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{{Short description|Branch of the Kra–Dai language family}}
{{Distinguish|Thai language|Tai language (New Guinea)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Tai
| altname = Zhuang–Tai
| region = Southern [[China]] (esp. [[Guangxi]], [[Guizhou]], [[Yunnan]] and [[Guangdong]]), [[Southeast Asia]], north-east [[India]]
| familycolor = Tai-Kadai
| fam2 = [[Kam–Tai languages|Kam–Tai]] ?
| fam3 = Be–Tai ?
| protoname = [[Proto-Tai language|Proto-Tai]]
| child1 = [[Northern Tai languages|Northern]] (NT)
| child2 = [[Central Tai languages|Central]] (CT)
| child3 = [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern]] (SWT)
| child4 = (see also [[Zhuang languages]])
| iso2 = tai
| iso5 = tai
| glotto = daic1237
| glottorefname = Daic
| map = Taikadai-en1.png
| mapcaption = Distribution of Tai languages: 
{{legend|#FFEC19|Northern Tai / Northern Zhuang}}
{{legend|#FF4C00|Central Tai / Southern Zhuang}}
{{legend|#FF9D00|Southwestern Tai / Thai}}
}}

The '''Tai''' or '''Zhuang–Tai<ref>Diller, 2008. ''The Tai–Kadai Languages'', p. 7.</ref> languages''' ({{lang-th|ภาษาไท}} or {{lang|th|ภาษาไต}}, [[ISO 11940|transliteration]]: {{transliteration|th|ISO|p̣hās̛̄āthay}} or {{transliteration|th|ISO|p̣hās̛̄ātay}}; {{lang-lo|ພາສາໄຕ}}, {{lang|lo-Latn|Phasa Tai}}) are a branch of the [[Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai language family]]. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard [[Thai language|Thai]] or Siamese, the national language of [[Thailand]]; [[Lao language|Lao]] or Laotian, the national language of [[Laos]]; [[Myanmar]]'s [[Shan language]]; and [[Zhuang languages|Zhuang]], a major language in the Southwestern China's [[Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region]], spoken by the [[Zhuang people]] ({{lang|zh|壯}}), the largest minority ethnic group in China,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mfa.gov.cn/ce/ceth//eng/ztbd/AboutChina/Ethnic/t17927.htm |title=The Zhuang ethnic minority |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China]] }}</ref> with a population of 15.55 million, living mainly in [[Guangxi]], the rest scattered across [[Yunnan]], [[Guangdong]], [[Guizhou]] and [[Hunan]] provinces.

==Name==
Cognates with the name ''Tai'' (''Thai, Dai'', etc.) are used by speakers of many Tai languages. The term ''Tai'' is now well-established as the generic name in English. In his book '' The Tai-Kadai Languages'' Anthony Diller claims that Lao scholars he has met are not pleased with Lao being regarded as a Tai language.<ref name="AnthonyDiller">[https://books.google.com/books?id=0lmQAgAAQBAJ&dq=kra%3DKadai&pg=PA6 Diller, Anthony; Edmondson, Jerry; Luo, Yongxian (2004). The Tai-Kadai Languages]. ''Routledge (2004)'', pp. 5-6. {{ISBN|1135791163}}.</ref> For some, Thai should instead be considered a member of the Lao language family.<ref name="AnthonyDiller"/> One or more Ancient Chinese characters for 'Lao' may be cited in support of this alternative appellation.<ref name="AnthonyDiller"/> Some scholars including [[Paul K. Benedict|Benedict]] (1975), have used ''Thai'' to refer to a wider (''Tai'') grouping and one sees designations like ''[[Proto-Tai language|proto-Thai]]'' and ''[[Austro-Tai languages|Austro-Thai]]'' in earlier works.<ref name="AnthonyDiller"/> In the institutional context in Thailand, and occasionally elsewhere, sometimes ''Tai'' (and its corresponding Thai-script spelling, without a final -y symbol) is used to indicate varieties in the language family not spoken in Thailand or spoken there only as the result of recent immigration.<ref name="AnthonyDiller"/> In this usage ''Thai'' would not then be considered a ''Tai'' language.<ref name="AnthonyDiller"/> On the other hand, [[William J. Gedney|Gedney]], [[Li Fang-Kuei|Li]] and others have preferred to call the standard language of Thailand ''Siamese'' rather than ''Thai'', perhaps to reduce potential ''Thai/Tai'' confusion, especially among English speakers not comfortable with making a word initial unaspirated voiceless sound for ''Tai'', which in any event might sound artificial or arcane to outsiders.

