JacksonYoo9591 at 10:38, 1 January 2026

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{{Short description|Tai language of Assam, India}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Aiton
| nativename = {{lang|aio|(တႝ)ဢႝတွꩫ်}}
| states = [[India]]
| region = [[Assam]]
| ethnicity = [[Aiton people]]
| speakers = 1,500
| date = 2006
| ref = e18
| familycolor = Kradai
| fam2 = [[Tai languages|Tai]]
| fam3 = [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern]]
| fam4 = Northwestern
| script = [[Burmese script]] (Aiton variation, called Lik-Tai)<ref name=diller>{{cite journal |last1=Diller |first1=Anthony |title=Tai languages in Assam: Daughters or Ghosts |date=1992 |pages=16}}</ref>
| nation =
| agency =
| iso3 = aio
| glotto = aito1238
| glottorefname = Aiton
}}

The '''Aiton language''' or '''Tai Aiton language''' is spoken in [[Assam]], [[India]], in the [[Dhansiri|Dhonsiri]] Valley and the south bank of the [[Brahmaputra]]. It is currently classified as a threatened language, with fewer than 2,000 speakers worldwide. Its other names include '''Aitonia''' and '''Sham Doaniya'''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1426|title=Did you know Aiton is threatened?|website=Endangered Languages|language=en|access-date=2017-05-03|archive-date=2022-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218194812/https://endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1426|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Classification ==
The Aiton language is a part of the [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern branch]] of the [[Tai languages|Tai family]] of languages. It is closely related to, and sometimes considered a dialect of, [[Shan language|Shan]]. There are three other actively spoken languages of this branch in Assam: [[Khamti language|Khamti]], [[Phake language|Phake]], and [[Khamyang language|Khamyang]].<ref name=":0">Morey, Stephen. "Tonal change in the Tai languages of Northeast India." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 28.2 (2005): 139-202.</ref>

== History ==
The Tai languages in Assam share many grammatical similarities, a writing system, and much of their vocabulary.<ref>Diller, A. (1992). Tai languages in Assam: daughters or ghosts? In C.J. Compton and J.F. Hartmann (Ed.), Papers on Tai languages, Linguistics, and Literatures, 5-43. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University.</ref> The most prominent differences between the languages are their tonal systems.<ref name=":0" />

According to the oral and written records of the Aiton people, they originated from a place named Khao-Khao [[Möng Mao|Mao-Lung]], a Burmese state near the Chinese border.<ref name=":2">Burgohain, Joya. "The Aitons: Some aspects of their life and culture." (2013).</ref> It is generally believed that they came to India about two or three hundred years ago, seeking refuge from oppression.<ref name=":2" /> Despite how long they have been in Assam, many members of the older generations are not fluent in Assamese, the official language of the state.<ref name=":1" />

==Geographic Distribution==
Aiton is spoken predominantly in India, in the northeastern state of Assam.

According to Morey (2005), Aiton is spoken in the following villages:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Aiton Villages (Morey 2005)
! Tai name
! Translation of Tai name
! [[Assamese language|Assamese]]/[[English language|English]] name
! [[List of districts of Assam|District]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 nam3 thum3}}
| Flood village (บ้านน้ำท่วม)
| Duburoni
| [[Golaghat]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 sum3}}
| Sour village (บ้านส้ม)
| Tengani
| [[Golaghat]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 hui1 luŋ1}}
| Big fruit village
| Borhola
| [[Golaghat]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 hin1}}
| Stone village (บ้านหิน)
| Ahomani
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 luŋ1}}
| Big village (บ้านหลวง)
| Bargaon
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 nɔi2/dɔi2}}
| Hill village (บ้านดอย)
| Sukhihola
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 saai2}}
| Sand village (บ้านทราย)
| Kalyoni
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 saai2}}
| Sand village (บ้านทราย)
| Balipathar
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
|-
| {{tonesup|baan3 saai2}}
| Sand village (บ้านทราย)
| Jonapathar
| [[Lohit district|Lohit]]
|}

Buragohain (1998) reports a total of 260 Aiton households, comprising a total population of 2,155.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Aiton Villages (Buragohain 1998)
! Village
! [[List of districts of Assam|District]]
! Year founded
! No. of houses
! Population
|-
| Ahomani
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
| 1939
| 31
| 267
|-
| Baragaon
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
| 1835
| 39
| 359
|-
| Balipathar
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
| 1898
| 59
| 528
|-
| Chakihola
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
| unknown
| 18
| 180
|-
| Kaliyani
| [[Karbi Anglong]]
| Man era 1239
| 15
| 154
|-
| Borhola
| [[Golaghat]]
| 1836
| 26
| 235
|-
| Dubarani
| [[Golaghat]]
| unknown
| 43
| 334
|-
| Tengani
| [[Golaghat]]
| unknown
| 19
| 150
|-
| Jonapathar
| [[Lohit district|Lohit]]
| 1950s
| 15
| 148
|}

