INNSTITUTE

( A

OF LANGU

MA

A NORTHE

UAGE AND

AHIDOL UN

ERN THA

D CULTUR

NIVERSIT

1982

AI DIALEC

RE FOR RU

TY BANGK

CT)

URAL DEV

KOK

VELOPMENNT

Tt+ 4'tHg atcf P

lqcq

THE PHONOTOGY OF THI TANNA LANGUAGE(A NoRTHERN THAI DIALECT)

RUENCDET PANKHUENKHAT

INSTITUTE OF LANCUAGE AND CULTURE FOR RURAL DEYELOPMENTMAHII]OL UNIVERSITY BANGKOK

19 82

THE PHONOLOGY OF ?HE TANNA LANGUAGE

(A iiORTHER\ TIj?.I DIALECT)

Ruengdet Pa-nkhueDkhat

INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE FOR RURAI DEVELOPI'ENT,

IJAh'IDOL UuIVERSIIY, BAticKCK,

xxr(x){xxxxxx:{xxxxxxxxx)<xxx

?his is an attefirpt to Dllesent the general idea ofchalactenistics of the :torthern Thai diafect in phoDologicalIevel, esDecialfy the consonants vowefs aDd tones as wellas ttre aolsonantal clust(:!'s. For the sake of corq)auative6tudy of the standara Thai and the nonthern Thai the ru]esof coF€sDonJences of some c.nsonants and rones between thetlro Thai dialects ane also provj.ded rlth sor,,e exan!,Dles.

.1. Introduction

The northern TtEi Cialect is one of the four. nain Thai dia.l.ects spokenin the notthein part of Thaifand in B p!,ovinces the sDeakel.s of tbis dia_Lectane over 4,792, 54c (1980), Thi native speakers ot th€ not:tthern Thai dialectpefer to their laaguage as "(annion,, whiclt means "tor"! language (Kan -language o!' word rihife m{a!- ,town or city') because the speake?s ale settleal

Paper presented at the 14tIanguages ar1a Lilguistics

lnter.national Cont-eLence onr-lniversity of !lo!ida, octobea 29 - Novenber,. 1981.

in tbe Dot-thern plane areas whele they are sulLounded by nountains o!

tlountainous at'eas inhabited b_v varicties of hifl tribe Deop.le i.e. Itiao, Yao,

Akkha, Ittusor, Lisu etc. ?hel,' calf thenself "Khonmia{r' the people of tordt orl

city o! town people and call their foqner Kingdom "Lanna'r o! I'LanDa Thai',, So

this partieular diatect is a]so kncwn to Thai iJeople as lanna Tbai Languager'.

The Lafila people ]rave thei? cwn script lite!,atutie anal cultur'e. The Lanna

scpipt i.s ve?y siail.er to tce Shan Script used by Shan people in

Sur,tlla and in the ?eligions texts of Laos. Sorne.letteis a!,e also connon to Uon

and Burnese Scriet- Like a]1 Thai rriting systens it is based on eally

medievaJ. Indian alpha.bets. The Lania script nowaday is used o!|ly fot, the

leligious function by Buddhist monks. The Lanna people are peace - _loviDg.

About 95 percent of people a!'e Buddhists riith aniinistic betiefs, Lanna lhaiis eell kljorln to the Tlai people and foleigners or visitons as/thiD thay{a:n/

'a fand of a beautifuf Thai girf:

The inventorli of phonenes of the

consigts of seveqte€n co:tsolantsj Lwo

:lorther:n Thai dialect

senivoweLs, eighteen

2/.

or. Ianna Thai

2.

diphthongs ani sir tcnes as follows,

dfffiLaflpa phoneEes and Scrlpts

2.1 Consonauts

PhoDe-

I

k

td

I

t__

(ch)*

kh

lst; -\-t .>

.'/:

Vl. Ui',as? "

Vd,Unasp.

