Ta'Oi (Ta'Oih, Ta Oi) is a dialect continuum within the Katuic branch of the Austroasiatic language family, spoken amongst the Ta Oi people in the Salavan and Sekong provinces in Laos and the municipality of Huế in Vietnam.Sidwell, Paul (2005). p. 12
Varieties Sidwell (2005) lists the following varieties of Ta'Oi, which is a name applied to speakers of various related dialects.
Ta'Oi proper Ong/Ir/Talan Chatong is spoken about 50 to 100 km northeast of Sekong. It has been recorded only by Theraphan L-Thongkum. Kriang (Ngkriang, Ngeq) is spoken by up to 4,000 people living in villages between Tatheng and Sekong, such as Ban Chakamngai. Kataang (Katang) is a dialect that has been documented by Michel Ferlus, Gerard Diffloth, and other linguists. It is not to be confused with the Bru dialect of Katang.
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasalPlosivevoicelessvoicedFricativeRhoticApproximant
There are also creaky syllable-final segments /mʔ, nʔ, ŋʔ, wʔ, lʔ, jʔ/, however; they are not noted as a distinct series. /ɟ/ may also be heard as a preglottal sound [ʔj].Sidwell, Paul (2005). pp. 12-15
Vowels +MonophthongsFrontCentralBackClose Mid Open +DiphthongsFrontCentralBackCloseiaɨaua
Morphosyntax Taoih, like other Katuic languages, is largely analytic with a pronominal paradigm which are marked for dative and genitive case.
+Taoih Pronouns 1st person 2nd person 3rd person Unmarked aku ɲaːŋ muhɛ̰ amɛ̰ iɲoa ipe ʔo aɲoʔa apeGenitive ʔәŋku ʔәŋɲaːŋ ʔәŋhɛ̰ ʔŋmɛ̰/ənmaɨ ʔŋoiɲoa ʔŋoipe ʔŋo ʔŋoaɲoʔa ʔŋoapeDative ʔaku ʔaɲaːŋ ʔahɛ̰ ʔammɛ̰/ʔammai ʔaoiɲoa ʔaoipe ʔao ʔaoaɲoʔa ʔaoapeLocative - - ʔihɛ̰ ʔimɛ̰/ʔimai - - ʔido - ʔimaɨ
Taoih is prominently a neutral alignment language. Taoih exhibits neutral alignment for case with (in)transitive verbs and also neutral alignment for agreement in both (in)transitive and ditransitive frames, the verb never shows agreement with any argument, regardless of its transitivity.
To mark benefactive arguments, the dative marker and preposition adeh occur before the recipient.
References
Further reading Sidwell, Paul (2005). The Katuic languages: classification, reconstruction and comparative lexicon . LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 58. Muenchen: Lincom Europa. Trần Nguyễn Khánh Phong. 2013. Người Tà Ôi ở A Lưới. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản văn hóa thông tin.
Gehrmann, Ryan. 2017. The Historical Phonology of Kriang, A Katuic Language. JSEALS Volume 10.1 (2017).