== Phonology ==
===Initial consonants===
Morey reports the following initial consonants:<ref name=morey2008>{{cite journal |last1=Morey |first1=Stephen |title=The Thai languages of Assam |date=2008 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34802378}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Bilabial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- class=small
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
! [[Tenuis consonant|Tenuis]]
| {{IPA link|p}} || {{IPA link|b}} || {{IPA link|t}} || {{IPA link|d}} || {{IPA link|c}} || || {{IPA link|k}} || || || {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
! [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]
||| || {{IPA link|tʰ}} || || || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
||| {{IPA link|m}} || || {{IPA link|n}} || || {{IPA link|ɲ}} || || {{IPA link|ŋ}} || ||
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|ɸ}} || {{IPA link|β}} || || || {{IPA link|ʃ}} || {{IPA link|ʒ}} || {{IPA link|x}} || || {{IPA link|h}} ||
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| || || || {{IPA link|l}} || || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| || || || {{IPA link|r}} || || || || || ||
|-
|-
|}

Aiton, like some other Tai languages, have a "minimal three-way contrast in voicing".<ref name=":1" /> It also only allows vowels to be voiced stops when they are in bilabial and dental/alveolar places of articulation. According to Morey, "{{IPA|[m]}} and {{IPA|[n]}} are variants for {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/d/}}, respectively".<ref name=":1" /> Aiton, has voiced {{IPA|/r, l, w, j/}} and four voiced nasals in its sound inventory.<ref name=":1" /> It does not have voiceless sonorants.<ref name=":1" />

===Final consonants===
Aiton has the following final consonants:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Bilabial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- class=small
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
! voiceless
! voiced
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
! [[Tenuis consonant|Tenuis]]
| {{IPA link|p}} || || {{IPA link|t}} || || || || {{IPA link|k}} || || {{IPA link|ʔ}} ||
|-
! [[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]
| || || || || || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
||| {{IPA link|m}} || || {{IPA link|n}} || || || || {{IPA link|ŋ}} || ||
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Semi-vowel]]
| || || || || || {{IPA link|j}} || || {{IPA link|w}} || ||
|-
|}

-[w] occurs after front vowels and [a]-, -[j] occurs after back vowels and [a]-.<ref name=diller/>

===Tones===
Aiton today uses three tones, however it originally used five but two have merged with other tones. The first tone still used today is 'mid/high level', the second tone is 'high level then falling' and the third is 'mid falling'. Originally the fourth tone, 'mid rising', has merged with the first tone. The fifth tone, 'mid falling glottalised', has merged with the third tone.<ref name=morey2008/><ref name=":1">Morey, S. (2008). North East Indian Linguistics. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India.</ref>

===Vowels===
Aiton has a vowel system of only seven vowels, {{IPA|/i, ɯ, u, ɛ, ɔ, a, aa/}}, which is the smallest out of all the Tai languages spoken in Assam.<ref name=":1" /> From these seven vowels, Aiton allows only nine possible sequences.<ref name=":1" />

==Grammar==
===Pronouns===
The following set of pronouns are the pronouns found in the Aiton language:<ref name=diller23>{{cite book |last1=Diller |first1=Anthony |title=Thai languages in Assam: Daughters or Ghosts? |date=1992 |page=23}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Word || Meaning
|-
| /kaw1/ || I ({{gcl|1SG}})
|-
| /maɯ1/ || You ({{gcl|2SG}})
|-
| /mɯn1/ || He/She/It ({{gcl|3SG}})
|-
| /haw1/ || We ({{gcl|1PL}})
|-
| /su3/ || You ({{gcl|2PL}})
|-
| /kʰaw3/ || They ({{gcl|3PL}})
|}

===Demonstratives===
Note: the form /-an2/ is a post-clitic form that approaches a definite article in function and may be attached to pronouns and even verbs.<ref name=diller23/>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Deictics !! Meaning
|-
| /nay2/ || This, here
|-
| /nan2/, /han2/ || That, there
|-
| /-an2/ || That, there
|}

