Tai Aiton language
| Tai Aiton | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India |
| Region | Assam |
| Ethnicity | Tai Aiton people |
|
Native speakers
|
1,500 (2006) |
|
Tai–Kadai
|
|
| Burmese script | |
| Official status | |
|
Official language in
|
India |
| Regulated by | Language Academy |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | aito1238 |
The Tai Aiton language is spoken in Assam, India (in the Dhonsiri Valley and the south bank of the Brahmaputra). It is currently classified as a threatened language, with less than two thousand speakers worldwide. Its other names include Antonia and Sham Doaniya.
The Tai Aiton language is a part of the Southwestern branch of the Tai family of languages. There are three other actively spoken languages in this branch: Khamti, Phake, and Khamyang.
The Tai languages share many grammatical similarities, a writing system, and much of their vocabulary. The most prominent differences between the languages are their tonal systems.
According to the oral and written records of the Tai Aiton people, they originated from a place named Khao-Khao Mao-Lung, a Burmese state near the Chinese border. It is generally believed that they came to India about two or three hundred years ago, seeking refuge from oppression. Despite how long they have been in Assam, many members of the older generations are not fluent in Assamese, the official language of the state.
Tai Aiton is spoken predominantly in India, in the northeastern state of Assam.
According to Morey (2005), Tai Aiton is spoken in the following villages:
Buragohain (1998) reports a total of 260 Tai Aiton households, comprising a total population of 2,155.
Tai languages, including Tai Aiton, is almost entirely monosyllabic, which means that each symbol has a tone. Tai Aiton only has three tones. It has a vowel system of only seven vowels, /i, ɯ, u, ɛ, ɔ, a, aa/, which is the smallest out of the all the Tai languages spoken in Assam. From these seven vowels, Tai Aiton allows only nine possible sequences.
Tai Aiton, like some other Tai languages, have a "minimal three-way contrast in voicing". It also only allows vowels to be voiced stops when they are in bilabial and dental/alveolar places of articulation. According to Morey, "[m] and [n] are variants for /b/ and /d/, respectively".
Tai Aiton, identical to Phake Tai, has voiced /r, l, w, j/ and four voiced nasals in its sound inventory. It does not have voiceless sonorants.
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