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343 LANGUAGE FILE
Language name Thai Siamese tai
Language name Tetun Tetum, Tetung �tetυm
Autonym (if known and different)
Autonym (if known and different)
Language family Tai Kam-Tai
Language family Austronesian Malayo-
Polynesian
Spoken in Thailand
Spoken in Timor (Indonesia)
Approximate number of speakers 40m
Approximate number of speakers 300k
Writing system Thai script (originally based on Southern Indian script)
Writing system Roman
Phonetics/phonology
Phonetics/phonology
Stress word-final
Stress word-penultimate
Contains following rare
consonant (types)
Said to have how many vowels? 9 + length + 16 diphthongs
Contains following rare
consonant (types)
Said to have how many vowels? 5
Marked vowel types back unrounded
Marked vowel types
Tone contour
Tone none
Rhythm no information
Rhythm no information
Vowel harmony none
Morphology isolating word-based
Vowel harmony only in the restricted sense that a mid vowel cannot
follow a syllable with a close vowel
Particular formation types dvandva; infix; prefix; partial prefixed, partial suffixed
and full reduplication; (suffix); tone used morphologically;
apophony
Morphology isolating and word-based
agglutinative
Syntax
Word order SVO NA prepositions
NPoss
Particular formation types dvandva; prefix; partial prefixed and full
reduplication; synaffix
Particular syntactic phenomena classifiers; serial verbs
Syntax
Word order SVO NA prepositions
NPoss
Points of interest
Particular syntactic phenomena classifiers; inclusive / exclusive 1st plural;
noun classes; serial verbs
Sources Campbell (1991), Diller (2003), Gordon (2002), Hudak
(1990), Katzner (1977), Maddieson (1984), Ruhlen (1976),
Yip (2002)
Points of interest no productive suffixes. The word for ‘three’ is a taboo word
because it is homophonous with the word for ‘egg’ or
‘testicle’; it is even impolite to photograph three people
together
Sources Van Engelenhoven & Williams-van Klinken (2005),
Van Klinken (1999)
Tetung see Tetun