Editing Tai languages (section)

==Internal classification==

===Haudricourt (1956)===
[[André-Georges Haudricourt|Haudricourt]] emphasizes the specificity of Dioi (Zhuang) and proposes to make a two-way distinction between the following two sets.<ref>Haudricourt, André-Georges. 1956. De la restitution des initiales dans les langues monosyllabiques : le problème du thai commun. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris 52. 307–322.</ref> The original language names used in Haudricourt's (1956) are provided first; alternative names are given in parentheses.

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** Dioi group: [[Yei Zhuang language|Yei Zhuang]], [[Yongbei Zhuang]], [[Youjiang Zhuang]], [[Bouyei language|Bouyei]] (Buyi)
** Tai proper: [[Ahom language|Ahom]], [[Shan language|Shan]], [[Thai language|Siamese]] (Thai), [[Lao language|Lao]], [[Tai Dón language|White Tai]] (Tai Dón), [[Tai Dam language|Black Tai]] (Tai Dam), [[Zhuang languages#Southern Zhuang|Southern Zhuang]], [[Tày language|Tho]] (Tày), [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]]
{{tree list/end}}

Characteristics of the Dioi group pointed out by Haudricourt are
* r- corresponding to the lateral l- in the other Tai languages,{{verify source|date=August 2021}}<!-- Appears to contradict Li and Pittayaporn. -->
* divergent vowel system characteristics, e.g. 'tail' has an /a/ vowel in Tai proper, as against /ə̄/ in Bo-ai, /iə/ in Tianzhou, and /ɯə/ in Tianzhou and Wuming, and
* the lack of aspirated stops and affricates, which are found everywhere in Tai proper.

===Li (1977)===
[[Li Fang-Kuei]] divided Tai into three sister branches.

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]
** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]] (Thai)
{{tree list/end}}

Li's Northern group corresponds to Haudricourt's Dioi group, while his Central and Southwestern groups correspond to Haudricourt's Tai proper. The three last languages in Haudricourt's list of 'Tai proper' languages are [[Tày language|Tho (Tày)]], [[Longzhou Zhuang language|Longzhou]], and [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]], which Li classifies as 'Central Tai'.

This classification scheme has long been accepted as standard in comparative Tai linguistics. However, Central Tai does not appear to be a [[monophyletic]] group.

===Gedney (1989)===
Gedney (1989) considers Central and Southwestern Tai to form a subgroup, of which Northern Tai is a sister. The top-level branching is in agreement with Haudricourt (1956).

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]
** {{tree list/branching}}
*** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
*** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]
{{tree list/end}}

===Luo (1997)===
Luo Yongxian (1997) classifies the Tai languages as follows, introducing a fourth branch called ''Northwestern Tai'' that includes [[Ahom language|Ahom]], [[Shan language|Shan]], [[Tai Nüa language|Dehong]] Dai, and [[Khamti language|Khamti]]. All branches are considered to be coordinate to each other.<ref>Luo, Yongxian. (1997). ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/23887080 The subgroup structure of the Tai Languages: a historical-comparative study]''. Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series, (12), p. 232.</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]
** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]
** Northwestern Tai
{{tree list/end}}

===Pittayaporn (2009)===
[[File:Lenguas Tai suroccidentales.png|right|thumb|320px|Southwestern Tai languages]]

====Overview====
{{See also|Zhuang languages#Varieties}}
Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2009) classifies the Tai languages based on clusters of shared innovations (which, individually, may be associated with more than one branch) (Pittayaporn 2009:298). In Pittayaporn's preliminary classification system of the Tai languages, [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]] is considered to be [[paraphyly|paraphyletic]] and is split up into multiple branches, with the [[Zhuang languages#Varieties|Zhuang varieties]] of [[Chongzuo]] in southwestern [[Guangxi]] (especially in the [[Zuo River]] valley at the border to Vietnam) having the most internal diversity. The [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]] and [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] branches remain intact as in [[Li Fang-Kuei]]'s 1977 classification system, and several of the Southern Zhuang languages allocated ISO codes are considered to be [[paraphyly|paraphyletic]]. The classification is as follows.<ref>Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. ''The Phonology of Proto-Tai''. PhD dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** D: '''[[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]'''
*** I: [[Qinzhou Zhuang]] (Yongnan Zhuang of [[Qinzhou]])
*** J
**** M: [[Standard Zhuang|Wuming Zhuang]], Yongnan Zhuang, [[Long'an County|Long'an]] Zhuang, [[Fusui County|Fusui]]
**** N: Core [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]: [[Saek language|Saek]], [[Bouyei language|Bouyei]], [[Yay language|Yay]], [[Youjiang Zhuang]] and others
** C: [[Chongzuo Zhuang]] (Yongnan Zhuang of [[Chongzuo]]), [[Shangsi Zhuang]] (Yongnan Zhuang of [[Shangsi County|Shangsi]]), [[Caolan language|Caolan]] (Vietnam)
** B: [[Ningming Zhuang language|Ningming Zhuang]] (Zuojiang Zhuang of [[Ningming County|Ningming]])
** A
*** F: [[Longzhou County|Lungchow]] Zhuang, [[Daxin County|Leiping]] Zhuang
*** E
**** H: Lungming Zhuang, [[Daxin County|Daxin]] Zhuang
**** G
***** L (Nung): [[Yang Zhuang language|Yang Zhuang]] of [[Debao County|Debao]], [[Yang Zhuang language|Yang Zhuang]] of [[Jingxi, Guangxi|Jingxi]], [[Nung language (Tai)|(Western) Nung]] of [[Mường Khương District]], [[Nong Zhuang language|Nong Zhuang]] of [[Wenshan City]]), [[Nong Zhuang language|Nong Zhuang]] of [[Yanshan County, Yunnan|Yanshan]]
***** K
****** P (Tay): [[Tày language|Tày]] of [[Bảo Yên District|Bảo Yên]], [[Tày language|Tày]] of [[Cao Bằng Province|Cao Bằng]], [[Dai Zhuang language|Dai Zhuang]] of Wenma (文麻)
****** O
******* R: [[Sapa language|Sapa]] (Vietnam)
******* Q: '''[[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]''' (Laos, Thailand, Burma)
{{tree list/end}}

