Languages of Thailand

Thailand, and its neighbor Laos, are dominated by languages of the Southwestern Tai family. Karen languages are spoken along the border with Burma, Khmer is spoken near Cambodia and Malay in the south near Malaysia. The following table comprises all 62 ethnolinguistic groups recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice.[1]:3

Five language families of Thailand recognised by the Royal Thai Government[1]
Kra-DaiAustroasiaticSino-TibetanAustronesianHmong-Mien
24 Groups22 groups11 Groups3 Groups2 Groups
KaleungKasongGuong (Ugong)Malay (Malayu / Nayu / YawiHmong (Meo)
Northern ThaiKuy / KuayKaren (7 subfamilies)Moken / MoklenMien (Yao)
Tai DamKhmu- S'gaw KarenUrak Lawoi'
NyawThailand Khmer, Northern Khmer- Pwo Karen
KhünChong- Kaya Karen
Central ThaiSa'och- Bwe Karen
Thai KoratKensiu- Pa'O
Thai TakbaiSamre- Padaung Karen
Thai LoeiThavung- Kayo Karen
Tai LueSoJingpaw / Kachin
Tai YaNyah Kur (Chaobon)Chinese
ShanNyeuYunnanese Chinese
Southern ThaiBru (Kha)Bisu
Phu ThaiBlang (Samtao)Burmese
PhuanPalaung (Dala-ang)Lahu (Muzur)
YongMonLisu
YoyLawaAkha
Lao KhrangMlabri (Tongluang)Mpi
Lao NgaewLamet (Lua)
Lao TiLavua (Lawa / Lua)
Lao Wiang/Lao KlangWa
Lao LomVietnamese
Lao Isan
Saek
Languages of Thailand
OfficialCentral Thai (Siamese)
NationalCentral Thai, Isan (Laotian), Northern Thai, Southern Thai
Regional
Foreign
SignedThai Sign Language
Keyboard layout

The following table shows all the language families of Northeast Thailand, as recognised in the same report.

Language families of Northeast Thailand[1]
Tai Language FamilyPersonsAustroasiatic Language FamilyPersons
Lao Esan / Thai Lao13,000,000Thailand Khmer / Northern Khmer1,400,000
Central Thai800,000Kuy / Kuay (Suay)400,000
Thai Khorat / Tai Beung / Tai Deung600,000So70,000
Thai-Loei500,000 Brucombined
Phu Thai500,000Vietnamese20,000
Ngaw500,000Ngeu10,000
Kaleung200,000 forNgah Kur / Chao Bon / Khon Dong7,000
YoyKaleung, Yoy and PhuanSo (Thavaung)1,500
PhuancombinedMon1,000
Tai-dam (Song)(not specified)
Total:16,103,000Total:1,909,000
Cannot specify ethnicity and amount:3,288,000
21,300,000

Note that population numbers are for the Northeast region only. Languages may have additional speakers outside the Northeast.

The Thai hill tribes speak numerous small languages, many Chinese retain varieties of Chinese, and there are half a dozen sign languages. The Ethnologue reports 73 living languages are used in Thailand. The Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the Committee Responsible for the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,[1] relying mainly on the 2005 Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data,[2] lists 62 languages.

Thais

Two major dialects of Thai are spoken in Thailand: Central Thai and Southern Thai. Northern Thai is a closely related mutually intelligible language spoken in the northern provinces that were formerly part of the independent kingdom of Lanna while Isan, a Lao dialect, is the native language of the northeast.

The sole official language of Thailand is Central Thai, a native language in Central (including the Bangkok Metropolitan Region), Southwestern and Eastern Thailand. Central Thai is a Kra-Dai language closely related to Lao, Shan, and numerous indigenous languages of southern China and northern Vietnam. It is the principal language of education and government and is spoken throughout the country. The standard is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida that evolved from the Khmer script.

Although Isan, Northern Thai and, to a lesser extent, Southern Thai are classified as separate languages by most linguists, the Thai government has historically treated them as dialects of one "Thai language" for political reasons.

Minority languages

In the far south, Yawi, a dialect of Malay, is the primary language of the Malay Muslims. Khmer is spoken by the elder Northern Khmer. Varieties of Chinese are also spoken by the elder Thai Chinese population, with the Teochew dialect being best represented. However, the younger Thai Chinese and Northern Khmer trend towards speaking Central Thai. The Peranakan in Southern Thailand speak Southern Thai at home.

Tribal languages

Numerous tribal languages are also spoken, including those belonging to:

Sign language

Several village sign languages are reported among the hill tribes, though it is not clear whether these are independent languages, as only Ban Khor Sign Language has been described. Two related deaf-community sign languages developed in Chiangmai and Bangkok; the national Thai Sign Language developed from these under the influence of American Sign Language.

English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains very low, especially outside the cities.

