Tai languages

Tai
Zhuang–Tai, Daic
Geographic
distribution
Southern China (esp. Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangdong), Southeast Asia, north-east India
Linguistic classificationKra–Dai
Proto-languageProto-Tai
Subdivisions
Language codes
ISO 639-2 / 5tai
Glottologdaic1237
Distribution of Tai languages:
  Northern Tai / Northern Zhuang
  Central Tai / Southern Zhuang
  Southwestern Tai / Thai

The Tai, Zhuang–Tai,[1] or Daic[2] languages (Ahom:𑜁𑜪𑜨 𑜄𑜩 or 𑜁𑜨𑜉𑜫 𑜄𑜩 kwáam tái ; Shan: ၵႂၢမ်းတႆး; Thai: ภาษาไท or ภาษาไต, transliteration: p̣hās̛̄āthay or p̣hās̛̄ātay, RTGSphasa thai or phasa tai; Lao: ພາສາໄຕ, Phasa Tai) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Myanmar's Shan language; and Zhuang, a major language in the Southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, spoken by the Zhuang people (), the largest minority ethnic group in China,[3] with a population of 15.55 million, living mainly in Guangxi, the rest scattered across Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.

  1. ^ Diller, 2008. The Tai–Kadai Languages, p. 7.
  2. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (10 July 2023). "Glottolog 4.8 - Daic". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  3. ^ "The Zhuang ethnic minority". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.