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Kra–Dai languages

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Kra–Dai
Tai–Kadai, Daic
EthnicityDaic people
Geographic
distribution		Southern China,Hainan Island,
Indochina,andNortheast India
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primarylanguage families
Proto-languageProto-Kra–Dai
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologtaik1256
Distribution of the Tai–Kadai language family.

TheKra–Dai languages(/ˈkrɑː.daɪ/KRAH-dy,also known asTai–Kadai/ˈtaɪ.kəˌdaɪ/TIE-kə-DYEandDaic/ˈdaɪ.ɪk/DYE-ik), are alanguage familyinmainland Southeast Asia,southern China,andnortheastern India.All languages in the family aretonal,includingThaiandLao,the national languages ofThailandandLaos,respectively.[1]Around 93 million people speak Kra–Dai languages; 60% of those speak Thai.[2]Ethnologuelists 95 languages in the family, with 62 of these being in theTai branch.[3]

Names

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The name "Kra–Dai" was proposed by Weera Ostapirat (2000), as Kra and Dai are the reconstructedautonymsof theKraandTaibranches, 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 asEthnologueandGlottolog,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 byPaul K. Benedict(1942).[10]In 1942, Benedict placed three Kra languages (Gelao,Laqua (Qabiao), andLachi) together withHlaiin a group that he called "Kadai", fromka,meaning "person" in Gelao and Laqua anddai,a form of a Hlai autonym.[10]Benedict's (1942) "Kadai" group was based on his observation that Kra and Hlai languages haveAustronesian-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[which?]restrict the usage of "Kadai" to only the Kra branch of the family.

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

Origin

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Tai–Kadai migration route, according to Matthias Gerner'sNortheast to Southwest Hypothesis.[14]

James R. Chamberlain (2016) proposes that the Tai–Kadai (Kra–Dai) language family was formed as early as the 12th century BCE in the middle of theYangtze basin,coinciding roughly with the establishment of theChu fiefdomand the beginning of theZhou dynasty.[15]The high diversity of Kra–Dai languages in southern China, especially inGuizhouandHainan,points to that being an origin of the Kra–Dai language family, founding the nations that later became Thailand and Laos in what had beenAustroasiaticterritory. Genetic and linguistic analyses show great homogeneity among Kra–Dai-speaking people in Thailand.[16]

Although the position of Kra–Dai in relation to Austronesian is still contested, some propose that Kra–Dai and Austronesian are genetically connected. Weera Ostapirat (2005) sets out a series of regular sound correspondences between them, assuming a model of a primary split between the two; they would then be co-ordinate branches.[17]Ostapirat (2013) continues to maintain that Kra–Dai and Austronesian are sister language families, based on certain phonological correspondences.[18]On the other hand, Laurent Sagart (2008) proposes that Kra–Dai is a later form of what he calls "FATK" (Formosan Ancestor of Tai–Kadai) a branch of Austronesian belonging to the subgroup "Puluqic", developed in Taiwan, whose speakers migrated back to the mainland, to Guangdong, Hainan, and north Vietnam, around the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE.[19]Upon their arrival in this region, they underwent linguistic contact with an unknown population, resulting in a partial relexification of FATK[a]vocabulary.[20]Erica Brindley (2015) supports Sagart's hypothesis, arguing that the radically different Kra-Dai history of migration to the mainland (as opposed to the Philippines for Proto-Austronesian) and extended contact with Austro-Asiatic and Sinitic speakers would make the relationship appear more distant. She also suggests that the presence of only the most basic Austronesian vocabulary in Kra-Dai makes this scenario of relexification more plausible.[21]

Besides various concrete pieces of evidence for a Kra–Dai existence in present-day Guangdong, remnants of Kra–Dai languages spoken further north can be found in unearthedinscriptional materialsand non-HansubstratainMinandWu Chinese.[citation needed]

Wolfgang Behr (2002, 2006, 2009, 2017)[22][23][24]points out that most non-Sinitic words found in Chu inscriptional materials are of Kra–Dai origin. For example, the Chu graph for 'one, once' written as(? <OC*nnəŋ) in theE jun qijieNgạc quân khải trợ bronze tally and in Warring States bamboo inscriptions, which represents a Kra–Dai areal word; compare Proto-Tai*hnïŋ=*hnɯŋ(Siamese22nɯŋ, Dai33nɯŋ, Longzhou nəəŋAetc.) 'one, once'.[25]

