Appendix:Tone in Kra-Dai languages
Tone in Kra-Dai languages can be traced to various historical categories.
Background
editProto-Tai tones take on various tone values and contours in modern Tai languages. These tonal splits are determined by the following conditions:
- "Friction sounds": Aspirated onset, voiceless fricative, voiceless sonorant
- Unaspirated onset (voiceless)
- Glottalized/implosive onset (voiceless)
- Voiced onset (voiceless)
In addition, William J. Gedney developed a "tone-box" method to help determine historical tonal splits and mergers in modern Tai languages. There is a total of 20 possible slots in what is known as a "Gedney Box." (For a tutorial on Gedney boxes, see "A checklist for determining tones in Tai dialects" (1989) by William Gedney).
*A | *B | *C | *DS | *DL | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Voiceless (friction) |
A1 | B1 | C1 | DS1 | DL1 |
Voiceless (unaspirated) |
A1 | B1 | C1 | DS1 | DL1 |
Voiceless (glottalized) |
A1 | B1 | C1 | DS1 | DL1 |
Voiced | A2 | B2 | C2 | DS2 | DL2 |