Northern Thai language should not be confused with Northern Tai languages.
| Northern Thai | |
| Nativename: | กำเมือง |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /kam˧.mɯaŋ˧/, pronounced as /audio link/ |
| Script: | Tai Tham script Thai script |
| States: | Thailand (Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Uttaradit, Phrae, Nan, Phayao, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and Communities throughout Thailand) Myanmar (Tachileik, Myawaddy) Laos (Houayxay, Ton Pheung) |
| Region: | Northern Thailand |
| Ethnicity: | Northern Thai |
| Speakers: | 6 million |
| Date: | 2015 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Kradai |
| Fam2: | Tai |
| Fam3: | Southwestern (Thai) |
| Fam4: | Chiang Saen |
| Iso3: | nod |
| Glotto: | nort2740 |
| Minority: |  Thailand |
| Glottorefname: | Northern Thai |
| Notice: | Indic |
| Notice2: | IPA |
Kam Mueang ({{Script|Lana|ᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩬᩥᨦpronounced as /audio link/) or Northern Thai language (Thai: ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely related to Tai Lue language. Kam Mueang has approximately six million speakers, most of whom live in the native Northern Thailand, with a smaller community of Lanna speakers in northwestern Laos.
Speakers of this language generally consider the name "Tai Yuan" to be pejorative. They refer to themselves as Khon Mueang (คนเมือง, pronounced as /kʰon˧.mɯaŋ˧/ – literally "people of Mueang" meaning "city dwellers"), Lanna, or Northern Thai. The language is also sometimes referred to as Phayap (พายัพ, in Thai pronounced as /pʰāː.jáp/), "Northwestern (speech)".
The term Yuan is still sometimes used for Northern Thai's distinctive Tai Tham alphabet, which is closely related to the old Tai Lue alphabet and the Lao religious alphabets. The use of the Tua Mueang, as the traditional alphabet is known, is now largely limited to Buddhist temples, where many old sermon manuscripts are still in active use. There is no active production of literature in the traditional alphabet, and when used in writing standard Thai script is invariably used. The modern spoken form is called Kam Mueang. There is a resurgence of interest in writing it in the traditional way, but the modern pronunciation differs from that prescribed in spelling rules.[1]
Northern Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being Thai, Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form the Southwestern branch of Tai languages. The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family, which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border.
From a purely genealogical standpoint, most linguists consider Northern Thai to be more closely related to Central Thai than to Lao or Isan, but the language has been heavily influenced by both Lao and Central Thai throughout history. All Southwestern Tai languages form a coherent dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible varieties, with few sharp dividing lines. Nevertheless, Northern Thai has today become closer to the Central Thai language, as Standard Thai is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout Thailand.
The Northern Thai language has various names in Northern Thai, Thai, and other Tai languages.
The ancestors of the Northern Thai people were speakers of Southwestern Tai dialects that migrated from what is now southeastern China, specifically what is now Guangxi and northern Vietnam where the diversity of various Tai languages suggests an Urheimat. The Southwestern Tai languages began to diverge from the Northern and Central branches of the Tai languages, covered mainly by various Zhuang languages, sometime around 112 AD, but likely completed by the sixth century.[2] Due to the influx of Han Chinese soldiers and settlers, the end of the Chinese occupation of Vietnam, the fall of Jiaozhi and turbulence associated with the decline and fall of the Tang dynasty led some of the Tai peoples speaking Southwestern Tai to flee into Southeast Asia, with the small-scale migration mainly taking place between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The Tais split and followed the major river courses, with the ancestral Northern Thai originating in the Tai migrants that followed the Mekong River.[3]
Ancestors of the Northern Thai people established Ngoenyang, an early kingdom that existed between the 7th to 13th centuries, as well as smaller kingdoms like Phayao, in what is now modern-day northern Thailand. They settled in areas adjacent to the kingdom of Hariphunchai, coming into contact with Mon-speaking people whose writing system was eventually adapted for the Northern Thai language as the Tai Tham script.[4] In the 13th century, King Mangrai consolidated control of these territories, establishing the kingdom of Lan Na. In the 15th century, King Tilokkarat ushered in a golden age for Northern Thai literature, with a profusion of palm leaf manuscripts written in Tai Tham, using vernacular Northern Thai and interspersed with Pali and Buddhist Indic vocabulary.[5]
In 1775, Kawila of Lampang revolted with Siamese assistance, and captured the city, ending 200 years of Burmese rule. Kawila was installed as the prince of Lampang and Phraya Chaban as the prince of Chiang Mai, both as vassals of Siam. In 1899, Siam annexed the Northern Thai principalities, effectively dissolving their status as sovereign tributary states.
