Finn Bamboo Posted January 21, 2015 at 05:54 AM Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 at 05:54 AM I lived in Thailand for 19 years and I can speak, read and write Thai. One of my interests is the culture and languages of Tai/Dai, particularly those living in Xishuang Banna/Shan/Northwestern Laos/Northern and North-eastern Thailand and Central plains of Thailand. Does anybody here have any links to Dai (living in China or other areas) culture and/or language websites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted January 21, 2015 at 07:35 AM Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 at 07:35 AM I have been interested in this myself. Unfortunately there is very little information anywhere on the internet on Chinese minority languages. If you search on youku, there are a number of songs in Dai, but it is near impossible to find any plain spoken Dai, and certainly nothing that could be used as a learning resource. There are almost no books either for learning Dai - well, there are a couple that do not come with audio, and they are not very comprehensive either, so they won't get you very far. Another problem is that few people are literate in Dai, so there is very little printed matter. There are a few books, mainly of folk tales, published in the 1980s, and a small number of other random publications (Chinese law, a few school literature books) which does not provide much for making it worthwhile learning to read. Besides this, there is more than one Dai script. There is Xishuangbanna Dai, which was updated in the 1950s I believe (so new publications, road signs etc. are in the new script, but temple inscriptions etc. are in the old script), and Dehong Dai. I'm not sure how much variation there is in the language itself between these areas, but at least the scripts are mutually unintelligible. So, essentially, whilst I have contemplated having a crack at Dai, on balance, I think it would be a waste of time unless I could actually live long-term in Xishuangbanna, otherwise I would not be able to use it. At least with Chinese, there is plenty to read, much media to watch, and it's easy to chat with others using text. Dai on the other hand has almost nothing to read, no media, and few people could text chat with it. So, outside of Dai-speaking areas, essentially useless. Another minority language I'm interested in is Yi. A very unique script. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelyus Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:26 PM Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:26 PM I assume you're referring to 傣仂语 (Tai Lü), right? It's true that the only recording of spoken Tai Lü just about anywhere is the missionary stuff that's been done. I don't think songs are too bad a place to start though! There's also a little from Seasite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Bamboo Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:36 PM Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:36 PM The language and script I'd like to learn is like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KibcqDBd8o&x-yt-ts=1421914688&x-yt-cl=84503534&feature=player_embedded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Bamboo Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:39 PM Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:39 PM It's actually more like Lanna or Shan but the Dai belong very closely to the same group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Bamboo Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:57 PM Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 at 07:57 PM Michaelyus, yes, you are correct and thank you for the links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted January 24, 2015 at 02:37 AM Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 at 02:37 AM YouTube is blocked in China, so I can't open your link, but I assume you are talking about Xishuangbanna (Sipsongpanna) Dai. I have a number of Dai books in the UK. I'll post some pictures next month if I have time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Bamboo Posted January 24, 2015 at 06:45 AM Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 at 06:45 AM Ok, sorry, didn't think about the block. It was a song and text to the song in Lanna language, which I asume is very much the same as the language spoken by Dai. Would be nice to see at least the names of the authors and the titles of your books, thanks. Are they in English or some other language? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted January 24, 2015 at 07:14 AM Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 at 07:14 AM Most of the books are in Dai, not about Dai. I also have a couple of Dai grammars which are in Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Bamboo Posted January 24, 2015 at 08:05 AM Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 at 08:05 AM Does the Dai script look like this? http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lanna.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted January 24, 2015 at 09:31 AM Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 at 09:31 AM That is the old script. The one in current use is here: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tailue.htm I say "current use", but in reality, few people can read it. The few publications that are available are in the new script. I have never seen a publication in the old script - though I do have one book that compares the two so has some (hand-written) text in the old script. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Bamboo Posted January 24, 2015 at 09:56 AM Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2015 at 09:56 AM I guess, it would be more useful for me to learn the old script as there must be texts using that in Laos, Shan area of Burma and Northern Thailand. All these areas have also Thai Lue population. I am more interested in reading old texts about the culture and history of these people. The old script is not that different from Thai or Laotian so it wouldn't be too much of a burden to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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