Cuoi language
Cuói, known as Thổ in Vietnam and as Hung in Laos, is a dialect cluster spoken by around 70,000 Thổ people in Vietnam and a couple thousand in Laos, mainly in the provinces of Bolikhamsai and Khammouane.
Phonology
Làng Lỡ dialect
Consonants
The consonant inventory of the Làng Lỡ dialect, as cited by Michel Ferlus:- is found in Vietnamese loanwords with initial
- originate in the borrowing of segments from a variety of Vietnamese that existed several centuries ago.
Vowels
| Diphthongs of Cuối Làng Lỡ |
Tones
There're eight tones in the Làng Lỡ. Tones 1 to 6 are found on sonorant-final syllables : syllables ending in a vowel, semi-vowel or nasal. Tones 7 and 8 are found on obstruent-final syllables, ending in -p -t -c -k. This is a system comparable to that of Vietnamese.Vocabulary
The data is from Cuoi Cham vocabulary recordings and the Mon-Khmer Etymological Dictionary.| English | Cuối Chăm | Làng Lỡ | Vietnamese |
| cloud | mʌl¹ | mʌn¹ | mây |
| rain | mɐː² | mɨə¹ | mưa |
| wind | sɒː³ | juə³ | gió |
| thunder | kʰrʌm⁴ | ʂəm⁴ | sấm |
| earth, land | tʌt⁷ | tʌt⁷ | đất |
| cave | haːŋ¹ | haːŋ¹ | hang |
| deep | kʰruː² | ʂuː² | sâu |
| water | daːk⁷ | daːk⁷ | nước |
| river | kʰrɔŋ¹ | ʂɔːŋ¹ | sông |
| puddle | puŋ⁶ | - | vũng |
| mud | puːl² | vuːn² | bùn |
| rock, stone | taː³ | δaː³ | đá |
| bark | pɒː⁵ | ʂɔː⁵⁶ | vỏ |
| dog | cɒː³ | cɔː³ | chó |
| cultivated field | rɔːŋ⁴ | ʂɔːŋ⁴ | ruộng |
| to go | tiː² | tiː² | đi |
| to have | kɒː³ | kɔː³ | có |