What is the Thai Language
Thai is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai-Kadai language family
. The Tai-Kadai languages are
thought to have originated in what is now southern China, and some linguists
have proposed links to the Austroasiatic, Austronesian, or Sino-Tibetan
language families. It is a tonal and analytic language. The combination of
tonality, a complex orthography, relational markers and a distinctive
phonology can make Thai difficult to learn for those who do not already
speak a related language.
Standard Thai, also known as Central Thai or Siamese, is the official language of Thailand, spoken by about 65 million people (1990) including speakers of Bangkok Thai (although the latter is sometimes considered as a separate dialect). Khorat Thai is spoken by about 400,000 (1984) in Nakhon Ratchasima; it occupies a linguistic position somewhere between Central Thai and Isan on a dialect continuum, and may be considered a variant or dialect of either.
Thai is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai-Kadai language family
. The Tai-Kadai languages are
thought to have originated in what is now southern China, and some linguists
have proposed links to the Austroasiatic, Austronesian, or Sino-Tibetan
language families. It is a tonal and analytic language. The combination of
tonality, a complex orthography, relational markers and a distinctive
phonology can make Thai difficult to learn for those who do not already
speak a related language.Standard Thai, also known as Central Thai or Siamese, is the official language of Thailand, spoken by about 65 million people (1990) including speakers of Bangkok Thai (although the latter is sometimes considered as a separate dialect). Khorat Thai is spoken by about 400,000 (1984) in Nakhon Ratchasima; it occupies a linguistic position somewhere between Central Thai and Isan on a dialect continuum, and may be considered a variant or dialect of either.
Transliteration
The ISO published an international standard for the transliteration of Thai into Roman script in September 2003 (ISO 11940). By adding diacritics to the Latin letters, it makes the transcription reversible, making it a true transliteration. This system is intended for academic use and is hardly ever used in Thailand for the common public.
Sample Work