In the early 1980s, Wei Qingwen ( Vi khánh ổn ), aZhuanglinguist, proposed that theOld Yue languagerecorded in theSong of the Yue Boatmanis in fact a language ancestral to Zhuang.[26]Wei used reconstructedOld Chinesefor the characters and discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to modern Zhuang.[27]Later,Zhengzhang Shangfang(1991) followed Wei's proposal but used Thai script for comparison, since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms not found in modern pronunciation.[27][28]Zhengzhang notes that 'evening, night, dark' bears the C tone in Wuming ZhuangxamC2andɣamC2'night'. The itemraanormally means 'we (inclusive)' but in some places, e.g., Tai Lue and White Tai, it means 'I'.[29]However,Laurent Sagartcriticizes Zhengzhang's interpretation as anachronistic, because however archaic the Thai script is, the Thai language was only written 2,000 years after the song had been recorded; even ifProto-Kam–Taihad emerged by the 6th century BCE, its pronunciation would have been substantially different from Thai.[30]

Map of the Chinese plain at the start of theWarring States Period,in the 5th century BC.

Internal classification

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Example of the divergence among the Kra-Dai languages, using the word for "tooth".

Kra–Dai consists of at least five well-established branches, namely Kra, Kam–Sui, Tai, Be, and Hlai (Ostapirat 2005:109).

Tai
southern China and Southeast Asia
Kra
southern China, northern Vietnam; calledKadaiinEthnologueandGeyang( ngật ương ) in Chinese
Kam–Sui
GuizhouandGuangxi,China
Be
Hainan;possibly also includesJizhaoofGuangdong
Hlai
Hainan

Chinese linguists have also proposed aKam–Taigroup that includesKam–Sui,Tai,andBe.[31][32]

Kra–Dai languages that are not securely classified and may constitute independent Kra–Dai branches include the following:

  • LakkiaandBiao,which may or may not subgroup with each other, are difficult to classify due to aberrant vocabulary but are sometimes classified assistersofKam–Sui(Solnit 1988).[11]
  • Jiamaoof southern Hainan, China, is an aberrant Kra–Dai language traditionally classified as aHlai language,although Jiamao contains many words of non-Hlai origin.
  • JizhaoofGuangdong,China, is currently unclassified within Kra–Dai but appears to be most closely related toBe(Ostapirat 1998).[33]

Kra–Dai languages of mixed origins are:

Edmondson and Solnit (1988)

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An early but influential classification, with the traditional Kam–Tai clade, wasEdmondsonand Solnit's classification from 1988:[12][34]

This classification is also used by Liang and Zhang (1996),[35]Chamberlain (2016: 38),[36]andEthnologue,though by 2009 Lakkia was made a third branch of Kam–Tai and Biao was moved into Kam–Sui.

Ostapirat (2005); Norquest (2007)

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Weera Ostapirat (2005:128) suggests the possibility of Kra and Kam–Sui being grouped together as Northern Kra–Dai and Hlai with Tai as Southern Kra–Dai.[37]Norquest(2007) has further updated this classification to includeLakkiaandBe.Norquest notes that Lakkia shares some similarities with Kam–Sui, while Be shares some similarities with Tai. Norquest (2007:15) notes that Be shares various similarities withNorthern Tai languagesin particular.[5]Following Ostapirat, Norquest adopts the name Kra–Dai for the family as a whole. The following tree of Kra–Dai is from Norquest (2007:16):

Additionally, Norquest (2007) also proposes a reconstruction for Proto-Southern Kra–Dai.

Norquest (2015, 2020)

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A classification of Kra–Dai by Norquest (2015, 2020) is provided as follows:[38][39]

Norquest (2021)

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Based on shared lexical innovations, Norquest (2021) significantly revised his classification of Kra–Dai. Together,BiaoandLakkjaform the most divergent subgroup of Kra–Dai. Be–Tai and Hlai are placed together as part of a "Hlai–Tai" group.[40]

Hypotheses regarding external relationships

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Austro-Tai

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Main article:Austro-Tai languages
Proposed genesis of Daic languages and their relation toAustronesian languages(Blench,2018)[41]

Several scholars have presented evidence that Kra–Dai may be related to, or even a branch of, theAustronesian language family.[42]There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary, displaying regular sound correspondences. Among proponents, there is yet no agreement as to whether they are a sister group to Austronesian in a family calledAustro-Tai,a back-migration fromTaiwanto the mainland or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion.[18]

The inclusion ofJapanesein the Austro-Tai family, as proposed byPaul K. Benedictin the late 20th century,[43]is not supported by the current proponents of the Austro-Tai hypothesis.