Vl"Asp.

i{asals li

F!-ica!ives

)

ir

I

'I

r

a.)

t:,

I-ater.-1

l,anna Fhoneoes l,atura Scripts

Itigh class Lon Cl.as!Mid

Class

j--\(:l

/.t!/ j.ri - - -::ou:1crC

hI

fr"eel.y by edllcated sFeake{ it

i

I SenlvowelsI

lt)

2 ,2 Vowe-l s

Diphthongs

2.3 Tores

6tt

*l

(1

a1::

.-J

b" tfrl (')

qjq . P.l (')

."-tt',,g 1fr;t^licsrng 1pl (-)

or,

,)

c-)tu

, l"'--l

(' -'

r| (-.:

go'u..--

;,1

'-'i'e(-J

1o

c., -Cl r

.,'))

t3)

(+.i

(s)

(6)

o3

\D

(r) l'id t hl (unmarked) lrl /nay/

lrui /ndy/

lu l$aY /

U /"av/

lru /n6y/

( -) lni /niy/

rstinglng apF .ius olinsectB I

tto be nelal

tto f6a1 sc: r.:/r

'to bul.n I

No_.L The Hi;I t(De ofinha.bitants f.:l

the Chiangroai Speakers is higher thalr thal ofoth€r irovinces.

nlgrr-rauing 1 f-.21

F:\ont I Celrtlal

ct--t

I

^!.,

- l l u ^ \a:

r! ' r.r^l,/ -4-l.-//'

3. Consoaalttl !..isteas

kw- (ni1{) ,/kw;:e/

(n-ii.r ) ,/khwan/'.'. )

(5)

tw- (,^2] (exs)/twa:y/L] LI

*o.- ,h.")JI rn?-I..)/l wa:Y/

-at | ,

Icw- q) Qin)lcvet/'o

I

1\. -. )) ) i taiiu) /lvrirt/-t (i

I

n" -2'"'2 -q 1i:'lurra) /tlmwa ryl.U

,.6 )

i7)

(8) rrl (1iTu1 /qwi:y/

(riru ) /sui:y

(.i0) t$ (ain ) /Iia]</

(ngrrn I ,/ywi:t/

There

(f)

Itslua Langnage as {.il -!oli|).

tto be ride

-rsmoke

(3)

(IL) yw

'to cffe!t

Ito br :le

'to sprea:

Ito tul'l olers f, --r

'to fol etefl l

ito trJa.r ,ack'"2' \O t,,'

i

tj Lj

- d\t r,c.(-

- <-1;\

\,/ 5'to fall d rqn'

]'iotF-: Its consonanta.l- cfustels with /E/ except /kt-/ and /knw_r .. armcj01:/vrl nay be fc :rid some::..tr are found to occura with sone xt,dificatr_in /*,1,:y/ l,econes /s5:1./ ?tc. iD scn€ Locaf.ities.

IrI

are f.l cLnsonanral clusters in the

(': ')ct)

.-):,

6/.

4. ColrespoDCences of coDsonant poooepes

For the sake of compaiat_ive study betneeD the Lai;a Ti! r.;uages

(L.T.) and the Statraa.d Thai (S.T.). the foUot,ilg rules a!,e t. !_pondence€ of consonart phoneDes between the two Thaj. alialects.

Ercept the consonatrt phoneme /r/ rhich does Dot occur in lanDe - i.tl:land S.T. heve the sane segnEntal phooenres, but a few of thern dc Dct oft,rj;cofrespond ex3ctly to each other. Itll'ill be seen that one anl the sar -, :.T.Phoneme nay be reppesentec by tno f,ori no!e) different phonebes in Lan'l.l ,rnd€!

diife?eot cor,d:i:ions i.e. th€re is phoneidc split in the Lanna ?hai .I;iju.r_r.4.1 Al.l aspirated phonenes of S.?. coE,esponds to deaspj.r,at:.i

pionenes in lanna in al.I inherittea ircnds having a nid tone,falLrng ,.,ire

and high tone (iD S.T,)

s. T.

,hlP -/

,h

r. T.

it{ )

{r)

(s)

(n)

\ -) /p-lI

''\-) /t-/

)--r,"-,

l,Jid

Fal-liDg

High tone

becones (fii )

----+/k-/

(r )

(r)lxaaples

h,/p--3n/ ({iJ )

1'thousand I

\"'2a (fi'')

(it

:? S)(-/\-/

6@l

4\4

)-/'^\ a

lp onl ( ltu

,t a::,. {ti\r)

/t"'n/ 'dori )

/cliiq/ l{.,r)

, h, .-/c a:.r/ I?Jl\'j

/k"an/ tni )

/ki'i, / (;,)

Ito getover:

'fiay'

