Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 3, 2026

Ta'Oi language

Ta'Oi is a dialect continuum within the Katuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken amongst the Ta Oi people in the Salavan and Sekong provinces in Laos and the municipality of Huế in Vietnam.

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Jun 3, 2026
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Ta'Oi
Ta Oi
Native toLaos, Vietnam
EthnicityTa Oi, Katang
Native speakers
(220,000 cited 1995–2005)1
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
tth – Upper Ta'Oi
irr – Ir (Hantong)
oog – Ong (= Ir)
tto – Lower Ta'Oi
ngt – Ngeq (Kriang)
Glottologtaoi1247
ELPChatong

Ta'Oi (Ta'Oih, Ta Oi) is a dialect continuum within the Katuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken amongst the Ta Oi people in the Salavan and Sekong provinces in Laos and the municipality of Huế in Vietnam.2

Varieties

Sidwell (2005) lists the following varieties of Ta'Oi, which is a name applied to speakers of various related dialects.

  • Ta'Oi proper
  • Ong/Ir/Talan
  • Chatong is spoken about 50 to 100 km northeast of Sekong. It has been recorded only by Theraphan L-Thongkum.
  • Kriang (Ngkriang, Ngeq) is spoken by up to 4,000 people living in villages between Tatheng and Sekong, such as Ban Chakamngai.
  • Kataang (Katang) is a dialect that has been documented by Michel Ferlus, Gerard Diffloth, and other linguists. It is not to be confused with the Bru dialect of Katang.3

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
Fricative s h
Rhotic r
Approximant w l j
  • There are also creaky syllable-final segments /mʔ, nʔ, ŋʔ, wʔ, lʔ, jʔ/, however; they are not noted as a distinct series.
  • /ɟ/ may also be heard as a preglottal sound [ʔj].4

Vowels

Monophthongs
Front Central Back
Close i iː ɨ ɨː u uː
Mid e eː ə əː o oː
Open ɛ ɛː a aː ɔ ɔː
Diphthongs
Front Central Back
Close ia ɨa ua

Morphosyntax

Taoih, like other Katuic languages, is largely analytic with a pronominal paradigm which are marked for dative and genitive case.5

Taoih Pronouns
1st person 2nd person 3rd person
singular dual plural singular dual plural singular dual plural
Unmarked aku ɲaːŋ muhɛ̰ amɛ̰ iɲoa ipe ʔo aɲoʔa ape
Genitive ʔәŋku ʔәŋɲaːŋ ʔәŋhɛ̰ ʔŋmɛ̰/ənmaɨ ʔŋoiɲoa ʔŋoipe ʔŋo ʔŋoaɲoʔa ʔŋoape
Dative ʔaku ʔaɲaːŋ ʔahɛ̰ ʔammɛ̰/ʔammai ʔaoiɲoa ʔaoipe ʔao ʔaoaɲoʔa ʔaoape
Locative - - ʔihɛ̰ ʔimɛ̰/ʔimai - - ʔido - ʔimaɨ

Urəʔ

book

ʔәŋ-maɨ

GEN-2SG

Urəʔ ʔәŋ-maɨ

book GEN-2SG

Your book

Taoih is prominently a neutral alignment language. Taoih exhibits neutral alignment for case with (in)transitive verbs and also neutral alignment for agreement in both (in)transitive and ditransitive frames, the verb never shows agreement with any argument, regardless of its transitivity.

Kujuʔk

Kuyu’k

doŋ

give

uruʔ

book

ʔa-o-iɲoʔa

DAT-LK-2SG

aɲoʔa

and

ʔa-o-ndil

DAT-LK-girl

Kujuʔk doŋ uruʔ ʔa-o-iɲoʔa aɲoʔa ʔa-o-ndil

Kuyu’k give book DAT-LK-2SG and DAT-LK-girl

"Kuyuk gives the book to you (dual) and the girl."

To mark benefactive arguments, the dative marker and preposition adeh occur before the recipient.

ku

1SG

takoːh

cook

adeh

for.BEN

ʔa-o-akoːɲ

DAT-LK-father

aɲoʔa

and

ʔa-maɨ

DAT-2SG

ku takoːh adeh ʔa-o-akoːɲ aɲoʔa ʔa-maɨ

1SG cook for.BEN DAT-LK-father and DAT-2SG

"I cook for father and you."

References

References

  1. Upper Ta'Oi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ir (Hantong) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ong (= Ir) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Lower Ta'Oi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Ngeq (Kriang) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Sidwell, Paul (2005). p. 12
  3. "Mon-Khmer Classification (draft)". SEAlang. 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  4. Sidwell, Paul (2005). pp. 12-15
  5. Sidwell, Paul (2021). "Eastern Mon-Khmer languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 547–598. doi:10.1515/9783110558142-011.
Further reading

Further reading