Sino-Tai

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The Kra–Dai languages were formerly considered to be part of theSino-Tibetan family,partly because they contain large numbers of words that are similar to Sino-Tibetan languages. However, Western scholars generally consider them to be Sinitic loanwords and note that basic vocabulary words in Kra–Dai languages often have cognates with Austronesian instead.[37]Outside China, the Kra–Dai languages are now classified as an independent family. In China, they are calledDong–Tai( đồng đài ) orZhuang–Dong( tráng đồng ) languages and are generally included, along with theHmong–Mien languages,in the Sino-Tibetan family.[44]

Hmong–Mien

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Kosaka (2002) has argued specifically for aMiao–Dai family.Based on proposed lexical cognates, he proposes a genetic relation between Hmong–Mien and Kra–Dai languages. He further suggests that similarities between Kra–Dai and Austronesian are due to later areal contact in the coastal areas of eastern and southeastern China or an older ancestral relation (Proto-East Asian).[45]

Japonic

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Vovin(2014) has proposed that the location of theJaponicUrheimat(linguistic homeland) is in southern China. He argues for typological evidence that Proto-Japanese may have been a monosyllabic, SVO syntax and isolating language, which is also characteristic of Kra–Dai languages. According to him, these common features are however not due to a genetic relationship but rather the result of intense contact.[46]

Reconstruction

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Main article:Proto-Kra–Dai language

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Formosan ancestor of Tai–Kadai.

