Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Cuối language

Cuói
Thổ
Native toVietnam, Laos
EthnicityThổ
Native speakers
(71,000 cited 1999 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Cuối Chăm
  • Làng Lỡ
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
tou – Tho
hnu – Hung
Glottologcuoi1242
Linguasphere46-EAD-a

Cuối, known as Thổ,[2] is a dialect cluster spoken by around 70,000 Thổ people in Vietnam and a couple thousand in Laos, mainly in the provinces of Bolikhamsai and Khammouane.

Phonology

Làng Lỡ dialect

Consonants

The consonant inventory of the Làng Lỡ dialect, as cited by Michel Ferlus:[3]

Initial consonants of Cuối Làng Lỡ
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive tenuis p t ʈ c k ʔ
glottalized ɓ ɗ ˀɟ
aspirated
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ h
voiced β v ð ɣ
glottalized ˀð
Approximant l ɽ ~ ʐ j
  • [ʈ] is found in Vietnamese loanwords with initial /ʈ/ (orthographic ⟨tr⟩)
  • ð ɣ ˀð] originate in the borrowing of segments from a variety of Vietnamese that existed several centuries ago.

Vowels

Monothongs of Cuối Làng Lỡ
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Close-mid/
Mid
e ə o
Open-mid/
Open
ɛ ʌ̆
ă a
ɔ
Diphthongs of Cuối Làng Lỡ ɨə

Tones

There are eight tones in the Làng Lỡ. Tones 1 to 6 are found on sonorant-final syllables (a.k.a. 'live' syllables): syllables ending in a vowel, semi-vowel or nasal. Tones 7 and 8 are found on obstruent-final syllables (a.k.a. 'stopped' syllables), ending in -p -t -c -k.[3] This is a system comparable to that of Vietnamese.

Vocabulary

The data is from Cuoi Cham vocabulary recordings and the Mon-Khmer Etymological Dictionary.

English Cuối Chăm Làng Lỡ North Vietnamese
cloud mʌl¹ mʌn¹ məj˧˧ mây
rain mɐː² mɨə¹ mɨə˧˧ mưa
wind sɒː³ juə³ zɔ˧˦ gió
thunder kʰrʌm⁴ ʂəm⁴ səm˧˦ sấm
earth, land tʌt⁷ tʌt⁷ ʔɗət̚˧˦ đất
cave haːŋ¹ haːŋ¹ haːŋ˧˧ hang
deep kʰruː² ʂuː² səw˧˧ sâu
water daːk⁷ daːk⁷ nɨək̚˧˦ nước
river kʰrɔŋ¹ ʂɔːŋ¹ səwŋ͡m˧˧ sông
puddle puŋ⁶ - vʊwŋ͡m˦ˀ˥] vũng
mud puːl² vuːn² ʔɓun˨˩ bùn
rock, stone taː³ δaː³ ʔɗaː˧˦ đá
bark pɒː⁵ ʂɔː⁵⁶ vɔ˧˩ vỏ
dog cɒː³ cɔː³ t͡ɕɔ˧˦ chó
cultivated field rɔːŋ² ʂɔːŋ² zuəŋ˧˨ʔ ruộng
to go tiː² tiː² ʔɗi˧˧ đi
to have kɒː³ kɔː³ kɔ˧˦

References

  1. ^ Tho at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Hung at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "The Vietic Branch". sealang.net.
  3. ^ a b Ferlus 2015, I.2

Further reading

  • Ferlus, Michel (2015). Hypercorrections in the Thổ dialect of Làng Lỡ (Nghệ An, Vietnam): an example of pitfalls for comparative linguistics (Ph.D.).