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Kra–Dai languages

The Kra–Dai languages (/ˈkrɑː.d/ KRAH-dy, also known as Tai–Kadai /ˈt.kəˌd/ TIE-kə-DYE and Daic /ˈd.ɪk/ DYE-ik), are a language family in mainland Southeast Asia, southern China, and northeastern India. All languages in the family are tonal, including Thai and Lao, the national languages of Thailand and Laos, respectively.[1] Around 93 million people speak Kra–Dai languages; 60% of those speak Thai.[2] Ethnologue lists 95 languages in the family, with 62 of these being in the Tai branch.[3]

Kra–Dai

Southern China, Hainan Island,
Indochina, and Northeast India

One of the world's primary language families

Names[edit]

The name "Kra–Dai" was proposed by Weera Ostapirat (2000), as Kra and Dai are the reconstructed autonyms of the Kra and Tai branches, respectively.[4] "Kra–Dai" has since been used by the majority of specialists working on Southeast Asian linguistics, including Norquest (2007),[5] Pittayaporn (2009),[6][7] Baxter & Sagart (2014),[8] and Enfield & Comrie (2015).[9]


The name "Tai–Kadai" is used in many references, as well as Ethnologue and Glottolog, but Ostapirat (2000) and others suggest that it is problematic and confusing, preferring the name "Kra–Dai" instead.[4] "Tai–Kadai" comes from an obsolete bifurcation of the family into two branches, Tai and Kadai, which had first been proposed by Paul K. Benedict (1942).[10] In 1942, Benedict placed three Kra languages (Gelao, Laqua (Qabiao), and Lachi) together with Hlai in a group that he called "Kadai", from ka, meaning "person" in Gelao and Laqua and dai, a form of a Hlai autonym.[10] Benedict's (1942) "Kadai" group was based on his observation that Kra and Hlai languages have Austronesian-like numerals. However, this classification is now universally rejected as obsolete after Ostapirat (2000) demonstrated the coherence of the Kra branch, which does not subgroup with the Hlai branch as Benedict (1942) had proposed. "Kadai" is sometimes used to refer to the entire Kra–Dai family, including by Solnit (1988).[11][12] Adding to the confusion, some other references restrict the usage of "Kadai" to only the Kra branch of the family.


The name "Daic" is used by Roger Blench (2008).[13]

and Biao, which may or may not subgroup with each other, are difficult to classify due to aberrant vocabulary but are sometimes classified as sisters of Kam–Sui (Solnit 1988).[11]

Lakkia

of southern Hainan, China, is an aberrant Kra–Dai language traditionally classified as a Hlai language, although Jiamao contains many words of non-Hlai origin.

Jiamao

of Guangdong, China, is currently unclassified within Kra–Dai but appears to be most closely related to Be (Ostapirat 1998).[33]

Jizhao

Austric languages

Proto-Hlai language

Proto-Hmong–Mien language

Proto-Kam–Sui language

Proto-Kra language

Proto-Tibeto-Burman language

Proto-Tai language

Sino-Austronesian languages

Chamberlain, James R. (2016). Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam. Journal of the Siam Society, 104, 27-76.

Diller, A., J. Edmondson, & Yongxian Luo, ed., (2005). The Tai–Kadai languages. London [etc.]: Routledge.  0-7007-1457-X

ISBN

(1986). Kam tone splits and the variation of breathiness.

Edmondson, J. A.

Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (eds.) (1988). Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. Arlington, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.  0-88312-066-6

ISBN

Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. Archived 24 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine Chiang Mai: Payap University.

Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families.

Norquest, Peter (2021). "Classification of (Tai-)Kadai/Kra-Dai languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 225–246. :10.1515/9783110558142-013. ISBN 9783110558142. S2CID 238672319.

doi

Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 23 (1): 1-251.

Proto-Kra

Somsonge Burusphat, & Sinnott, M. (1998). Kam–Tai oral literatures: collaborative research project between. Salaya Nakhon Pathom, Thailand: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University.  974-661-450-9

ISBN

Word lists of Tai–Kadai languages from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database

(Intercontinental Dictionary Series)

Tai–Kadai word lists by Ilya Peiros

StarLing: Tai–Kadai 100-word lists

StarLing: Zhuang–Tai 100-word lists

(from Wiktionary's Swadesh list appendix)

Appendix:Kra–Dai Swadesh lists

(from Wiktionary's Vocabulary lists appendix)

Kra–Dai vocabulary lists