According to [[Michel Ferlus]], the ethnonyms Tai/Thai (or Tay/Thay) would have evolved from the etymon '''*k(ə)ri:''' 'human being' through the following chain: '''kəri:''' > '''kəli:''' > '''kədi:/kədaj''' ('''-l-''' > '''-d-''' shift in tense sesquisyllables and probable diphthongization of '''-i:''' > '''-aj''').<ref name="Michel Furles">[https://hal.inria.fr/halshs-01182596/document Ferlus, Michel (2009). Formation of Ethnonyms in Southeast Asia]. ''42nd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Nov 2009, Chiang Mai, Thailand. 2009'', p.3.</ref><ref name="Frédéric Pain">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/25608449?seq=6#page_scan_tab_contents Pain, Frédéric (2008). An Introduction to Thai Ethnonymy: Examples from Shan and Northern Thai]. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 128, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2008)'', p.646.</ref> This in turn changed to '''di:/daj''' (presyllabic truncation and probable diphthongization '''-i:''' > '''-aj'''). And then to '''*dajA''' (Proto-Southwestern Tai) > '''tʰajA2''' (in Siamese and Lao) or > '''tajA2''' (in the other Southwestern and Central Tai languages by Li Fangkuei). [[Michel Ferlus]]' work is based on some simple rules of phonetic change observable in the Sinosphere and studied for the most part by [[William H. Baxter]] (1992).<ref name="Frédéric Pain"/>

The Central Tai languages are called ''Zhuang'' in China and '''Tay''' and ''Nung'' in Vietnam.

==History==
[[File:Tai Migration.svg|thumb|350px|right|Map showing linguistic family tree overlaid on a geographic distribution map of the Tai family. This map only shows general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes, not specific routes, which would have snaked along the rivers and over the lower passes.]]
Citing the fact that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same [[exonym and endonym|exonym]] for the Vietnamese, ''kɛɛuA1'',{{efn|A1 designates a tone.}} [[Jerold A. Edmondson]] of the [[University of Texas at Arlington]] posited that the split between Zhuang (a [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai language]]) and the [[Southwestern Tai languages]] happened no earlier than the founding of [[Jiaozhi]] in Vietnam in 112 BCE but no later than the 5th-6th century AD.<ref>{{cite book |last=Edmondson |first=Jerold A. |chapter=The power of language over the past: Tai settlement and Tai linguistics in southern China and northern Vietnam |title=Studies in Southeast Asian Linguistics |editor1-first=Jimmy G. |editor1-last=Harris |editor2-first=Somsonge |editor2-last=Burusphat |editor3-first=James E. |editor3-last=Harris |date=2007 |location=Bangkok, Thailand |publisher=Ekphimthai |isbn=9789748130064 |page=15 |url=http://ling.uta.edu/~jerry/pol.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716085333/http://ling.uta.edu/~jerry/pol.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> Based on layers of Chinese loanwords in Proto-Southwestern Tai and other historical evidence, Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2014) suggests that the dispersal of Southwestern Tai must have begun sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries AD.<ref name="PittayawatPittayaporn">[http://www.manusya.journals.chula.ac.th/files/essay/Pittayawat%2047-68.pdf Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2014). Layers of Chinese Loanwords in Proto-Southwestern Tai as Evidence for the Dating of the Spread of Southwestern Tai]. ''MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities,'' Special Issue No 20: 47–64.</ref>

