Yoy language

Yoy is a Tai language of Thailand and Laos. The Yoy language is now in the critical endangered state due to a rapid language shift, which may eventually lead to complete language loss.[4]

Yoy
Native toThailand, Laos
Native speakers
(6,000 cited 1990–1995)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3yoy
Glottologyoyy1238[3]

Phonology

The phonology of Yoy, according to Phakkahn (2017).[4]

Consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop Aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
Voiceless p t k ʔ
Voiced b d
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Fricative s h
Affricate tɕ
Approximant w l j

Only /p t k ʔ m n ŋ j w/ occur in word-final position. Yoy also has six initial consonant clusters which are /tw-/, /kw-/, /kw-/, /sw-/, /hw-/, and /bw-/.

Some words show alternate pronunciations between the initial syllable consonants:

/jaːk⁵/ ~ /ɲaːk⁵/ to want
/jaːw²/ ~ /ɲaːw²/ long
/joːj⁴/ ~ /ɲoːj⁴/ Yoy

Vowels
Front Central Back
unr. rnd.
Diphthongs ia aɯ ɯa ua
Monophthongs Close i, iː   ɯ, ɯː u, uː
Close-mid e, eː   ɤ, ɤː o, oː
Open-mid æ, æː     ɔ, ɔː
Open   a, aː    

Yoy has two different phonemic vowel lengths. There are nine short vowels and nine long vowels. In the word-final open syllables, there is no contrast between short and long vowels, but in closed syllables and non-final open syllables, short and long vowels are distinctive.[4]

Tones

Yoy has five phonologically distinctive tones in non-checked syllables. Checked syllables in Yoy can carry only tone 1 (mid-leveled tone), tone 2 (high-rising tone), and tone 5 (low-falling creaky).[4]

Vocabulary

Numberals

English Yoy
one nɯŋ¹
two sɔːŋ³
three saːm³
four siː⁵
five haː⁵
six hok²
seven tɕet²
eight pæːt⁵
nine kaw¹
ten sip²
hundred hoːj⁴
thousand pʰan²

Verbs

English Yoy
to go paj³
to open pɤːt⁵
to dream pʰan³
to fall tok²
to wash (clothes) top²
to die taj³
to wait tʰaː⁵
to bite kat²
to ask tʰaːm³
to think kʰɯt⁴
to throw kʰwæŋ⁵
to smell dom³
to burn ʔuːt⁵
to sit mep⁵
to like mak⁵
to smile ɲiːm⁴
to want ɲaːk⁵
to eat kin²
to do het¹
to teach sɔːn³
to run læn⁴
to play lin⁵

Nouns

English Yoy
eye taː³
sun ta¹ wen²
sky tʰɔŋ⁴ pʰaː⁵
milk tu²
skin kʰiːŋ²
fire pʰaj²
mountain pʰu¹ kʰaw³
fish paː³
wood pæn⁴
tree kok¹ maj¹
tooth kʰæːw⁵
leg kʰaː³
chin kʰaːŋ²
egg kʰaj²
people kʰon²
rice kʰaːw⁵
leaf baɯʔ³
soil din³
water naːm⁴
cloud mek¹
dog maː³
bird nok⁵
blood lɯat¹

Adjectives

English Yoy
far kaj³
near, short (distance) kaɯ⁴
old kaw¹
new maj⁵
good diː³
fat pʰiː²
beautiful tɕop²
red dæŋ³
black dam³
white kʰaːw⁵
soft ʔon⁵
stupid pɯk²
wet ʔɯn³
dry hæŋ⁵
big ɲaɯ²
few noj⁵

References

  1. Yoy at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Pittayaporn classified Yoy as Southwestern Tai, but does not provide supporting analysis.
  3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Yoy". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. Naiyapak, Phakkahn (2017). Phonology and Grammar Sketch of Yoy (Master of Arts thesis). California State University, Long Beach.
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