===Classifiers===
The most common classifiers are:<ref name=diller23/>
* {{lang|aio|{{tonesup|kɔ1}}}} for persons
* {{lang|aio|{{tonesup|tu1/to1}}}} for animals
* {{lang|aio|ʔan}} for inanimate objects

== Writing system ==
{{See also|Burmese script|Burmese alphabet}}
The Tai Aiton have their own writing system called 'Lik-Tai', which they share with the [[Khamti people]] and [[Tai Phake people]].<ref name=diller/> It closely resembles the Northern [[Shan script]] of Myanmar, which is a variant of the [[Burmese script]], with some of the letters taking divergent shapes.<ref name="inglis2017">{{cite journal |last1=Inglis |first1=Douglas |title=Myanmar-based Khamti Shan Orthography |journal=Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society |date=2017 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34791306}}</ref>

===Consonants===
{|class="wikitable"
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = က | iso = ka | ipa = [k] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ၵ | iso = kha | ipa = [kʰ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = င | iso = nga | ipa = [ŋ] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩡ | iso = ca | ipa = [t͡ʃ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩬ | iso = sa | ipa = [s] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ၺ | iso = nya | ipa = [ɲ] | note=<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hosken |first=Martin |title=Representing Myanmar in Unicode: Details and Examples Version 4 |url=http://www.unicode.org/notes/tn11/UTN11_4.pdf |website=Unicode}}</ref> }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = တ | iso = ta | ipa = [t] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ထ | iso = tha | ipa = [tʰ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩫ | iso = na | ipa = [n] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ပ | iso = pa | ipa = [p] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ၸ | iso = pha/fa | ipa = [pʰ/ɸ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = မ | iso = ma | ipa = [m] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch1 = ယ | ch2 = ျ | iso = ya/ja | ipa = [j/ɟ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch1 = ꩺ | ch2 = ြ | iso = ra | ipa = [r] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = လ | iso = la | ipa = [l] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ဝ | iso = wa | ipa = [w] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩭ | iso = ha | ipa = [h] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ဢ | iso = a | ipa = [ʔ] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ဒ | iso = da | ipa = [d] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ဗ | iso = ba/wa | ipa = [b/w] | notes = <ref name="omniglot.com">{{cite web |title=Aiton language, alphabet, and pronunciation |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/aiton.htm |website=Omniglot |access-date=8 February 2021}}</ref> }}
|}

===Vowels===
{|class=wikitable
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ႜ | iso = a | ipa = [a] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ႃ | iso = aa | ipa = [aː] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ိ | iso = i | ipa = [i] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ီ | iso = ī | ipa = [iː] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ု | iso = u | ipa = [u] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ူ | iso = ū | ipa = [uː] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ေ | iso = e/ae | ipa = [eː/ɛ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ႝ | iso = ai | ipa = [ai] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ေႃ | iso = o/aw | ipa = [oː/ɔː] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ံ | iso = ṁ | ipa = [ŋ̊] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ိ်ုွ | iso = ue | ipa = [ɯ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =်ၞ | iso = aeu | ipa = [ɛu] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =်ွ | iso = aau | ipa = [aːu] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =ွဝ် | iso = au | ipa = [au] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =ွ | iso = aw | ipa = [ɒ] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =ွႝ | iso = oi | ipa = [oi] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =ွံ | iso = om | ipa = [ɔm] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =ိ်ွ | iso = iu | ipa = [ɛu/iu] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =ုံ | iso = um | ipa = [um] }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =်ံ | iso = em | ipa = [em] }}
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch =် | iso = | notes = [[virama]]<ref name="omniglot.com"/> }}
|}

===Other symbols===
{|class="wikitable"
|-
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩷ | top = ! }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩸ | top = 1 }}
| {{letter | s = Mymr | ch = ꩹ | top = 2 }}
|-
|}

==References==
<references />
*Buragohain, Yehom. 1998. "Some notes on the Tai Phakes of Assam, in Shalardchai Ramitanondh Virada Somswasdi and Ranoo Wichasin." In ''Tai'', pp. 126–143. Chiang Mai, Thailand: [[Chiang Mai University]].
*Morey, Stephen. 2005. ''The Tai languages of Assam: a grammar and texts''. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

== External links ==
* [[Paradisec|PARADISEC]] open access archive of [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/SDM02 Aiton language recordings]
{{Tai-Kadai languages}}
{{Languages of Northeast India}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages of Assam]]
[[Category:Southwestern Tai languages]]

Aiton language - Revision history

JacksonYoo9591 at 10:38, 1 January 2026