===Connection to ancient Yue language(s)===
{{further|Old Yue language}}
The Tai languages descend from [[proto-Tai-Kadai]], which has been hypothesized to originate in the Lower Yangtze valleys. Ancient Chinese texts refer to non-Sinitic languages spoken across this substantial region and their speakers as ''"[[Old Yue language|Yue]]"''. Although those languages are extinct, traces of their existence could be found in unearthed inscriptional materials, ancient Chinese historical texts and non-Han substrata in various Southern Chinese dialects. Thai, as the most-spoken language in the [[Tai-Kadai languages|Tai-Kadai language family]], has been used extensively in historical-comparative linguistics to identify the origins of language(s) spoken in the ancient region of South China. One of the very few direct records of non-Sinitic speech in pre-Qin and Han times having been preserved so far is the ''"[[Song of the Yue Boatman]]"'' (Yueren Ge 越人歌), which was transcribed phonetically in Chinese characters in 528 BC, and found in the 善说 Shanshuo chapter of the Shuoyuan 说苑 or 'Garden of Persuasions'. In the early 1980's the [[Zhuang people|Zhuang]] linguist Wei Qingwen using reconstructed Old Chinese for the characters discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to [[Zhuang language|modern Zhuang]].{{sfn|Edmondson|2007|p= 16}} Later, Zhengzhang Shangfang (1991) followed Wei's insight but used [[Thai script#Orthography|Thai orthography]] for comparison, since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms vis-à-vis the modern pronunciation.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zhengzhang |first=Shangfang |author-link=Zhengzhang Shangfang |title=Decipherment of Yue-Ren-Ge (Song of the Yue boatman) |journal=Cahiers de Linguistique — Asie Orientale |volume=XX |number=2 |date=Winter 1991 |pages=159–168 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/clao_0153-3320_1991_num_20_2_1345 |access-date=23 May 2023}}</ref>

==Internal classification==

===Haudricourt (1956)===
[[André-Georges Haudricourt|Haudricourt]] emphasizes the specificity of Dioi (Zhuang) and proposes to make a two-way distinction between the following two sets.<ref>Haudricourt, André-Georges. 1956. De la restitution des initiales dans les langues monosyllabiques : le problème du thai commun. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris 52. 307–322.</ref> The original language names used in Haudricourt's (1956) are provided first; alternative names are given in parentheses.

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** Dioi group: [[Yei Zhuang language|Yei Zhuang]], [[Yongbei Zhuang]], [[Youjiang Zhuang]], [[Bouyei language|Bouyei]] (Buyi)
** Tai proper: [[Ahom language|Ahom]], [[Shan language|Shan]], [[Thai language|Siamese]] (Thai), [[Lao language|Lao]], [[Tai Dón language|White Tai]] (Tai Dón), [[Tai Dam language|Black Tai]] (Tai Dam), [[Zhuang languages#Southern Zhuang|Southern Zhuang]], [[Tày language|Tho]] (Tày), [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]]
{{tree list/end}}

Characteristics of the Dioi group pointed out by Haudricourt are
* r- corresponding to the lateral l- in the other Tai languages,{{verify source|date=August 2021}}
* divergent vowel system characteristics, e.g. 'tail' has an /a/ vowel in Tai proper, as against /ə̄/ in Bo-ai, /iə/ in Tianzhou, and /ɯə/ in Tianzhou and Wuming, and
* the lack of aspirated stops and affricates, which are found everywhere in Tai proper.

===Li (1977)===
[[Li Fang-Kuei]] divided Tai into three sister branches.

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]
** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]] (Thai)
{{tree list/end}}

Li's Northern group corresponds to Haudricourt's Dioi group, while his Central and Southwestern groups correspond to Haudricourt's Tai proper. The three last languages in Haudricourt's list of 'Tai proper' languages are [[Tày language|Tho (Tày)]], [[Longzhou Zhuang language|Longzhou]], and [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]], which Li classifies as 'Central Tai'.

This classification scheme has long been accepted as standard in comparative Tai linguistics. However, Central Tai does not appear to be a [[monophyletic]] group.

===Gedney (1989)===
Gedney (1989) considers Central and Southwestern Tai to form a subgroup, of which Northern Tai is a sister. The top-level branching is in agreement with Haudricourt (1956).

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]
** {{tree list/branching}}
*** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
*** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]
{{tree list/end}}

===Luo (1997)===
Luo Yongxian (1997) classifies the Tai languages as follows, introducing a fourth branch called ''Northwestern Tai'' that includes [[Ahom language|Ahom]], [[Shan language|Shan]], [[Tai Nüa language|Dehong]] Dai, and [[Khamti language|Khamti]]. All branches are considered to be coordinate to each other.<ref>Luo, Yongxian. (1997). ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/23887080 The subgroup structure of the Tai Languages: a historical-comparative study]''. Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series, (12), p. 232.</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]
** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]
** Northwestern Tai
{{tree list/end}}

===Pittayaporn (2009)===
[[File:Lenguas Tai suroccidentales.png|right|thumb|320px|Southwestern Tai languages]]