The Compulsory Education Act of 1921 banned schools and temples from using languages other than Central Thai (standard Thai), in an effort to bring remote regions under Siamese control. Northern Thai was relegated from the public sphere, with influential religious leaders like Khruba Srivichai jailed for using Northern Thai in sermons. In the 1940s, authorities promulgated Thai cultural mandates that reinforced the importance of learning and using Central Thai as the prestige language.
These economic and educational pressures have increased the use of standard Thai to the detriment of other regional languages like Northern Thai.[6] [7] Today, Northern Thai is typically code-switched with standard Thai, especially in more developed and urbanized areas of Northern Thailand, whereas exclusive use of Northern Thai remains prevalent in more remote areas.[7]
Thanajirawat (2018)[8] classifies Tai Yuan into five major dialect groups based on tonal split and merger patterns. (See also Proto-Tai language#Tones)
Northern Thai consonant inventory is similar to that of Lao (Isan); both languages have the pronounced as /link/ sound and lack pronounced as /link/.
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | (Alveolo-) Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ ม | style=background:#cfc | pronounced as /link/ ณ, น | style=background:#fcf | pronounced as /link/ ญ, ย | style=background:#fcc | pronounced as /link/ ง | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate | tenuis | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ ป | style=background:#cfc | pronounced as /link/ ฏ, ต | style=background:#fcf | pronounced as /link/ จ | style=background:#fcc | pronounced as /link/ ก | style=background:#ccc | pronounced as /link/ อ |
| aspirate | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ ผ, พ, ภ | style=background:#cfc | pronounced as /link/ ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, ท, ธ | style=center;background:#fcf | (pronounced as /link/) ฉ, ช, ฌ | style=center;background:#fcc | pronounced as /link/ ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ | |||
| voiced | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ บ | style=background:#cfc | pronounced as /link/ ฎ, ด | |||||||
| Fricative | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ ฝ, ฟ | style=background:#ffc | pronounced as /link/ ซ, ศ, ษ, ส | style=background:#fcc | (pronounced as /link/) | style=background:#ccc | pronounced as /link/ ห, ฮ | |||
| Approximant | style=background:#cff | pronounced as /link/ ว | style=background:#cff | pronounced as /link/ ล, ฬ | style=background:#cff | pronounced as /link/ ย | |||||
| Rhotic/Liquid | style=background:#cff | (pronounced as /link/) ร | |||||||||
There are two relatively common consonant clusters:
There are also several other, less frequent clusters recorded,[9] though apparently in the process of being lost:[10]
All plosive sounds (besides the glottal stop /ʔ/) are unreleased. Hence, final pronounced as //p//, pronounced as //t//, and pronounced as //k// sounds are pronounced as pronounced as /[p̚]/, pronounced as /[t̚]/, and pronounced as /[k̚]/ respectively.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ ม | style=background:#cfc | pronounced as /link/ ญ, ณ, น, ร, ล, ฬ | style=background:#fcc | pronounced as /link/ ง | |||
| Plosive | style=background:#ccf | pronounced as /link/ บ, ป, พ, ฟ, ภ | style=background:#cfc | pronounced as /link/ จ, ช, ซ, ฌ, ฎ, ฏ, ฐ, ฑ,ฒ,ด, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ, ษ, ส | style=background:#fcc | pronounced as /link/ ก, ข, ค, ฆ | style=background:#ccc | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Approximant | style=background:#cff | pronounced as /link/ ว | style=background:#cff | pronounced as /link/ ย |
The basic vowels of the Northern Thai language are similar to those of Standard Thai. They, from front to back and close to open, are given in the following table. The top entry in every cell is the symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet, the second entry gives the spelling in the Thai alphabet, where a dash (–) indicates the position of the initial consonant after which the vowel is pronounced. A second dash indicates that a final consonant must follow.
| Front | Central | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | ||
| Close | pronounced as /link/ -ิ | pronounced as /link/ -ี | pronounced as /link/ -ึ | pronounced as /link/ -ื- | pronounced as /link/ -ุ | pronounced as /link/ -ู | |
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ เ-ะ | pronounced as /link/ เ- | pronounced as /link/ เ-อะ | pronounced as /link/ เ-อ | pronounced as /link/ โ-ะ | pronounced as /link/ โ- | |
| Open | pronounced as /link/ แ-ะ | pronounced as /link/ แ- | pronounced as /link/ -ะ, -ั- | pronounced as /link/ -า | pronounced as /link/ เ-าะ | pronounced as /link/ -อ | |
The vowels each exist in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming unrelated words in Northern Thai, but usually transliterated the same: เขา (khao) means "they/them", while ขาว (khao) means "white".
The long-short pairs are as follows:
| Long | Short | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai | IPA | Example | Thai | IPA | Example | |||||||
| –า | pronounced as //aː// | ฝาน | pronounced as //fǎːn// | 'to slice' | –ะ | pronounced as //a// | ฝัน | pronounced as //fǎn// | 'to dream' | |||
| –ี | pronounced as //iː// | ตี๋ | pronounced as //tǐː// | 'to cut' | –ิ | pronounced as //i// | ติ๋ | pronounced as //tǐʔ// | 'to criticize' | |||
| –ู | pronounced as //uː// | สูด | pronounced as //sùːt// | 'to inhale' | –ุ | pronounced as //u// | สุ๋ด | pronounced as //sǔt// | 'rearmost' | |||
| เ– | pronounced as //eː// | เอน | pronounced as //ʔēːn// | 'to recline' | เ–ะ | pronounced as //e// | เอ็น | pronounced as //ʔēn// | 'tendon, ligament' | |||
| แ– | pronounced as //ɛː// | แก่ | pronounced as //kɛ̀ː// | 'to be old' | แ–ะ | pronounced as //ɛ// | แก๋ะ | pronounced as //kɛ̌ʔ// | 'sheep' | |||
| –ื- | pronounced as //ɯː// | ฅืน (คืน) | pronounced as //kʰɯ̄ːn// | 'to return' | –ึ | pronounced as //ɯ// | ขึ้น | pronounced as //kʰɯ᷇n// | 'to go up' | |||
| เ–อ | pronounced as //ɤː// | เมิน | pronounced as //mɤː̄n// | 'to delay; long time' | เ–อะ | pronounced as //ɤ// | เงิน | pronounced as //ŋɤ̄n// | 'silver' | |||
| โ– | pronounced as //oː// | โจ๋ร (โจ๋น) | pronounced as //tɕǒːn// | 'thief' | โ–ะ | pronounced as //o// | จ๋น | pronounced as //tɕǒn// | 'to be poor' | |||
| –อ | pronounced as //ɔː// | ลอง | pronounced as //lɔ̄ːŋ// | 'to try' | เ–าะ | pronounced as //ɔ// | เซาะ | pronounced as //sɔ́ʔ// | 'to search' | |||
The basic vowels can be combined into diphthongs. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:
| Long | Short | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai script | IPA | Thai script | IPA | |
| –าย | pronounced as //aːj// | ไ–*, ใ–*, ไ–ย, -ัย | pronounced as //aj// | |
| –าว | pronounced as //aːw// | เ–า* | pronounced as //aw// | |
| เ–ีย | pronounced as //ia// | เ–ียะ | pronounced as //iaʔ// | |
| – | – | –ิว | pronounced as //iw// | |
| –ัว | pronounced as //ua// | –ัวะ | pronounced as //uaʔ// | |
| –ูย | pronounced as //uːj// | –ุย | pronounced as //uj// | |
| เ–ว | pronounced as //eːw// | เ–็ว | pronounced as //ew// | |
| แ–ว | pronounced as //ɛːw// | – | – | |
| เ–ือ | pronounced as //ɯa// | เ–ือะ | pronounced as //ɯaʔ// | |
| เ–ย | pronounced as //ɤːj// | – | – | |
| –อย | pronounced as //ɔːj// | – | – | |
| โ–ย | pronounced as //oːj// | – | – | |
Additionally, there are three triphthongs, For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:
| Thai script | IPA | |
|---|---|---|
| เ–ียว* | pronounced as //iaw// | |
| –วย* | pronounced as //uaj// | |
| เ–ือย* | pronounced as //ɯaj// |
The following section largely concerns the Nan dialect of Northern Thai.[13]
| Phoneme | Allophone | Context | Example (Tai Tham script) | Example (Thai script) | IPA | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as //b// | pronounced as /[b]/ | onset | บ่า | pronounced as //bàː// | shoulder | ||
| pronounced as //d// | pronounced as /[d]/ | onset | ดอย | pronounced as //dɔ̄ːj// | mountain | ||
| pronounced as //p// | pronounced as /[p]/ | onset | ป่า | pronounced as //pàː// | forest | ||
| pronounced as /[p̚]/ | coda | อาบ | pronounced as //ʔàːp// | bath | |||
| pronounced as /[pm̩]/ | coda, emphasised | บ่หลับ | pronounced as //bɔ̀ lǎp// | don't sleep! | |||
| pronounced as //t// | pronounced as /[t]/ | onset | ตา | pronounced as //tǎː// | eye | ||
| pronounced as /[t̚]/ | coda | เปิด | pronounced as //pɤ̀ːt// | open | |||
| pronounced as /[tn̩]/ | coda, emphasised | บ่เผ็ด | pronounced as //bɔ̀ pʰět// | not spicy! | |||
| pronounced as //k// | pronounced as /[k]/ | onset | กา | pronounced as //kǎː// | crow | ||
| pronounced as /[k̚]/ | coda | ปีก | pronounced as //pìːk// | wing | |||
| pronounced as /[kŋ̩]/ | coda, emphasised | บ่สุก | pronounced as //bɔ̀ sǔk// | not ripe! | |||