'c1.. of log I

Ito dis.iiker

Ito-:rfdei

IJ€ r els€rher"e

tpLcture,

'to tfr.k'

itea t

()2 (i.t) /x!, t

. renain the saoe a- of

others for exampfe

/t'iA:p/ (tr'tl)

/k"it/ (iin )

/e"at/ (s,t)

becones

(01\: )

(oiau)

(n. )

(ir.r )

(nl )

I pon/

/tat \/

7l

Note: A.I1 aspl.?ated phonenes of S. land in foan words f:,on S.T. op

/ph3:p/ (nr) becornee

/kh!t/ (fin )

/c"a:/ (. ,:

{.2 The conson3nt p7. -_ee /t/, /... -t:d ;-i

The S.T. phonem?s /:,/ Coes Dot occur in the tanna lareuage. I.isaLnays repbced by the photEes ih/ ana /)./ in th3 nort:rer,- Thai di: .:,It, therefoie, co?lesFonds to :\e phonenes /h/ ar\d /L/ in r,.rDna ir _::re

foLloning conditions:

+-----::-u.!.-

(a: In a-l] lnher.ireC lrords, the

phonene /h/ in correspoltding words in

Exanples

8/.

phoDsre /r/ in S,T. becoEes

Lanna.

s. T.

/d,</

/riji./

{rn )

(3tr )

( r3o!)

L.T.

becc..:s li l.f'n], /hik/.')t-).t (A!) /hittr/

ffif 5) 51(rtotr ) /hien/

riig€

r .. l

useC /r/ bec :'.js

er'-IglS: The letter[

I ] is pronouoced as the sound /]t/

Loa'I xords froe S.T. anil other languages

Lama . fox E><esp]e

o\

6t?

G-'

srus) Id c):Dot the lette'

(b) A11

/I/ in spoken

S.T.

/r'amHong,/ (.ti1\:)

/!'a: !r3r1/ (-'.!5a )

/]'A.k/ (i:ft )

/tiaprity/ ( r3rtiatL )

Note: (b) applied on-Iy for

/ Ia: $tan/

/ 16:k/ a::.3s:'

sound

/Ilap:]5:y' irisht

in Lanna,

l!,

I

4.3 Cor raespopdences of tones

Th€ Lanna laDguage has six tones whereas the S.T. has r five

tcnes Both of lrh.ich nay or ;ndy rot corrrespond to each other in :-r,ne

wo:rds and sane meaniDgs, The correspondatce of tofles between +i,,- r ir(

dia.l.ects are governed by the fouowiDg rul-es:

.L ) Uid tone (unrnarked ) 1-)\\\\_t

r*

i-

Th€ foLlo!.ring are sone examp.tres of the sarne r\'clds trr ;.. ...::.,..

m€anings l'hich nay or nay not have aliff€lences in tones so 3, :, :] -:.the

cor"lespondences of tone€ of S.T. and IJ.T. accoudinq to these ful-es:

9/.

2) l,ow tone (')

3) Falling tone (^)

4) High tcne ( ')

---+5) RtsinC tone (-) ----------------+

L. T.

Rlsing tone ( ) in a syLlabL! w.i,.

initiaf /p, t, c, k/ ( .ri"..n.)

Ilid tone e16e$bere

Higb tone ( ) rith a shorl voH€l

fol].owed by a voice.less stop.

Low tooe e.L6ewhere.

High-faLLing tone (-) i!! open syt: rr..

cr wci'ds folloued by /-r, -n, -n

-y/ ( -! -u -rr -1-0 )

Fal].irlg tane elsewheae

High tone (')

Rising tone (-)

i

l-

becones

<-;'4 ;-, 1 rni;/t :",'

Rule If Lor tone (.) Lhich oceues $lthvoice.Iess stop consonalrts in S.l, corraesponcls tofoP oaar,r!,le :

Rulee -L

correspoDds to the

l.lld tone in S. T.

risin€: tone in

with iDitial. phonenes

L,?. for, exanp.Les:

1i,.

