Laha language
Kra language spoken in Vietnam
title: "Laha language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kra-languages", "languages-of-vietnam"] description: "Kra language spoken in Vietnam" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laha_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Kra language spoken in Vietnam ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Laha |
| region | Vietnam |
| ethnicity | 8,200 Laha (2009 census) |
| speakers | |
| date | 1999 census |
| ref | e18 |
| familycolor | Kradai |
| fam2 | Kra |
| iso3 | lha |
| glotto | laha1250 |
| glottorefname | Laha (Viet Nam) |
| :: |
|name=Laha |region=Vietnam |ethnicity=8,200 Laha (2009 census) |speakers= |date=1999 census |ref=e18 |familycolor=Kradai |fam2=Kra |iso3=lha |glotto=laha1250 |glottorefname=Laha (Viet Nam)
Laha () is a Kra language spoken by approximately 1,400 people out of a total population of 5,686 Laha. It is spoken in Lào Cai and Sơn La provinces, Vietnam. Laha dialects had been documented in 1986 by Russian linguists and in 1996 by American linguist Jerold A. Edmondson. Many Laha can also converse in the Khmu language, and Laha-speaking areas also have significant Black Thai (Tai Dam), Kháng, Ksongmul (Ksingmul, Xinh-mun), and Hmong populations.
Ostapirat (2000) considers the Laha dialects to form a subgroup of their own (Southern Kra) within the Kra branch.
Geographic distribution
Gregerson & Edmondson (1997) and Wardlaw (2000) report the following locations of two Laha dialects, namely the Wet Laha and Dry Laha dialects.
Wet Laha (Laha Ung, **) of Lào Cai and Lai Châu
- Tà Mít Commune, Tân Uyên, Lai Châu, Vietnam (just north of the Black River) — known as the "Wet Laha". Edmondson's informant is from Bản Muot Village, Tà Mít Commune (Edmondson & Gregerson 1997). There are 8 Laha villages numbering no more than 1,000 people in Than Uyên District, Lai Châu, Vietnam.
- Pha Mu and Nặm Cần Communes, Tân Uyên, Lai Châu
Dry Laha (Laha Phlao) of Sơn La — around the Sông Đà and Nậm Mu Rivers
- Noong Lay and Nặm Ét Communes, Thuận Châu, Sơn La, Vietnam (just south of the Black River; in Bản Muot, etc.) — known as the "Dry Laha"
- Chiền Xòm, Liềp Tè, Noong Giông, and Nặm Ét in Sơn La
- Nặm Giôn, Chiền Xàng, Chiền Dong, Pi Toong, and Mường Bú of Mường La District, Sơn La Province. Laha of Nà Tạy, Pi Toong commune is documented in Hsiu (2017).
- Thuận Châu, Mường La, Quỳnh Nhai districts of Sơn La Province
- Bản Bung and Phù Yên near Sơn La Province on the north bank of the Black River
Phonology
Consonants
::data[format=table title=""] | Labial | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Glottal | Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | aspirated | voiced | Fricative | Nasal | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
::data[format=table title=""] | Labial | Alveolar | Palato- alveolar | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Glottal | Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | aspirated | voiced | Fricative | Nasal | Approximant | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
- In both dialects, can be heard as when occurring before front vowels.
Final consonants
Both have the same final consonants, except is only in the Noong Lay dialect. ::data[format=table title=""]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | Stop | Nasal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
::data[format=table title=""]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | Stop | Nasal | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Vowels
::data[format=table]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Near-close | Close-mid | Open-mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
- Vowel sounds can occur long as . ::data[format=table title=""] | Front | Back | Close | |---|---|---| | | | | ::
Both dialects have two vowels in final position. They also may be heard as glide sounds .
References
- Benedict, Paul K. 1992. "Laha Reexamined." In Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 15, no. 2: 207–218.
- Diller, Anthony, Jerold A. Edmondson, and Yongxian Luo ed. The Tai–Kadai Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. Psychology Press, 2008.
- Gregerson, Kenneth and Jerold A. Edmondson. 1997. "Outlying Kam-Tai: Notes On Ta Mit Laha." In Mon-Khmer Studies, 27: 257–269.
- Ostapira, Weera. 1995. "Notes on Laha final -l". In Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 173–181.
- Wardlaw, Terrance Randall. A phonological comparison between two varieties of Laha: Syllable constituents and tone in Ta Mit and Noong Lay Laha. M.A. Thesis, The University of Texas at Arlington, 2000.
References
- Ostapirat, Weera (2000). "[http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/weera2000proto.pdf Proto-Kra]". ''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' '''23''' (1): 1-251
- Hsiu, Andrew. 2017. [https://sites.google.com/site/msealangs/kra-dai/laha-na-tay Laha (Na Tay) audio word list]. Zenodo. {{doi. (June 2023)
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