====Overview====
{{See also|Zhuang languages#Varieties}}
Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2009) classifies the Tai languages based on clusters of shared innovations (which, individually, may be associated with more than one branch) (Pittayaporn 2009:298). In Pittayaporn's preliminary classification system of the Tai languages, [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]] is considered to be [[paraphyly|paraphyletic]] and is split up into multiple branches, with the [[Zhuang languages#Varieties|Zhuang varieties]] of [[Chongzuo]] in southwestern [[Guangxi]] (especially in the [[Zuo River]] valley at the border to Vietnam) having the most internal diversity. The [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]] and [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] branches remain intact as in [[Li Fang-Kuei]]'s 1977 classification system, and several of the Southern Zhuang languages allocated ISO codes are considered to be [[paraphyly|paraphyletic]]. The classification is as follows.<ref>Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. ''The Phonology of Proto-Tai''. PhD dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** D: '''[[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]'''
*** I: [[Qinzhou Zhuang]] (Yongnan Zhuang of [[Qinzhou]])
*** J
**** M: [[Standard Zhuang|Wuming Zhuang]], Yongnan Zhuang, [[Long'an County|Long'an]] Zhuang, [[Fusui County|Fusui]]
**** N: Core [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]: [[Saek language|Saek]], [[Bouyei language|Bouyei]], [[Yay language|Yay]], [[Youjiang Zhuang]] and others
** C: [[Chongzuo Zhuang]] (Yongnan Zhuang of [[Chongzuo]]), [[Shangsi Zhuang]] (Yongnan Zhuang of [[Shangsi County|Shangsi]]), [[Caolan language|Caolan]] (Vietnam)
** B: [[Ningming Zhuang language|Ningming Zhuang]] (Zuojiang Zhuang of [[Ningming County|Ningming]])
** A
*** F: [[Longzhou County|Lungchow]] Zhuang, [[Daxin County|Leiping]] Zhuang
*** E
**** H: Lungming Zhuang, [[Daxin County|Daxin]] Zhuang
**** G
***** L (Nung): [[Yang Zhuang language|Yang Zhuang]] of [[Debao County|Debao]], [[Yang Zhuang language|Yang Zhuang]] of [[Jingxi, Guangxi|Jingxi]], [[Nung language (Tai)|(Western) Nung]] of [[Mường Khương District]], [[Nong Zhuang language|Nong Zhuang]] of [[Wenshan City]]), [[Nong Zhuang language|Nong Zhuang]] of [[Yanshan County, Yunnan|Yanshan]]
***** K
****** P (Tay): [[Tày language|Tày]] of [[Bảo Yên District|Bảo Yên]], [[Tày language|Tày]] of [[Cao Bằng Province|Cao Bằng]], [[Dai Zhuang language|Dai Zhuang]] of Wenma (文麻)
****** O
******* R: [[Sapa language|Sapa]] (Vietnam)
******* Q: '''[[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]''' (Laos, Thailand, Burma)
{{tree list/end}}

[[Standard Zhuang]] is based on the dialect of Shuangqiao (双桥), [[Wuming District]].

[[File:Zhuang survey sites.svg|frame|center|Sites surveyed in Zhang (1999), subgrouped according to Pittayaporn (2009):
{{color circle|#ff0000}} N,
{{color circle|#ff7f00}} M,
{{color circle|#ffff00}} I,
{{color circle|#7fff00}} C,
{{color circle|#00c800}} B,
{{color circle|#00ff7f}} F,
{{color circle|#00ffff}} H,
{{color circle|#3232ff}} L,
{{color circle|#c800ff}} P
]]

====Sound changes====
{{See also|Proto-Tai language}}
[[File:Zhuang-dialects-map.png|right|thumb|400px|Distribution of Central and Northern Tai languages (Zhuang, Tay-Nung and Bouyei included)]]
The following phonological shifts occurred in the Q (Southwestern), N (Northern), B (Ningming), and C (Chongzuo) subgroups (Pittayaporn 2009:300–301).

{| class="wikitable"
|+Proto-Tai reflexes
!c=rf| [[Proto-Tai language|Proto-Tai]]
!c=01| Subgroup Q{{efn|Unless indicated otherwise, all phonological shifts occurred at the primary level (node A).}}
!c=02| Subgroup N{{efn|Unless indicated otherwise, all phonological shifts occurred at the primary level (node D).}}
!c=03| Subgroup B
!c=04| Subgroup C
|-
!c=rf| *ɤj, *ɤw, *ɤɰ
|c=01| *aj, *aw, *aɰ
|c=02| *i:, *u:, *ɯ:
|c=03| *i:, *u:, *ɯ:
|c=04| –
|-
!c=rf| *ɯj, *ɯw
|c=01| *iː, *uː{{efn|Also, the *ɯːk > *uːk shift occurred at node A.}}
|c=02| *aj, *aw{{efn|Innovation at node N}}
|c=03| *iː, *uː
|c=04| –
|-
!c=rf| *we, *wo
|c=01| *eː, *oː
|c=02| *iː, *uː
|c=03| *eː, *oː{{efn|For node B, the affected Proto-Tai syllable was *weː, *woː.}}
|c=04| *eː, *oː{{efn|For node C, the affected Proto-Tai syllable was *weː, *woː.}}
|-
!c=rf| *ɟm̩.r-
|c=01| *br-
|c=02| *ɟr-
|c=03| –
|c=04| *ɟr-
|-
!c=rf| *k.t-
|c=01| –
|c=02| *tr-
|c=03| –
|c=04| *tr-
|-
!c=rf| *ɤn, *ɤt, *ɤc
|c=01| –
|c=02| *an, *at, *ac{{efn|Innovation at node J}}
|c=03| –
|c=04| –
|}

Furthermore, the following shifts occurred at various nodes leading up to node Q.
* E: *p.t- > *p.r-; *ɯm > *ɤm
* G: *k.r- > *qr-
* K: *eː, *oː > *ɛː, *ɔː
* O: *ɤn > *on
* Q: *kr- > *ʰr-

===Edmondson (2013)===
[[Jerold A. Edmondson]]'s (2013) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Tai languages is shown below. [[Tày language|Tay]] and [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]] are both shown to be coherent branches under [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]. [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]] and [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]] are also shown to be coherent branches.<ref>Edmondson, Jerold A. 2013. ''Tai subgrouping using phylogenetic estimation''. Presented at the 46th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (ICSTLL 46), Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States, August 7–10, 2013 (Session: Tai-Kadai Workshop).</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Tai'''
** [[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]: [[Bouyei language|Buyi]], [[Yay language|Yay]], Po-Ai, [[Standard Zhuang|Wuming Zhuang]], [[Yei Zhuang language|Mashan Zhuang]]
** {{tree list/branching}}
*** [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]
**** core [[Central Tai languages|Central Tai]]: Nung Chau, [[Pingxiang]] Zhuang, Leiping Zhuang, [[Ningming]] Zhuang
**** [[Nung language (Tai)|Nung]]: Western Nung, Nung Yang, Nung An, Thu Lao
**** [[Tày language|Tay]]: Tay Bao Lac, Tay Khanh Trung, [[Caolan language|Cao Lan]]
*** [[Southwestern Tai languages|Southwestern Tai]]: [[Ahom language|Ahom]], [[Shan language|Shan]], [[Tai Nüa language|Dehong]], [[Tai Thanh language|Tai Theeng]] (Nghe An), [[Tai Dam language|Black Tai]], [[Tai Dón language|White Tai]], [[Pa Di language|Padi]], [[Lao language|Lao]], [[Thai language|Thai]]
{{tree list/end}}

==Reconstruction==
{{main|Proto-Tai language}}

[[Proto-Tai language|Proto-Tai]] has been reconstructed in 1977 by [[Li Fang-Kuei]] and by Pittayawat Pittayaporn in 2009.<ref>Jonsson, Nanna L. (1991) [http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=698 Proto Southwestern Tai]. PhD dissertation, available from UMI and SEAlang.net on http://sealang.net/crcl/proto/</ref>

Proto-Southwestern Tai has also been reconstructed in 1977 by Li Fang-Kuei and by Nanna L. Jonsson in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=684 |title=ABVD: Proto-Southwestern Tai |access-date=29 November 2010 |archive-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413020449/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=684 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Proto-Tai Pronouns{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
| || || '''[[Proto-Tai language|Proto-Tai]]''' || '''[[Thai alphabet]]'''
|-
| rowspan="3"|1st || singular || *ku ||กู
|-
|dual (exclusive)|| *pʰɯa ||เผือ
|-
|plural (exclusive) || *tu ||ตู
|-
| rowspan="2"|Incl. ||dual (inclusive)|| *ra ||รา
|-
|plural (inclusive) || *rau ||เรา
|-
| rowspan="3"|2nd || singular||*mɯŋ || มึง
|-
|dual|| *kʰɯa ||เขือ
|-
|plural || *su ||สู
|-
| rowspan="3"|3rd|| singular || *man || มัน
|-
|dual|| *kʰa ||ขา
|-
|plural || *kʰau ||เขา
|}