/p- :,..,k-/

teYst

,kir' ;,

rL

/pi,/ (o)

/laa/ (fr/)

/ta:/ $1)

/tay/ \1h)

/cay1 6n,

/con/ ,!|rJ)

/kin/ titu)

/kav-/ (rn,l)

6) br'r

Gut /p;nt

(i.t) /tJ: /

(i) ttayt

(1i) /c5y/

(i,l) /cin/

(lu) /kln/

o"o()ta

<.-'

L3)

<-/ (

oet> (r

short vowet,.: followed

the high tone ( ,) ix

I

i

IT

/k|!/ 6!).

/:1t/ Gn)

/7Ap/ .|tru)

/Ak/ 6Fn)

/kA1 / (n-- )

RuIe rlI: fal]in:lor. fol_lowed b.y /_n, _1, _0,

tone (-) i- ' -. _,, ".,. In all high

/k"e:n/ (61u )

/batn/ ljru )

/san/ (iir )

/sa1 / (oirr: )

/Pa:/ (J.,)

/nat /ilu-r )

/ye:/ (rfr)

i"-) i 6ul *!ott:^io

t7; 6t) rtitrJ ---.plo {ntu1 16r,

LQ I cDtu#nt tr,!v tc\. /

{rs I ii=) txlt t

t-i/.

,r,-i16'

'to be .onnected t

'po

It,.,::tiiate'

becornes

icne (^) ,hich occurs witn ro!.rel: _,, oDen

-'I, -y/ in S,T,, cortesporis toard nid c-rass retters fo!, exah

':ifirg

rJ a=''_rt'

'to r'tj,

/ ein/

ai 3 ,/si:"/1-r^('/ t /pi: /

'^" a /nE: /

- ale t.-= .(,i

i

1,2 ,' .

--. ,d:ung tone in S.T. ).enai- +!^tnr ^^---

_' (' e sane as in L.?. e.lser'.. al.l_-_ vvnuonaht clas6 and in toan ldolds jn L.T. for exanlD]e:

= 2,4 5\ /hi^ /

-ll 6V: a^.At^, e ser cct\r

=/.^^b s -r, / 12a, J 'to chCS.' :

/110!r,/ (,1-! )

/73ak/ ((ron)

/r€y/ (1d)

t shar'., '

I/7;k/ (rn

)

h,{t/ Ga)

/k\t/ (!1)

/si:1 (6)

'coloufi

?=&a

--'z\ |

= ->J

lf

/ lek/

/vtt /

/ aL:/

't?r-:

Rule IV and Rufe vi F;

atkays co:'.espond to the sam€ ,nt"n

-on" (') and Rising tonc (t) i,r s.T.l. ?. r:espectively for, exanple

I

J

P. RuangCe_i - A s]'nchnoric Conparative Study of l4odern Thai and

)iodein Lanna (unpublished !h.D,Thesis)DeccaD CoIIege,

Poona fe76.

Rj.chGrd David. A Nothern Thai Reade!, The Sian Society]

Sangkok.

Mar1r'y R. llass, Thai - Englisir Student's Dictiona4r, StaDfor!:

Uaivers ity pl:ess. Stanford, Califoania.

I

lhe XIVth Intefiration Conf€r'ence onSino-?ibetenL62 GliDte! Hall

s and titguisticsLhiversity of idacainesville orida 32611

ConfeieDce CoordiDatoF :Dr. CharmcEy C. Chu(so4) ssz..so

u. s. A.

Septenber, 29, l.9gl

:lr. Ruengdet pankhuenkhatrDstltute of LaDguage and Cultule!o!. Rural DeveloHleltitahidol trnj.versitvBangkok 7 ttailand

Deat' Dr. pankhuenkhat:

-_-- ":"::"" of your contributioos to intert)atiollal 6cho1a.r,Ehlp i.n thea.Fea or sino-ri.betan taneuaqes.rd rineui;li;;;-,j" ri"rii*yiii.i. palticiprteand priesent a papen at the Fourteeoth i"t._,.ili"r-i'""i!riii..i,sr"*rrDetan Languages and Linsuistics to be held "t th" ;i;;;J; Jr r:.onid.:,utrnesvi'.e, Froriida, u.s.A. The itates ;iii ;; d;;.;; ';iliil"io"o ,, ,,rr.,---,Y:" "ilt b6 receiving ciFcu-Iars fFom u5 conceming the p:.oqra adrocal aEaDgenents for th; Conference

looking forvatad to seeing you in october, I renai!.

Sincslely your's.,

sd. /_

Chauncey C. ChuCoondinator