-tone class, 21 low-tone class), seven final consonant signs, 16 vowel signs, two tone letters and one vowel shortening letter (or syllable-final glottal stop). Vowels signs can be placed before or after the syllable initial consonant. Similar to the Thai alphabet, the pronunciation of the tone of a syllable depends on the class the initial consonant belongs to, syllable structure and Vowel Length , and the tone mark. Unicode range ("New Tai Lue"): U+1980 – U+19DF REFERENCES
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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