LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 24:9 September 2024
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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The Evolution of Tai Phake and Tai Turung Consonant Inventories:
An OT Account

Indrani Gogoi, PhD Scholar

1. 1. Introduction

Tai Phake and Tai Turung are two languages spoken in Assam, a northeastern state of India. Both belong to the Kra-Dai language family, also known as Tai-Kadai. This family of languages is predominantly spoken across regions such as Thailand, northern Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and the Southwestern part of China. A key feature of these languages is their tonal structure, and they are spoken by approximately 93 million people.

There are a total of six Tai languages spoken in Assam: Tai Ahom, Tai Khamti, Tai Khamyang, Tai Aiton, Tai Phake, and Tai Turung. These Tai languages face a critical threat as their speakers are predominantly bilingual, using Assamese (the lingua franca of the state) in their daily interactions and restricting their native tongue to familial contexts. The younger generation, in particular, exhibits greater fluency in Assamese compared to their ancestral language. This shift could be attributed to their educational environment, where English or Assamese are the primary mediums of instruction, as well as the perceived prestige associated with Assamese due to its wider usage.

The Tai-Kadai language family has been categorized into five branches by Weera Ostapirat (2005:128): a) Tai, the largest branch, spoken in Southern China and Southeast Asia, b) Kra, also known as Kadai, spoken in Southern China and Northern Vietnam, c) Kam-Sui, spoken in the southern part of China, d) Be, spoken in Hainan, and, e) Hlai, spoken in Hainan. The Kra-Dai languages spoken in the Northeastern state of Assam belong to the Tai branch of the Kra-Dai language family. Henceforth, this study will refer to the group of Kra-Dai languages spoken in Assam as Tai languages.

This study focuses specifically on Tai Phake and Tai Turung, examining the consonant systems of Proto-Tai and Proto-Southwestern Tai in general, and of Tai Phake and Tai Turung in particular. The aim is to trace how the Tai languages of Assam have evolved from their proto forms and to contribute to the literature on these languages, as they are critically endangered. The changes observed are accounted for in Optimality Theory.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Indrani Gogoi, PhD Scholar
The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
indranigogoi3@gmail.com
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