Haudricourt (1956) Haudricourt emphasizes the specificity of Dioi (Zhuang) and proposes to make a two-way distinction between the following two sets. The original language names used in Haudricourt's (1956) are provided first; alternative names are given in parentheses. •
Tai • Dioi group:
Yei Zhuang,
Yongbei Zhuang,
Youjiang Zhuang,
Bouyei (Buyi) • Tai proper:
Ahom,
Shan,
Siamese (Thai),
Lao,
White Tai (Tai Dón),
Black Tai (Tai Dam),
Southern Zhuang,
Tho (Tày),
Nung Characteristics of the Dioi group pointed out by Haudricourt are • r- corresponding to the lateral l- in the other Tai languages, • divergent vowel system characteristics, e.g. 'tail' has an /a/ vowel in Tai proper, as against /ə̄/ in Bo-ai, /iə/ in Tianzhou, and /ɯə/ in Tianzhou and Wuming, and • the lack of aspirated stops and affricates, which are found everywhere in Tai proper.
Li (1977) Li Fang-Kuei divided Tai into three sister branches. •
Tai •
Northern Tai •
Central Tai •
Southwestern Tai (Thai) Li's Northern group corresponds to Haudricourt's Dioi group, while his Central and Southwestern groups correspond to Haudricourt's Tai proper. The three last languages in Haudricourt's list of 'Tai proper' languages are
Tho (Tày),
Longzhou, and
Nung, which Li classifies as 'Central Tai'. This classification scheme has long been accepted as standard in comparative Tai linguistics. However, Central Tai does not appear to be a
monophyletic group.
Gedney (1989) Gedney (1989) considers Central and Southwestern Tai to form a subgroup, of which Northern Tai is a sister. The top-level branching is in agreement with Haudricourt (1956). •
Tai •
Northern Tai • •
Central Tai •
Southwestern Tai Luo (1997) Luo Yongxian (1997) classifies the Tai languages as follows, introducing a fourth branch called
Northwestern Tai that includes
Ahom,
Shan,
Dehong Dai, and
Khamti. All branches are considered to be coordinate to each other. •
Tai •
Northern Tai •
Central Tai •
Southwestern Tai • Northwestern Tai
Pittayaporn (2009) Overview Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2009) classifies the Tai languages based on clusters of shared innovations (which, individually, may be associated with more than one branch) (Pittayaporn 2009:298). In Pittayaporn's preliminary classification system of the Tai languages,
Central Tai is considered to be
paraphyletic and is split up into multiple branches, with the
Zhuang varieties of
Chongzuo in southwestern
Guangxi (especially in the
Zuo River valley at the border to Vietnam) having the most internal diversity. The
Southwestern Tai and
Northern Tai branches remain intact as in
Li Fang-Kuei's 1977 classification system, and several of the Southern Zhuang languages allocated ISO codes are considered to be
paraphyletic. The classification is as follows. •
Tai • D:
Northern Tai • I:
Qinzhou Zhuang (Yongnan Zhuang of
Qinzhou) • J • M:
Wuming Zhuang, Yongnan Zhuang,
Long'an Zhuang,
Fusui • N: Core
Northern Tai:
Saek,
Bouyei,
Yay,
Youjiang Zhuang and others • C:
Chongzuo Zhuang (Yongnan Zhuang of
Chongzuo),
Shangsi Zhuang (Yongnan Zhuang of
Shangsi),
Caolan (Vietnam) • B:
Ningming Zhuang (Zuojiang Zhuang of
Ningming) • A • F:
Lungchow Zhuang,
Leiping Zhuang • E • H: Lungming Zhuang,
Daxin Zhuang • G • L (Nung):
Yang Zhuang of
Debao,
Yang Zhuang of
Jingxi,
(Western) Nung of
Mường Khương District,
Nong Zhuang of
Wenshan City),
Nong Zhuang of
Yanshan • K • P (Tay):
Tày of
Bảo Yên,
Tày of
Cao Bằng,
Dai Zhuang of Wenma (文麻) • O • R:
Sapa (Vietnam) • Q:
Southwestern Tai (Laos, Thailand, Burma)
Standard Zhuang is based on the dialect of Shuangqiao (双桥),
Wuming District.
Sound changes The following phonological shifts occurred in the Q (Southwestern), N (Northern), B (Ningming), and C (Chongzuo) subgroups (Pittayaporn 2009:300–301). Furthermore, the following shifts occurred at various nodes leading up to node Q. • E: *p.t- > *p.r-; *ɯm > *ɤm • G: *k.r- > *qr- • K: *eː, *oː > *ɛː, *ɔː • O: *ɤn > *on • Q: *kr- > *ʰr-
Edmondson (2013) Jerold A. Edmondson's (2013) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Tai languages is shown below.
Tay and
Nung are both shown to be coherent branches under
Central Tai.
Northern Tai and
Southwestern Tai are also shown to be coherent branches. •
Tai •
Northern Tai:
Buyi,
Yay, Po-Ai,
Wuming Zhuang,
Mashan Zhuang • •
Central Tai • core
Central Tai: Nung Chau,
Pingxiang Zhuang, Leiping Zhuang,
Ningming Zhuang •
Nung: Western Nung, Nung Yang, Nung An, Thu Lao •
Tay: Tay Bao Lac, Tay Khanh Trung,
Cao Lan •
Southwestern Tai:
Ahom,
Shan,
Dehong,
Tai Theeng (Nghe An),
Black Tai,
White Tai,
Padi,
Lao,
Thai ==Reconstruction==