Tày language

Tày or Thổ (a name shared with the unrelated Thổ and Cuoi languages) is the major Tai language of Vietnam, spoken by more than a million Tày people in Northeastern Vietnam.

• Vietnam: northern provinces (including Cao Bang Province and Quang Ninh Province)
• Laos: northern region.

Tày is also spoken by emigrants in the Central highlands region of Vietnam (such as in Lam Dong Province).

There are also some Tày speakers in western countries. The region of Vietnam where Tày is spoken is bordered by China.

Tày linguistic varieties include the following:

• Tày Bảo Lạc – spoken in Bảo Lạc District, western Cao Bang province.
• Tày Trùng Khánh – spoken in Trùng Khánh District, northeastern Cao Bang province.
• Thu Lao or Dai Zhuang varieties are considered to be a different language.

• The Cao Bẳng Tày dialect is the only variety to have the sounds /j w r ɣ b d bʲ/.

• There are also three semivowels [u̯ i̯ ɯ̯] that mainly occur in syllable-coda position in combination with other vowel sounds. [u̯ i̯] are typically realized as consonant sounds [w j]. [u̯] follows front vowels /i e ɛ/ and central vowels /ə a ɐ/. [i̯] follows back vowels /u o ɔ/ as well as central vowels /ə a ɐ/. However, [ɯ̯] only follows /ə/.

Six tones are present in Cao Bẳng Tày: