Sila language (Sino-Tibetan)
# Sila language (Sino-Tibetan)

Sila (also called Sida) is a Loloish language spoken by 2,000 people in Laos and Vietnam (Bradley 1997). Sila speakers are an officially recognized group in Vietnam, where they are known as the Si La.

## Phonology

### Consonants

Sila Consonants :

| | | Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ |
| Stop | plain | p | t | tɕ | k |
| Stop | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tɕʰ | kʰ |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | x |
| Fricative | voiced | | | | ɣ |
| Approximant | voiceless | | l̥ | | |
| Approximant | voiced | w | l | j | |

Unaspirated plosives are usually realised as voiced stops. Phonetically, /l̥/ is realized as [͡l̥l]. The palatal nasal is noted as /ɲ/ although the phonetic realisation is closer to [ȵ], with the blade of the tongue remaining at a short distance from the palate.

**Example contrasts**

/p/ vs. /pʰ/: /pa33la33/ ‘moon’ vs. /ɐ31pʰa31/ ‘leaf’

/t/ vs. /tʰ/: /ta31/ ‘to look at’ vs. /tʰa33/ ‘PROHIBITIVE’

/tɕ/ vs. /tɕʰ/: /tɕɐ31/ ‘to have, to exist’ vs. /tɕʰɐ31/ ‘to speak’

/k/ vs. /kʰ/: /ki55lɯ55/ ‘green’ vs. /a31kʰi55/ ‘foot’

/f/ vs. /s/: /fɔ31/ ‘to protect vs. /sɔ31/ ‘to study’

/x/ vs. /ɣ/: /xɯ55/ ‘gold’ vs. /ɣɯ55/ ‘good’

/m/ vs. /n/: /ma̰31/ ‘person’ vs. /na̰31/ ‘deep’

/ɲ/ vs. /ŋ/: /ɲa55/ ‘frost’ vs. /ŋa55/ ‘salty’

/w/ vs. /j/: /wa33/ ‘careless’ vs. /ja31/ ‘child’

/l/ vs. /l̥/: /lɐ33wa33/ ‘palm of hand’ vs. /l̥a33/ ‘to fall down’

### Vowels

| | Front | Front | Back | Back |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded |
| Close | i | y | ɯ | u |
| Close-mid | e | ø | ɤ | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | | | ɔ |
| Open | a | | ɐ | |

All vowels can be creaky vowels, which are contrastive.

Sila diphthongs are /ɤi/, /ai/, /ao/, /oa/.

**Example contrasts**

/i/ vs. /e/ vs. /ɛ/: /pi33/ ‘to win’ vs. /pe33/ ‘to divide up’ vs. /pɛ33jo31/ ‘dragon’

/y/ vs. /ø/: /tʰy31/ ‘to spit out/ vs. /tʰø31/ ‘to wrap up’

/ɯ/ vs. /ɤ/: /tɯ31/ ‘to hit’ vs. /tɤ31/ ‘to soak’

/u/ vs. /o/ vs. /ɔ/: /tʰu55/ ‘thick’ vs. /tʰo55/ ‘to open a hole’ vs. /tʰɔ55/ ‘number of times/

/a/ vs. /ɐ/: /tɕa31/ ‘to eat’ vs. /tɕɐ31/ ‘to have, to exist/

### Tones

Sila has three lexical tonemes and two grammatical tonemes.

| Toneme | Class |
| - | - |
| 55 | Lexical |
| 35 | Grammatical |
| 53 | Grammatical |
| 33 | Lexical |
| 31 | Lexical |

### Phonotactics

All consonants can occur as onsets, with /m/ able to form a syllabic nasal.

/j/ and /l/ may occur as medials, but /j/ only after bilabial and velar stops and /m/, and /l/ only after bilabial stops and /m/.

Unvoiced stops and nasals can occur as codas, but these are only found in words recently borrowed from Lao

## Distribution

According to Edmondson (2002), the Sila number about 700 people in Vietnam and live in the following 3 villages.

* Seo Hay, Can Hồ Commune, Lai Châu Province, Vietnam
* Xì Theo Chai, Can Hồ Commune, Lai Châu Province, Vietnam
* Nậm Sín, Mường Nhé Commune, Điện Biên Province, Vietnam

According to the elderly Sila, seven Sila families had emigrated from Mường U and Mường Lá of Phongsaly Province, Laos, 175 years ago. They initially arrived at a location called Mường Tùng, and relocated several times before arriving at their present locations.

In Laos, Sila is spoken in:

* Naahok Village, Nyot U District, Phongsaly Province
* Ban Ban Sida, Muang Namtha, Luang Namtha Province (autonym: vɛ33 ɲɯ33)
* Chaohoi village, Nyot U District; Phongsai village, Bun Neua District (autonym: go55ɯ55 a11ma11) (Kingsada 1999)
* Longthang village, Nyot U District; Sida village, Luang Namtha District, Luang Namtha province (autonym: si33 la33) (Shintani 2001)
* Namsing village, Nyot U District (autonym: ko55 ɯ21) (Kato 2008)
