The Yay Language

In the 1960s and 1970s, William J. Gedney, the preeminent authority on Tai languages and literatures, conducted extensive investigations into a large number of Tai dialects. Employing careful and exhaustive elicitation techniques, he compiled glossaries, texts, and cultural notes from hitherto undescribed, or poorly described, dialects and languages. One of the most extensive is Yay, a language belonging to the Northern Branch of the Tai family, spoken in northern Vietnam and southern China. Gedney’s work on Yay, published in this volume, consists of a lengthy glossary and a collection of folktales and traditional songs. The latter texts are reproduced with interlinear glosses and free translations. The volume will be of interest to linguists, folklorists, anthropologists, and specialists in Southeast Asian or comparative linguistics.