Most widely spoken language

The following table shows official first languages in Thailand with equal to or more than 400,000 speakers according to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the Committee Responsible for the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,[1] mainly using the Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data.[2]

Official first languages of Thailand with equal to or more than 400,000 speakers[1]

LanguageSpeakersLanguage Family
Central Thai20.0 millionTai-Kadai
Lao15.2 millionTai-Kadai
Kham Muang (Northern Thai)6.0 millionTai-Kadai
Pak Tai (Southern Thai)4.5 millionTai-Kadai
Northern Khmer1.4 millionAustroasiatic
Yawi1.4 millionAustronesian
Ngaw0.5 millionTai-Kadai
Phu Thai0.5 millionTai-Kadai
Karen0.4 millionSino-Tibetan
Kuy0.4 millionAustroasiatic

The figures in the following table includes first, second, and third language speakers. Note that Ethnologue describes 'Isan' as a language, following Thai government practice until the 2011 Country Report.

Languages in Thailand with more than 1 million speakers according to Ethnologue

LanguageCodeSpeakersLanguage Family
Central Thaimbf60 millionTai-Kadai
Isantts23 millionTai-Kadai
Northern Thainod6 millionTai-Kadai
Southern Thaisou4.5 millionTai-Kadai
Northern Khmerkxm1.4 millionAustroasiatic
Yawimfa1 millionAustronesian

The following table employs 2000 census data. Caution should be exercised with Thai census data on first language. In Thai censuses, the four largest Tai-Kadai languages of Thailand (in order, Central Thai, Isan (majority Lao),[3] Kam Mueang, Pak Tai) are not provided as options for language or ethnic group. People stating such a language as a first language, including Lao, are allocated to 'Thai'.[4] This explains the disparity between the two tables. For instance, self-reporting as Lao has been prohibited, due to the prohibition of the Lao ethnonym in the context of describing Thai citizens, for approximately one hundred years.[5][6] The 2011 Country Report data is therefore more comprehensive and better differentiates between the large Tai-Kadai languages of Thailand. As a country submission to a UN convention ratified by Thailand, it is also arguably more authoritative.

Population of Thailand above the age of 5 by language (UN statistics 2000)[7]
Language Language family No. of speakers
Thai Tai-Kadai 52,325,037
Khmer Austroasiatic 1,291,024
Malay Austronesian 1,202,911
Karen Sino-Tibetan 317,968
Chinese Sino-Tibetan 231,350
Miao Hmong-Mien 112,686
Lahu Sino-Tibetan 70,058
Burmese Sino-Tibetan 67,061
Akha Sino-Tibetan 54,241
English Indo-European 48,202
Tai Tai-Kadai 44,004
Japanese Japonic 38,565
Lawa Austroasiatic 31,583
Lisu Sino-Tibetan 25,037
Vietnamese Austroasiatic 24,476
Yao Hmong-Mien 21,238
Khmu Austroasiatic 6,246
Indian Indo-European 5,598
Haw Yunnanese Sino-Tibetan 3,247
Htin Austroasiatic 2,317
Others 33,481
Unknown 325,134
Total: 56,281,538

Provincial language data
Khmer speakers as a percentage of the total population in various provinces of Thailand
ProvinceKhmer % in 1990Khmer % in 2000
Buriram[8] 0.3% 27.6%
Chanthaburi[9] 0.6% 1.6%
Maha Sarakham[10] 0.2% 0.3%
Roi Et[11] 0.4% 0.5%
Sa Kaew[12] N/A 1.9%
Sisaket[13] 30.2% 26.2%
Surin[14] 63.4% 47.2%
Trat[15] 0.4% 2.1%
Ubon Ratchathani[16] 0.8% 0.3%

See also

Further reading
  • L-Thongkum, Theraphan. 1985. Minority Languages of Thailand. In Science of Language Papers: Languages and Dialects. vol 5. Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University.
  • Suwilai Premsrirat. 2004. "Using GIS For Displaying An Ethnolinguistic Map of Thailand." In Papers from the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, edited by Somsonge Burusphat. Tempe, Arizona, 599-617. Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies.

References

ไทย

  1. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention: Thailand (PDF) (in English and Thai). United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand (PDF) (in Thai). Office of the National Culture Commission. 2004. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. Draper, John; Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit (2016). "The Thai Lao Question: The Reappearance of Thailand's Ethnic Lao Community and Related Policy Questions". Asian Ethnicity. 19: 81–105. doi:10.1080/14631369.2016.1258300.
  4. Luangthongkum, Theraphan. (2007). The Position of Non-Thai Languages in Thailand. In Lee Hock Guan & L. Suryadinata (Eds.), Language, nation and development in Southeast Asia (pp. 181-194). Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.
  5. Breazeale, Kennon. (1975). The integration of the Lao states. PhD. dissertation, Oxford University.
  6. Grabowsky, Volker. (1996). The Thai census of 1904: Translation and analysis. In Journal of the Siam Society, 84(1): 49-85.
  7. Population by language, sex and urban/rural residence, UNSD Demographic Statistics, United Nations Statistics Division, UNdata, last update 5 July 2013.
  8. "burirum.xls" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  9. http://web.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/chanburifn.pdf
  10. "mahakam.xls" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  11. http://web.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/roietfn.pdf
  12. "Sakaeo: Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  13. "Si Sa Ket: Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  14. "Surin: Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  15. http://web.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/tratfn.pdf
  16. "Ubon Ratchathani: Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  1. "Google". google.com. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
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