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

Tonal determination

ภาษาไทย
ພາສາລາວ

      Phutai, Tai Dam, Tai Khao, Tai Daeng, Lue, Phuan, Thai, Lao etc. all belong to the Tai-Kadai language stock, which geographically is spread out from southern China to southern Thailand and from central Vietnam to north-west Burma. In Thailand and Laos two Tai-Kadai languages have become the national language.
     The Tai-Kadai languages are tonal languages. This means that the tone determines the meaning of a word: For example can /maa/ mean either 'dog', 'horse' or 'come' depending on the tone attached.
     Another characteristic is that the consonants can be divided into 3 groups: High, mid and low class. All the words in the 5 boxes in the top row of the tonal chart below (fig. 1) are carried by a high-class consonant. The mid row have mid-class consonants and the bottom row low class consonants.
     The words in each of the 5 columns are called either 'live words' or 'dead words'. The 'dead words' are either long (column 4) or short (column 5) and always have /k/, /t/, /p/, or a short vowel as final. In column 1-3 we have the 'live words', which all ends on /n/, /m/, /ng/, /j/, /w/, or a long vowel. The words in the 3 boxes (high, mid, low) of column 1 have no tone marker above. The words in column 2 has the tonal marker mai ek above and the words in column 3 carries mai tho.
     All Tai words belong to one of the 15 boxes in the tonal chart.
     All words in each box will all share the same tone. The same tone can appear in several boxes. For example: The words in the first two boxes of the first column all have to be pronounced with a rising tone in Phutai (Khao Wong, Kalasin). Example: สาม /saam/ '3' from the high class box and ดาว /daaw/ 'star' from the mid class box both have the same rising tone. (1)
     Some languages/dialects all together have five different tones; others six tones.


Fig. 1: Tonal chart with sample words in its 15 boxes. The Phutai language is written by use of the Thai alphabet with Thai in parenthesis.

     Example: The Phutai word for 'beautiful' (Thai: สวย /suai/, Lao: งาม /ngaam/) is /sap/ and can be written as either สับ or ซับ. Both are 'dead words' with a short vowel. The question is whether to choose initial high class consonant ส or low class consonant ซ. The choice will determine the tone of the word. The method is first to read the words in the high-class box starting with หก /hok/ '6', and then read the low-class box starting with นก /hok/ 'bird' in order to get an idea about the tones of the 2 boxes. The word /sap/ belongs to the box, which has the same tone. In this case /sap/ seams to share the tone of the box starting with นก, and must be written as ซับ (ซ and น are both low-class consonants).

     The above sample is done by hearing. A more reliable method will be implemented later: First record all words in all boxes and express the tones as graphs. Words in question will be recorded as well and also expressed as graphs. The location of a given word in a given box will then be based on comparison of graphs. This will be done in September 2007 using informants aged more than 70 years coming from a small isolated village east of Khao Wong, Kalasin.
     The outcome will be tonal cards similar to the tonal cards done on the Thai (Bangkok) and Lao (Vientiane) languages:

	Fig. 2: Graphic expression of the tones in Bangkok Thai and Vientiane Lao.
	Fig. 3: Bangkok Thai tones and Vientiane Lao tones expressed by diacritics. Reference to fig 2 and 3: Thai-Isan-Lao Phrasebook - se this.

Writing systems used
     Because the aim of this work is to benefit the various Phutai groups living in either present day Thailand or Lao P.D.R. the Phutai words are written in standard Thai and standard Lao alphabets. IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) will be added to each word as well. English will be used for translation.