[[Standard Zhuang]] is based on the dialect of Shuangqiao (双桥), [[Wuming District]].

[[File:Zhuang survey sites.svg|frame|center|Sites surveyed in Zhang (1999), subgrouped according to Pittayaporn (2009):
{{color circle|#ff0000}} N,
{{color circle|#ff7f00}} M,
{{color circle|#ffff00}} I,
{{color circle|#7fff00}} C,
{{color circle|#00c800}} B,
{{color circle|#00ff7f}} F,
{{color circle|#00ffff}} H,
{{color circle|#3232ff}} L,
{{color circle|#c800ff}} P
]]

====Sound changes====
{{See also|Proto-Tai language}}
[[File:Zhuang-dialects-map.png|right|thumb|400px|Distribution of Central and Northern Tai languages (Zhuang, Tay-Nung and Bouyei included)]] 
The following phonological shifts occurred in the Q (Southwestern), N (Northern), B (Ningming), and C (Chongzuo) subgroups (Pittayaporn 2009:300–301).

{| class="wikitable"
|+Proto-Tai reflexes
!c=rf| [[Proto-Tai language|Proto-Tai]]
!c=01| Subgroup Q{{efn|Unless indicated otherwise, all phonological shifts occurred at the primary level (node A).}}
!c=02| Subgroup N{{efn|Unless indicated otherwise, all phonological shifts occurred at the primary level (node D).}}
!c=03| Subgroup B
!c=04| Subgroup C
|-
!c=rf| *ɤj, *ɤw, *ɤɰ
|c=01| *aj, *aw, *aɰ
|c=02| *i:, *u:, *ɯ:
|c=03| *i:, *u:, *ɯ:
|c=04| –
|-
!c=rf| *ɯj, *ɯw
|c=01| *iː, *uː{{efn|Also, the *ɯːk > *uːk shift occurred at node A.}}
|c=02| *aj, *aw{{efn|Innovation at node N}}
|c=03| *iː, *uː
|c=04| –
|-
!c=rf| *we, *wo
|c=01| *eː, *oː
|c=02| *iː, *uː
|c=03| *eː, *oː{{efn|For node B, the affected Proto-Tai syllable was *weː, *woː.}}
|c=04| *eː, *oː{{efn|For node C, the affected Proto-Tai syllable was *weː, *woː.}}
|-
!c=rf| *ɟm̩.r-
|c=01| *br-
|c=02| *ɟr-
|c=03| –
|c=04| *ɟr-
|-
!c=rf| *k.t-
|c=01| –
|c=02| *tr-
|c=03| –
|c=04| *tr-
|-
!c=rf| *ɤn, *ɤt, *ɤc
|c=01| –
|c=02| *an, *at, *ac{{efn|Innovation at node J}}
|c=03| –
|c=04| –
|}

Furthermore, the following shifts occurred at various nodes leading up to node Q.
* E: *p.t- > *p.r-; *ɯm > *ɤm
* G: *k.r- > *qr-
* K: *eː, *oː > *ɛː, *ɔː
* O: *ɤn > *on
* Q: *kr- > *ʰr-

===Edmondson (2013)===
[[Jerold A. Edmondson]]'s (2013) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Tai languages is shown below. [[Tày language|Tay]] and [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]] are both shown to be coherent branches under [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]. [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] and [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]] are also shown to be coherent branches.<ref>Edmondson, Jerold A. 2013. ''Tai subgrouping using phylogenetic estimation''. Presented at the 46th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL 46), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States, 7–10 August 2013 (Session: Tai-Kadai Workshop).</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]: [[Bouyei language|Buyi]], [[Yay language|Yay]], Po-Ai, [[Standard Zhuang|Wuming Zhuang]], [[Yei Zhuang language|Mashan Zhuang]]
** {{tree list/branching}}
*** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
**** core [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]: Nung Chau, [[Pingxiang]] Zhuang, Leiping Zhuang, [[Ningming]] Zhuang
**** [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]]: Western Nung, Nung Yang, Nung An, Thu Lao
**** [[Tày language|Tay]]: Tay Bao Lac, Tay Khanh Trung, [[Caolan language|Cao Lan]]
*** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]: [[Ahom language|Ahom]], [[Shan language|Shan]], [[Tai Nüa language|Dehong]], [[Tai Thanh language|Tai Theeng]] (Nghe An), [[Tai Dam language|Black Tai]], [[Tai Dón language|White Tai]], [[Pa Di language|Padi]], [[Lao language|Lao]], [[Thai language|Thai]]
{{tree list/end}}