lingvo.wikisort.org - Language

Phuan or Northeastern Lao is a Tai language spoken in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.[2][3]

Phuan
ພວນ, พวน
Native to	Laos, Thailand
Ethnicity	Phuan people
Native speakers	300,000 (2000–2006)[1]
Language family	Kra–Dai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Chiang Saen Phuan
Writing system	Thai, Lao, Tham
Language codes
ISO 639-3	phu
Glottolog	phua1239

Distribution

The Phuan (พวน, ພວນ Phouan, /pʰúːən/) are a tribal Tai people originally inhabiting Xiangkhouang and parts of Houaphan provinces of Laos. As a result of slave raids and forced population transfers, there are small, scattered villages of Phuan in Sakon and Udon Thani provinces and another area around Bueang Kan, Nong Khai and Loei provinces in Thailand. Despite the small numbers and isolation, the Siamese kept the Phuan apart from the Lao, and in from other Thai people in Northern and Central Thailand were small communities of Phuan also exist, forcing them to live apart and dress in black clothing. The Phuan in turn practised endogamous marriage habits and steadfastness to their language and culture. It is distinct enough that Thais and Isan people generally consider it distinct, although Phuan is considered a Lao dialect in Laos. As a Tai language of northern Southeast Asia, it shares many similarities with Tai Dam and Tai Lan Na. In contrast to other minority languages of Isan, it is not losing ground to the Thai or Isan.[4]

In Thailand, Phuan is spoken in Chachoengsao, Chaiyaphum, Lopburi, Nakhon Nayok, Phetchabun, Phichit, Prachinburi, and Saraburi provinces; it is also spoken in an isolated area of Bueng Kan Province, and in one village south of Bangkok (Ethnologue).

There are approximately 5,000 Phuan in Mongkol Borei District of Banteay Meanchey Province in Cambodia,[5] as well in Battambang Province.

Phonology

Similar to Northern Lao, Phuan has maintained the Proto-Southwestern Tai distinction of Proto-Tai */aɰ/ and */aj/, but the outcome is /əː/ and /aj/, respectively, similar to the Northern Lao dialects of Houaphan which has a significant Phuan presence. Similar to the Phuthai (ผู้ไท, ຜູ້ໄທ Phou Tai, /pʰȕː tʰáj/), final /k/ has been replaced by the glottal stop /ʔ/. What mainly distinguishes Phuan from all other Lao dialects are the vowel transformations that distinguish cognates, such as Lao /uːə/ appearing as Phuan /oː/ and Lao /ɨːə/ appearing as Phuan /iə/. This and a very distinct vocabulary make Phuan mutually intelligible but with difficulty to other Isan or Lao speakers and even harder to understand for native speakers of Central Thai.[6]

Consonants

Phuan has the following consonant inventory:[7]

Consonant phonemes

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t [ʈ]	c	k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ
	voiced	b	d
Fricative		f	s			h
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant		w	l	j

Phuan features two consonant clusters, kʰw and kw.[7]

Vowels

Phuan has the following vowel inventory:[7]

	Front		Central		Back
	unr.		unr.		rnd.
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i	iː	ɯ	ɯː	u	uː
Open-mid	e	eː	ɤ	ɤː	o	oː
Open	ɛ	ɛː	a	aː	ɔ	ɔː

Two diphthongs are found: iə and uə.[7]

Comparison with Lao, Isan and Thai

Northeastern Lao (Phuan) vowel differences

Thai		Isan		Vientiane Lao		Phuan Northeastern Lao		Gloss
Lack of /aj/-/aɯ/ merger
ให้ hai	hâj	ให้ hai	hȁj	ໃຫ້ hai	hȁj	ໃຫ້ *heu	/hɤ̏ː/	'to give'
ใจ chai	/tɕaj/	ใจ chai	/tɕaj/	ໃຈ chai	tɕaj	ໃຈ *cheu	/tɕɤ̀ː/	'heart'
ไม้ mai	/máj/	ไม้ mai	/mâj/	ໄມ້ mai	/mâj/	ໄມ້ (ไม้) mai	/mȁj/	'wood', 'tree'
ไฟ fai	/faj/	ไฟ fai	/fáj/	ໄຟ fai	/fáj/	ໄຟ (ไฟ) fai	/fàj/	'fire'
Lao /uːe/ > Phuan /o/
ช้อน chon	/tɕʰɔ́ːn/	บ่วง buang	/būːəŋ/	ບ່ວງ bouang	/būːəŋ/	ໂບ່ງ (โบ่ง) bông	/bòːŋ/	'spoon'
สะพาน saphan	/saʔ pʰaːn/	สะพาน saphan	/sáʔ pʰāːn/	ຂົວ khoua	/kʰŭːə/	ໂຂ (โข) khô	/kʰːò/	'bridge'
กล้วย kluay	/klûəːj/	กล้วย kluay	/kȗːəj/	ກ້ວຍ/ກ້າຽ kouay	/kȗːəj/	ໂກ້ຍ/ໂກ້ຽ kôy	/kôːj/	'banana'
Lao /ɯːə/ > Phuan /iːə/ or /ɤː/
เดือน duean	/dɯːən/	เดือน duean	/dɯːən/	ເດືອນ duan	/dɯːən/	ດຽນ *dian	/diːən/	'month'
เหลือง lueang	/lɯ̌ːəŋ/	เหลือง lueang	/lɯ̆ːəŋ/	ເຫລືອງ/ເຫຼືອງ luang	/lɯ̆ːəŋ/	ຫລຽງ/ຫຼຽງ (เหลียง) *liang	/lìːəŋ/	'yellow'
เปลือย pleuay	/plɯːəj/	เปลือย pleuay	/pɯːəj/	ເປືອຍ/ເປືອຽ puay	/pɯːəj/	ເປີຍ/ເປີຽ (เปือย) peuy	/pɯ̀ːj/	'undressed', 'nude'
Lao final /k/ > Phuan /ʔ/
ผล, มะ- phon, ma-	/pʰǒn/, /maʔ/	หมาก mak	/mȁːk/	ຫມາກ/ໝາກ mak	/mȁːk/	ຫມາ (หมา) maʻ	/màːʔ/	'fruit'
ลูก luk	/lûːk/	ลูก luk	/lȗːk/	ລູກ luk	/lȗːk/	ລູ (ลู) luʻ	/lùːʔ/	'child'
กระดูก kraduk	/kraʔ dùːk/	กระดูก kraduk	/káʔ dȕːk/	ກະດູກ kadouk	/káʔ dȕːk/	ດູ (ดู) duʻ	/dùːʔ/	'bone'