References

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  1. ^Diller, Anthony, Jerry Edmondson, Yongxian Luo. (2008).The Tai–Kadai Languages.London [etc.]: Routledge.ISBN978-0-7007-1457-5
  2. ^"Taikadai".languagesgulper.Retrieved15 October2017.
  3. ^"Ethnologue Tai–Kadai family tree".
  4. ^abOstapirat, Weera. (2000). "Proto-Kra."Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area23(1): 1–251.
  5. ^abNorquest, Peter K. 2007.A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai.Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
  6. ^Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University
  7. ^Peter Jenks and Pittayawat Pittayaporn.Kra-Dai Languages.Oxford Bibliographies in "Linguistics", Ed. Mark Aranoff. New York: Oxford University Press.
  8. ^Baxter, William H.; Sagart, Laurent (2014),Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction,Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-994537-5.
  9. ^N. J. Enfield and B. Comrie, Eds. 2015.Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The State of the Art.Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter.
  10. ^abBenedict, Paul K.(1942)."Thai, Kadai, and Indonesian: A New Alignment in Southeastern Asia".American Anthropologist.44(4): 576–601.doi:10.1525/aa.1942.44.4.02a00040.JSTOR663309.
  11. ^abSolnit, David B. 1988. "The position of Lakkia within Kadai." InComparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai,Jerold A. Edmondson and David B. Solnit (eds.). pages 219–238. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington.
  12. ^abEdmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1988. Comparative Kadai: Linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 86. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vii, 374 p.
  13. ^Blench, Roger. 2008.The Prehistory of the Daic (Tai-Kadai) Speaking PeoplesArchived29 April 2019 at theWayback Machine.Presented at the 12th EURASEAA meeting Leiden, 1–5 September 2008. (PPT slides)
  14. ^Gerner, Matthias (2014).Project Discussion: The Austro-Tai Hypothesis(PDF).The 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14). p. 158.
  15. ^Chamberlain, James R. (2016). "Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam",pp. 27–77. InJournal of the Siam Society,Vol. 104, 2016.
  16. ^Srithawong, Suparat; Srikummool, Metawee; Pittayaporn, Pittayawat; Ghirotto, Silvia; Chantawannakul, Panuwan; Sun, Jie; Eisenberg, Arthur; Chakraborty, Ranajit; Kutanan, Wibhu (July 2015)."Genetic and linguistic correlation of the Kra-Dai-speaking groups in Thailand".Journal of Human Genetics.60(7): 371–380.doi:10.1038/jhg.2015.32.ISSN1435-232X.PMID25833471.S2CID21509343.
  17. ^Blench 2017,p. 11.
  18. ^abOstapirat 2013,pp. 1–10.
  19. ^Sagart 2008,pp. 146–152.
  20. ^Sagart 2008,p. 151.
  21. ^Brindley 2015,p. 51.
  22. ^Behr 2002.
  23. ^Behr 2006.
  24. ^Behr 2009.
  25. ^Behr 2017,p. 12.
  26. ^Holm 2013,p. 785.
  27. ^abEdmondson 2007,p. 16.
  28. ^Zhengzhang 1991,pp. 159–168.
  29. ^Edmondson 2007,p. 17.
  30. ^Sagart 2008,p. 143.
  31. ^Liang Min lương mẫn & Zhang Junru trương đều như. 1996.Dongtai yuzu gailunĐồng đài ngữ hệ khái luận /An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages.Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press Trung Quốc khoa học xã hội nhà xuất bản.ISBN9787500416814
  32. ^Ni Dabai nghê đại bạch. 1990.Dongtai yu gailunĐồng đài ngữ khái luận /An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages.Beijing: Central Nationalities Research Institute Press trung ương dân tộc học viện nhà xuất bản.
  33. ^Ostapirat, W. (1998).A Mainland Bê Language? / đại lục Bê ngôn ngữ?.Journal of Chinese Linguistics,26(2), 338–344
  34. ^Edmondson, Jerold A. and David B. Solnit, editors. 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 124. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. vi, 382 p.
  35. ^Liang Min & Zhang Junru. 1996.An introduction to the Kam–Tai languages.Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy Press.
  36. ^Chamberlain, James R. 2016. Kra–Dai and the proto-history of South China and Vietnam.Journal of the Siam Society104. 27–77.
  37. ^abOstapirat, Weera. (2005). "Kra–Dai and Austronesian: Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution", pp. 107–131 in Sagart, Laurent, Blench, Roger & Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia (eds.),The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics.London/New York: Routledge-Curzon.
  38. ^Norquest, Peter (29 September 2015).A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Hlai.Brill.doi:10.1163/9789004300521.hdl:10150/194203.ISBN978-90-04-30052-1.
  39. ^Norquest, Peter. 2020.A Hypothesis on the Origin of Preglottalized Sonorants in Kra–Dai.38th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics. Vancouver: Department of Linguistics, University of British Columbia.doi:10.14288/1.0389866
  40. ^Norquest, Peter (2021). "Classification of (Tai–)Kadai/Kra–Dai languages".The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia.De Gruyter. pp. 225–246.doi:10.1515/9783110558142-013.ISBN9783110558142.S2CID238672319.
  41. ^Blench, Roger (2018).Tai-Kadai and Austronesian are Related at Multiple Levels and their Archaeological Interpretation (draft).The volume of cognates between Austronesian and Daic, notably in fundamental vocabulary, is such that they must be related. Borrowing can be excluded as an explanation
  42. ^Sagart, Laurent(2004)."The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai–Kadai"(PDF).Oceanic Linguistics.43(2): 411–440.doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0012.S2CID49547647.
  43. ^Benedict, Paul K. (1990).Japanese/Austro-Tai.Karoma.ISBN978-0-89720-078-3.
  44. ^Luo, Yongxian. 2008. Sino-Tai and Tai-Kadai: Another look. In Anthony V. N. Diller and Jerold A. Edmondson and Yongxian Luo (eds.),The Tai-Kadai Languages,9–28. London & New York: Routledge.
  45. ^Kosaka, Ryuichi. 2002. "On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao–Dai family."Mon-Khmer Studies32:71–100.
  46. ^Vovin, Alexander (2014).Out Of Southern China? --some linguistic and philological musings on the possible Urheimat of the Japonic language family--XXVIIes Journées de Linguistique d'Asie Orientale 26–27 juin 2014.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • 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.ISBN0-7007-1457-X
  • Edmondson, J. A.(1986).Kam tone splits and the variation of breathiness.
  • 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.ISBN0-88312-066-6
  • Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009.Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families.Archived24 March 2019 at theWayback MachineChiang Mai: Payap University.
  • Norquest, Peter (2021). "Classification of (Tai-)Kadai/Kra-Dai languages".The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia.De Gruyter. pp. 225–246.doi:10.1515/9783110558142-013.ISBN9783110558142.S2CID238672319.
  • Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "Proto-Kra."Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area23(1): 1-251.
  • 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.ISBN974-661-450-9
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