ABSTRACT
The Tai family of languages and dialects extends across Southeast Asia from the island of Hainan in the east, through northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and into Assam in the west, and from the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou (Kweichow), and Guangxi (Kwangsi) in the north to the northern border of Malaysia in the south. Following Fang-kuei Li (1960), linguists generally divide this family into three main branches: the Northern (N), the Central (C), and the Southwestern (SW). Representative members include Bouyei (Pu-Yi), Saek, and Yay in the Northern Branch; Tày (Thô), Western Nung, the dialects at Lungming, Lungchow, and Wuming in the Central; and Thai (or Siamese), Lao, Shan, and Lue in the Southwestern.