Vocabulary

Northeastern Lao (Phuan) words

Thai		Isan		Vientiane Lao		Phuan Northeastern Lao		Gloss
โซ่ so	/sô/	โซ่ so	/sȍː/	ໂສ້ so	/sȍː/	ເສັຍ/ເສັຽ (เซี่ย) sia	/sìːə/	'chain'
อีแร้ง i raeng	/ʔiː rɛ́ːŋ/	อี่แฮ้ง i haeng	/ʔīː hɛ̑ːŋ/	ອີ່ແຮ້ງ i hèng	/ʔīː hɛ̑ːŋ/	ບ້າແຮ້ງ (บ๊าแฮ้ง) ba hèng	/bâː hɛ᷇ːŋ/	'vulture'
พุทรา phutsa	/pʰút saː/	หมากกะทัน mak kathan	/mȁːk káʔ tʰán/	ຫມາກກະທັນ/ໝາກກທັນ mak kathan	/mȁːk káʔ tʰán/	ຫມາທັນ/ໝາທັນ (หม่าทัน) maʻ than	/màːʔ tʰàn/	'jujube'
คิดถึง khittheung	/kʰít ˈtʰʉ̌ŋ/	คึดฮอด khuethot	/kʰʉ̄t hɔ̂ːt/	ຄຶດຮອດ kheuthot	/kʰʉ̄t hɔ̂ːt/	ຄຶດຮູ້ (คึดฮู้) kheudhou	/kʰʉ̀t hûː/	'to miss someone/something'
ไหน nai	/nǎj/	ใส sai	/sǎj/	ໃສ sai	/sǎj/	ກະເລີ (กะเลอ) kaleu	/kāʔ lɤ̀ː/	'where'

Tones

Outside of Xiangkhouang and other native areas in Laos, the scattered Phuan settlements in Thailand have been greatly influenced by the tones of the local languages, however even though most maintain six, those in Louang Phrabang or Central Thailand only have five and when spoken as a second language by tribal peoples of various languages, they may use seven. However all Phuan dialects share distinct tonal split, with syllables beginning with low-clas consonants and marked with the mai ek (may ék) tone mark pronounced differently than similar situations with other class consonants. This is also done in some varieties of Western Lao. Most other Lao dialects have the same tone when marked with the mai ek tone mark.[6]

Tai Phuan of Ban Fai Mun, Nan Province, Thailand[6]

Tone Class	Inherent Tone	Mai ek (◌່)	Mai tho (◌້)	Long Vowel	Short Vowel
High	Low-Rising	Low	Middle (glottalised)	Low	Mid-Rising
Middle	Mid-Rising	Low	High-Falling	Low	Mid-Rising
Low	Mid-Rising	Mid-Falling	High-Falling	Mid-Falling	Low

Tai Phouan of Xiangkhouang Province, Laos[6]

Tone Class	Inherent Tone	Mai ek (◌່)	Mai tho (◌້)	Long Vowel	Short Vowel
High	Rising	Low	Falling	Low	Middle
Middle	Rising	Low	Falling	Low	Middle
Low	Middle	Low-Falling Rising	High-Falling	Low-Falling Rising	Low

Tai Phouan of Pak Xèng, Louang Phrabang Province, Laos[6]

Tone Class	Inherent Tone	Mai ek (◌່)	Mai tho (◌້)	Long Vowel	Short Vowel
High	High-Falling (glottalised)	Falling	High-Rising	Falling	High-Rising
Middle	Middle	Falling	High-Rising	Falling	High-Rising
Low	Middle	High-Rising	Low-Falling	High-Rising	High-Rising

References

Further reading

• Burusphat, S., Sujaritlak Deepadung, S., Suraratdecha, N. A., Patpong, P., & Setapong, P. "Language Vitality and the Ethnic Tourism Development of the Lao Ethnic Groups in the Western Region of Thailand."

На других языках

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- [en] Phuan language

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[ru] Пхуанский язык

Пхуанский язык (пхуан; Lao Phuan, Phu Un) — один из небольших тайских языков, распространённый в Лаосе (провинции Борикхамсай, Сиангкхуанг, Хуапхан) и Таиланде (города Лопбури, Лёй, Наком-Найок, Петчабун, Пхичит, Пхрачинбури, Сарабури, Супханбури, Утхайтхани, провинции Сингбури, Удон-Тхани) среди народности пхуан. Общее число носителей — свыше 300 тысяч. чел., из них около 200 тыс. в Таиланде, остальные — в Лаосе. Язык активно используется как в Лаосе, так и в Таиланде.

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