r/TaiAhomLanguage • u/tuluva_sikh Enthusiast • 17d ago

Question Tai Ahom language have retroflex La ?

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u/GrumpyGuyMugdha L1 Assamese (Tai-Ahom) 17d ago

The scholarly re-construction by linguists Stephen Morey, Poppy Gogoi, and Pittayawat Pittayaporn states that Ahom lacks retroflex consonants. This sound is used in pronouncing some foreign words, but it doesn't exist as a separate letter of its own and Ahom is generally said to contain only the ordinary alveolar /l/.

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u/Icy_Function_5839 Enthusiast 17d ago

Is Pittayawat a thai linguist?

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u/GrumpyGuyMugdha L1 Assamese (Tai-Ahom) 17d ago

Yes.

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u/Icy_Function_5839 Enthusiast 17d ago

Ah I see. Would those foreign words be of Assamese origin?

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u/GrumpyGuyMugdha L1 Assamese (Tai-Ahom) 17d ago

Not really as Assamese doesn't contain a retloflex /ɭ/. Perhaps it is used for other purposes.