==Comparison==
[[File:Tai Scripts Sample.png|thumb|Tai alphabets. The phrase is ''kind elephant rider''.]]
Below is comparative table of Tai languages.
{| class="wikitable IPA" line-height:1.25em;"
![[English language|English]]
!Proto-Southwestern Tai<ref>[http://sealang.net/crcl/proto/ Thai Lexicography Resources]</ref>
![[Thai language|Thai]]
![[Lao language|Lao]]
![[Northern Thai language|Northern Thai]]
![[Shan language|Shan]]
![[Tai Lü language|Tai Lü]]
![[Standard Zhuang]]
![[Ahom language|Ahom]]
|-
|'''''wind'''''
|*lom
|/lōm/
|/lóm/
|/lōm/
|/lóm/
|/lôm/
|/ɣum˧˩/
|lum
|-
|'''''town'''''
|*mɯaŋ
|/mɯ̄aŋ/
|/mɯ́aŋ/
|/mɯ̄aŋ/
|/mɤ́ŋ/
|/mɤ̂ŋ/
|/mɯŋ˧/
|mvng
|-
|'''''earth'''''
|*ʔdin
|/dīn/
|/dìn/
|/dīn/
|/lǐn/
|/dín/
|/dei˧/
|nin
|-
|'''''fire'''''
|*vai/aɯ
|/fāj/
|/fáj/
|/fāj/
|/pʰáj/ or /fáj/
|/fâj/
|/fei˧˩/
|phai
|-
|'''''heart'''''
|*čai/aɯ
|/hǔa tɕāj/
|/hǔa tɕàj/
|/hǔa tɕǎj/
|/hǒ tsǎɰ/
|/hó tɕáj/
|/sim/
|chau
|-
|'''''love'''''
|*rak
|/rák/
|/hāk/
|/hák/
|/hâk/
|/hak/
|/gyai˧˩/
|rak
|-
|'''''water'''''
|*naam
|/náːm/
|/nâm/
|/nám/
|/nâm/
|/nà̄m/
|/ɣaem˦˨/
|nam
|-
|-
|-
|}

==Writing systems==
[[File:Tai-script-evolution.png|thumb|left|250px|Graphical summary of the development of Tai scripts from a Shan perspective, as reported in Sai Kam Mong's ''Shan Script'' book.]]
Many [[Southwestern Tai languages]] are written using [[Brahmi script|Brahmi-derived alphabets]]. [[Zhuang languages]] are traditionally written with [[Chinese characters]] called [[Sawndip]], and now officially written with a romanized alphabet, though the traditional writing system is still in use to this day.
* [[Thai script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/thai.htm]
* [[Lao script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lao.htm]
* [[Sawndip]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/zhuang.htm]
* [[Shan script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/shan.htm]
* [[Ahom script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ahom.htm]
* [[Tai Viet script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/taidam.htm]
* [[Tai Le script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tainua.htm]
* [[New Tai Lue alphabet]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tailue.htm]
* [[Tai Tham script]] [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lanna.htm]

==See also==
* [[Tai peoples#Other Tai peoples and languages|Miscellaneous Tai languages]]
* [[Zomia (region)]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Brown, J. Marvin. ''From Ancient Thai to Modern Dialects''. Bangkok: Social Science Association Press of Thailand, 1965.
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* Gedney, William J., Carol J. Compton, and John F. Hartmann. ''Papers on Tai Languages, Linguistics, and Literatures: In Honor of William J. Gedney on His 77th Birthday''. Monograph series on Southeast Asia. [De Kalb]: Northern Illinois University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, 1992. {{ISBN|1-877979-16-3}}
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{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://sealang.net/library/ SEAlang Library]
* [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists_for_Tai–Kadai_languages Comparative Tai–Kadai Swadesh vocabulary lists] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])
* [http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=698 ABVD: Proto-Tai word list]
* [http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=684 ABVD: Proto-Southwestern Tai word list]
* Kelley, Liam. [https://www.academia.edu/3659357/Tai_Words_and_the_Place_of_the_Tai_in_the_Vietnamese_Past Tai Words and the Place of the Tai in the Vietnamese Past].

{{Tai-Kadai languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tai Languages}}
[[Category:Tai languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages of Southeast Asia]]

Tai languages - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article