1. Names

2. Internal classification
    Edmondson and Solnit (1988)  Ostapirat (2005); Norquest (2007) 

3. External relationships
    Sino-Tai  Austro-Tai  Austric  Hmong-Mien  Japanese 

4. Reconstruction

5. References

6. Further reading

7. External links

The Kra–Dai languages (also known as Tai–Kadai, Daic and Kadai) are a language family of tonal languages found in southern China, Northeast India and Southeast Asia. They include Thai and Lao, the national languages of Thailand and Laos respectively.^[1] Around 93 million people speak Kra–Dai languages, 60% of whom speak Thai.^[2] Ethnologue lists 95 languages in the family, with 62 of these being in the Tai branch.^[3]

The high diversity of Kra–Dai languages in southern China points to the origin of the Kra–Dai language family in southern China. The Tai branch moved south into Southeast Asia only around 1000 AD.

Genetic and linguistic analysis show great homogeneity between Kra-Dai speaking people in Thailand.^[4]

Names

The name "Kra–Dai" was proposed by Weera Ostapirat (2000), as Kra and Dai are the reconstructed autonyms of the Kra and Tai branches respectively.^[5] "Kra–Dai" has since been used by the majority of specialists working on Southeast Asian linguistics, including Norquest (2007),^[6] Pittayaporn (2009),^[5][6] Baxter & Sagart (2014),^[7] and Enfield & Comrie (2015).^[8]

The name "Tai–Kadai" is used in many references, as well as Ethnologue and Glottolog, but Ostapirat (2000) and others suggest that it is problematic and confusing, preferring the name "Kra–Dai" instead.^[9] The name comes from an obsolete bifurcation of the family into two branches, Tai and Kadai, which had first been proposed by Paul K. Benedict (1942).^[12] In 1942, Paul K. Benedict placed three Kra languages (Gelao, Laqua (Qabiao) and Lachi) together with Hlai in a group that he called "Kadai", from ka, meaning "person" in Gelao and Laqua (Qabiao), and Dai, a form of a Hlai autonym.^[10] Benedict's (1942) "Kadai" group was based on his observation that Kra and Hlai languages have Austronesian-like numerals. However, this classification is now universally rejected as obsolete after Ostapirat (2000) demonstrated the coherence of the Kra branch, which does not subgroup with the Hlai branch as Benedict (1942) had proposed. "Kadai" is sometimes used to refer to the entire Kra–Dai family, including by Solnit (1988).^[11][15] Adding to the confusion, some other references restrict the usage of "Kadai" to only the Kra branch of the family.

The name "Daic" is used by Roger Blench (2008).^[12]

Internal classification

Kra–Dai consists of at least five well established branches, namely Kra, Kam–Sui, Tai, Be and Hlai (Ostapirat 2005:109).

• Tai (southern China and Southeast Asia; by far the largest branch)
• Kra (southern China, northern Vietnam; called Kadai in Ethnologue)
• Kam–Sui (Guizhou and Guangxi, China)
• Be (Hainan; possibly also includes Jizhao of Guangdong)
• Hlai (Hainan)

Chinese linguists have also proposed a Kam–Tai group that includes Kam–Sui, Tai and Be.^[13][14]

Kra–Dai languages that are not securely classified, and may constitute independent Kra-Dai branches, include the following.

• Lakkia and Biao, which may or may not subgroup with each other, are difficult to classify due to aberrant vocabulary, but are sometimes classified as sisters of Kam–Sui (Solnit 1988).^[11]
• Jiamao of southern Hainan, China is an aberrant Kra-Dai language traditionally classified as a Hlai language, although Jiamao contains many words of non-Hlai origin.
• Jizhao of Guangdong, China is currently unclassified within Kra–Dai, but appears to be most closely related to Be (Ostapirat 1998).^[15]

Kra–Dai languages of mixed origins are:

• Hezhang Buyi: Northern Tai and Kra
• E: Northern Tai and Pinghua Chinese
• Caolan: Northern Tai and Central Tai
• Sanqiao: Kam–Sui, Hmongic and Chinese
• Jiamao: Hlai and other unknown elements (Austroasiatic?)

Edmondson and Solnit (1988)

An early but influential classification, with the traditional Kam–Tai clade, was Edmondson and Solnit's classification from 1988:^[16][17]

         }}      }}   }}

This classification is used by Ethnologue, though by 2009 Lakkia was made a third branch of Kam–Tai and Biao was moved into Kam–Sui.

Ostapirat (2005); Norquest (2007)

Weera Ostapirat (2005:108) suggests the possibility of Kra and Kam–Sui being grouped together as Northern Kra–Dai, and Hlai with Tai as Southern Kra–Dai.^[23] Norquest (2007) has further updated this classification to include Lakkia and Be. Norquest notes that Lakkia shares some similarities with Kam–Sui, while Be shares some similarities with Tai. Norquest (2007:15) notes that Be shares various similarities with Northern Tai languages in particular.^[18] Following Ostapirat, Norquest adopts the name Kra–Dai for the family as a whole. The following tree of Kra–Dai is from Norquest (2007:16).

      }}      }}

      }}      }}   }}

Additionally, Norquest (2007) also proposes a reconstruction for Proto-Southern Kra–Dai.

