# Tày language

Tày or Thổ (a name shared with the unrelated Thổ and Cuoi languages) is the major Tai language of Vietnam, spoken by more than a million Tày people in Northeastern Vietnam.

## Distribution

* Vietnam: northern provinces (including Cao Bang Province and Quang Ninh Province)
* China: in the border area of Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan and Guangxi (mainly Jingxi County)
* Laos: northern region.

## Varieties

Tày linguistic varieties include the following:
* Tày Bảo Lạc – spoken in Bảo Lạc District, western Cao Bang province.
* Tày Trùng Khánh – spoken in Trùng Khánh District, northeastern Cao Bang province.
* Thu Lao or Dai Zhuang varieties are considered to be a different language.

## Phonology
### Consonants

Tày consonants :
| | | Labial | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| | | plain | pal. | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | pʲ | t | c | k | |
| Plosive | aspirated | pʰ | pʰʲ | tʰ | | kʰ | |
| Plosive | voiced | b | bʲ | d | | | |
| Plosive | implosive | ɓ | ɓʲ | ɗ | | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | | s | | x | h |
| Fricative | voiced | v | | z | | ɣ | |
| Fricative | lateral | | | ɬ | | | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Trill | Trill | | | r | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | w | | l | j | | |
* The Cao Bẳng Tày dialect is the only variety to have the sounds /j w r ɣ b d bʲ/.

### Vowels

Tày vowels :
| | Front | Central | Back | Back |
| High | i | | ɯ | u |
| High-mid | e | | o | o |
| Mid | | ə əː | | |
| Low-mid | ɛ | ɐ | ɔ | ɔ |
| Low | | a | | |
Tày diphthongs :
| | Front | Front | Back | Back |
| Close | ie | ie | ɯə | uo |
* There are also three semivowels [u̯ i̯ ɯ̯] that mainly occur in syllable-coda position in combination with other vowel sounds. [u̯ i̯] are typically realized as consonant sounds [w j]. [u̯] follows front vowels /i e ɛ/ and central vowels /ə a ɐ/. [i̯] follows back vowels /u o ɔ/ as well as central vowels /ə a ɐ/. However, [ɯ̯] only follows /ə/.

### Tones

Six tones are present in Cao Bẳng Tày:
Tày tones :
| a̋ | ˥ |
| a᷄ | ˦˥ |
| á | ˦ |
| ā | ˧ |
| à | ˨ |
| a᷆ | ˨˩ |

## Vocabulary

| English | Tày | Zhuang | Thai | Vietnamese | Middle Chinese | Proto Tai |
| one | nâng, đeo, êt | it | nueng หนึ่ง, -et -เอ็ด | nừng (obsolete word meaning few) | ‹See RfD› ʔiɪt̚ | *nɯːŋᴮ |
| two | sloong, nhỉ | ngeih | song สอง | | ‹See RfD› ȵiɪH | *soːŋᴬ, from Middle Chinese 雙 (MC ‹See RfD› ʃˠʌŋ, "two") |
| three | slam | sam | sam สาม | | ‹See RfD› sɑm | *saːm (“three”), from Middle Chinese 三 (MC ‹See RfD› sɑm, "three") |
| four | slí | seiq | si สี่ | | ‹See RfD› siɪH | *siːᴮ (“four”), from Middle Chinese 四 (MC ‹See RfD› siɪH, "four") |
| five | hả | haj | ha ห้า | | ‹See RfD› ŋaːʔ | *haːꟲ (“five”), from Old Chinese 五 (OC ‹See RfD› *ŋaːʔ, "five") |
| six | hốc, hôc, xốc | loek | hok หก | | ‹See RfD› *ruɡ | *krokᴰ (“six”), from Old Chinese 六 (OC ‹See RfD› *ruɡ, "six") |
| seven | chêt | caet | chet เจ็ด | | ‹See RfD› t͡sʰiɪt̚ | *cetᴰ (“seven”), from Middle Chinese 七 (MC ‹See RfD› t͡sʰiɪt̚, "seven") |
| eight | pet | bed | paet แปด | | ‹See RfD› pˠɛt̚ | mis|*peːtᴰ (“eight”), from Middle Chinese 八 (MC ‹See RfD› pˠat̚, "eight") |
| nine | cẩu | giuj | kao เก้า | | ‹See RfD› kɨuX | mis|*kɤwꟲ (“nine”), from Middle Chinese 九 (MC ‹See RfD› kɨuX, "nine") |
| ten | slip | cib | sip สิบ | | ‹See RfD› d͡ʑiɪp̚ | From Middle Chinese 十 (MC ‹See RfD› d͡ʑiɪp̚, "ten") |
| hundred | pac | bak | roi ร้อย | | ‹See RfD› pˠæk̚ | *roːjꟲ |
| hundred and one | pac lình êt | bak lingz it | nueng roi et หนึ่งร้อยเอ็ด | | | |
| thousand | xiên | cien | phan พัน | | ‹See RfD› t͡sʰen | |
| ten thousand | fản | fanh | muen หมื่น | | ‹See RfD› mʉɐnH | From Middle Chinese 萬 (MC ‹See RfD› mʉɐnH) |
| language | tiểng | | siang เสียง (sound) | tiếng | ‹See RfD› ɕiᴇŋ | |