proto-tai pronouns
A quick table of Proto-Tai pronouns, as given in this wiki page, and the current usage1 of the Thai words derived from them.
| Proto-Tai | Thai | |
| 1st singular | *ku | 1sg (vulgar) |
| 1st dual excl. | *phɯa | - |
| 1st plural excl. | *tu | 1sg (substitute for /ku/) |
| 1st dual incl. | *ra | - |
| 1st dual excl. | *rau | 1sg (colloquial), 1dual/plural, 2sg (colloquial, towards younger/lower status) |
| 2nd singular | *mɯŋ | 2sg (vulgar) |
| 2nd dual | *khɯa | - |
| 2nd plural | *su | - |
| 3rd singular | *man | 3sg human (colloquial, slightly derogatory), 3sg non-human |
| 3rd dual | *kha | - |
| 3rd plural | *khau | 3sg human |
Some afterthoughts:
- Confusing, isn’t it?
- I wonder when the dual/plural and incl/excl distinctions vanished. Modern Thai has neither of these distinctions. (In fact, except for /rau/, modern Thai doesn’t seem to have any plural pronouns that are not formed by the prefix /phuak/.)
- The famous stanza of Lilit Phra Lo, written sometime around 1500, is probably the only time the average Thai student sees the pronouns /phɯa/ and /khɯa/; in this stanza the pronouns have the correct Proto-Tai meaning.
- Actually, when was ‘Proto-Tai’ spoken?
1 at least in my version of Thai