External relationships

Sino-Tai

Kra-Dai and Sino-Tibetan are often linked together by Chinese scholars, including by Luo (2008).^[19]

The Kra–Dai languages were formerly considered to be part of the Sino-Tibetan family, but outside China they are now classified as an independent family. They contain large numbers of words that are similar in Sino-Tibetan languages. However, these are seldom found in all branches of the family and do not include basic vocabulary, indicating that they are old loan words.^[20]

In China, they are called Zhuang–Dong languages and are generally considered to be related to Sino-Tibetan languages along with the Miao–Yao languages. It is still a matter of discussion among Chinese scholars whether Kra languages such as Gelao, Qabiao and Lachi can be included in Zhuang–Dong, since they lack the Sino-Tibetan similarities that are used to include other Zhuang–Dong languages in Sino-Tibetan.

Austro-Tai

Several Western scholars have presented suggestive evidence that Kra–Dai is related to or a branch of the Austronesian language family.^[22] There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary. Among proponents, there is yet no agreement as to whether they are a sister group to Austronesian in a family called Austro-Tai, a back-migration from Taiwan to the mainland, or a later migration from the Philippines to Hainan during the Austronesian expansion.

Austric

The Austric proposal suggests a link between Austronesian and the Austroasiatic languages. Echoing part of Benedict's conception of Austric, who added Kra–Dai-Japanese and Hmong–Mien to the proposal. Kosaka (2002) argued specifically for a Miao–Dai family.^[23]

Hmong-Mien

Kosaka (2002) argued specifically for a Miao–Dai family. He argues that there is much evidence for a genetic relation between Hmong-Mien and Kra–Dai languages. He further suggests that similarities between Kra-Dai and Austronesian are because of later areal contact in coastal arear of eastern and southeastern China or an older ancestral relation (Proto-Eastasian).^[24]

Japanese

Vovin (2014) proposed that the location of the Japonic Urheimat (linguistic homeland) is in Southern China. Vovin argues for typological evidence that Proto-Japanese may have been a monosyllabic, SVO syntax and isolating language, which are also characteristic of Tai–Kadai languages. The following lexical comparisons between Proto-Japonic and Proto-Tai are cited from Vovin (2014).^[25]

• Proto-Tai items are taken from Li, Fang Kuei 1977. A Handbook of Comparative Tai. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• Li Fang-Kuei ï is equivalent to ɯ.
• NT = Northern Tai, CT = Central Tai, SW = Southwestern Tai.

Reconstruction

No full reconstruction of Proto-Kra–Dai has been published to date, although tentative reconstructions of many Proto-Kra-Dai roots have been attempted from time to time. Some Proto-Kra-Dai forms have been reconstructed by Benedict (1975)^[26] and Wu (2002).^[27] A reconstruction of Proto-Kam-Tai (i.e., a proposed grouping that contains all of Kra-Dai without Kra, Hlai, and Jiamao) has also been undertaken by Liang & Zhang (1996).^[28]

Weera Ostapirat (2018a)^[29] reconstructs disyllabic forms for Proto-Kra–Dai, rather than sesquisyllabic or purely monosyllabic forms. His Proto-Kra-Dai reconstructions also contains the finals *-c and *-l.^[30] Ostapirat (2018b:113)^[31] lists the following of his own Proto-Kra-Dai reconstructions.

Notes:

• K-: either k- or q-
• C-: unspecified consonant
• T- and N- are distinct from t- and n-.

References

• Edmondson, J.A. and D.B. Solnit eds. 1997. Comparative Kadai: the Tai branch. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington. {{ISBN|0-88312-066-6}}
• Blench, Roger. 2004. Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology? Paper for the Symposium "Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan: genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence". Geneva June 10–13, 2004. Université de Genève.

Further reading

• Diller, A., J. Edmondson, & Yongxian Luo, ed., (2005). The Tai–Kadai languages. London [etc.]: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-7007-1457-X}}
• Tai–Kadai Languages. (2007). Curzon Pr. {{ISBN|978-0-7007-1457-5}}
• Edmondson, J. A. (1986). Kam tone splits and the variation of breathiness.
• Edmondson, J. A., & Solnit, D. B. (eds.) (1988). Comparative Kadai: linguistic studies beyond Tai. Summer Institute of Linguistics publications in linguistics, no. 86. Arlington, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. {{ISBN|0-88312-066-6}}
• Ostapirat, Weera. (2000). "Proto-Kra." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 23 (1): 1-251.
• Somsonge Burusphat, & Sinnott, M. (1998). Kam–Tai oral literatures: collaborative research project between. Salaya Nakhon Pathom, Thailand: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University. {{ISBN|974-661-450-9}}
• Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families. Chiang Mai: Payap University.

External links

• Word lists of Tai–Kadai languages from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
• Tai–Kadai word lists by Ilya Peiros (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)
• StarLing: Tai–Kadai 100-word lists and etymology
  • StarLing: Zhuang–Tai 100-word lists and etymology
  • StarLing: Kam–Sui 100-word lists and etymology
• Comparative Tai–Kadai Swadesh vocabulary lists (from Wiktionary's Swadesh list appendix)

• Piața Națiunile Unite
• PIB Airport
• Pibal theodolite
• Pibanga costulata
• Pibanga diamantina
• Pibanga glabricula
• Pibanga itacoatiara
• Pibanga jacareacanga
• Pibanga ochropyga
• Pibanga transversefasciata
• Pibbon, New South Wales
• PiB (disambiguation)
• P. I. Bedford
• Pibelmen
• Pibelmen language
• Pi Beta Phi settlement school
• Pi Bill
• Pibit
• Pibocella ulvae
• Pibor massacre
• Pibrentasvir
• Pibrentasvir/glecaprevir
• PIBSA
• PIBSI
• Pibul Songkraam