| pronounced as //x// | pronounced as /[x]/ | before non-front vowels | แขก | pronounced as //xɛ̀ːk// | guest | ||
| pronounced as /[ç]/ | before front vowels | ฅิง | pronounced as //xīŋ// | you (familiar) | |||
| pronounced as //s// | pronounced as /[s]/ | onset | ซาว | pronounced as //sāːw// | twenty | ||
| pronounced as /[ɕ]/ | under emphasis | สาทุ | pronounced as //sǎː.túʔ// | surely | |||
| pronounced as //h// | pronounced as /[h]/ | non-intervocalic | ห้า | pronounced as //ha᷇ː// | five | ||
| pronounced as /[ɦ]/ | intervocalic | ใผมาหา | pronounced as //pʰǎj māː hǎː// | who come find (Who is here to see you?) | |||
| pronounced as //nɯ̂ŋ// | pronounced as /[m̩]/ | after bilabial stop | ฅืบนึ่ง | pronounced as //xɯ̂ːp nɯ̂ŋ// | span one (one more span) | ||
| pronounced as /[n̩]/ | after alveolar stop | แถมขวดนึ่ง | pronounced as //tʰɛ̌ːm xùat nɯ̂ŋ// | more bottle one (one more bottle) | |||
| pronounced as /[ŋ̩]/ | after velar stop | แถมดอกนึ่ง | pronounced as //tʰɛ̌ːm dɔ̀ːk nɯ̂ŋ// | more flower one (one more flower) |
There are six phonemic tones in the Chiang Mai dialect of Northern Thai: low-rising, low-falling, high-level with glottal closure, mid-level, high-falling, and high-rising.[14] or low-rising, mid-low, high-falling, mid-high, falling, and high rising-falling[15]
The table below presents six phonemic tones in the Chiang Mai and Nan dialects in smooth syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in sonorant sounds such as [m], [n], [ŋ], [w], and [j] and open syllables. Sources have not agreed on the phonetic realization of the six tones in the Chiang Mai dialect. The table presents information based on two sources, one from Gedney (1999)[15] and the other one from the Lanna dictionary (2007)[14] which is a Northern Thai-Thai dictionary. Although published in 1999, Gedney's information about the Chiang Mai dialect is based on data he collected from one speaker in Chiang Mai in 1964 (p. 725). As tones may change within one's lifetime (e.g., Bangkok Thai tones have changed over the past 100 years[16]), the information about the six tones from Gedney (1999) should be considered with caution.
| Chiang Mai (the Lanna dictionary, 2007, p. ต) | Chiang Mai (Gedney, 1999, p. 725) | Standard Thai tone Equated to | Example based on the Chiang Mai tones described in the Lanna Dictionary (2007) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Tone letters | Name | Tone letters | Tone letters | Phonemic | Phonetic | Gloss | ||||
| low-rising (A1-2) | 24 or ˨˦ | low-rising (A1-2) | 14 or ˩˦ | 23 or ˨˧ | rising | pronounced as //lǎw// | pronounced as /[läu̯˨˦]/ | เหลา | sharpen | ||
| low-falling (B1-3) | 21 or ˨˩ | mid-low (B1-3) | 22 or ˨˨ | 22 or ˨˨ | low | pronounced as //làw// | pronounced as /[läu̯˨˨]/ | เหล่า | forest; group | ||
| high-level with glottal closure (which falls slightly at the end) (C1-3) | 44ʔ or ˦˦ʔ | high-falling, glottalized (C1-3) | 53ʔ or ˥˧ʔ | 44ʔ or ˦˦ʔ | (none) | pronounced as //la᷇w// | pronounced as /[läu̯˦˦ʔ]/ | เหล้า | liquor, alcoholic drink | ||
| mid-level (A3-4) | 33 or ˧˧ | mid-high (A3-4) (which sometimes rises at the end) | 44 or ˦˦ | 35 or ˧˥ | mid | pronounced as //lāw// | pronounced as /[läu̯˧˧]/ | เลา | beautiful, pretty; reed | ||
| high-falling (B4) | 42 or ˦˨ | falling (B4) | 41 or ˦˩ | 31 or ˧˩ | falling | pronounced as //lâw// | pronounced as /[läu̯˦˨]/ | เล่า | tell (a story) | ||
| high-rising (C4) | 45 or ˦˥ | high rising-falling, glottalized (C4) | 454ʔ or ˦˥˦ʔ | 41ʔ or ˦˩ʔ | high | pronounced as //láw// | pronounced as /[läu̯˦˥]/ | เล้า | coop, pen (for chickens or pigs) | ||
The Gedney boxes for the tones are shown below the descriptions.
The table below presents four phonemic tones in checked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in a glottal stop [ʔ] and obstruent sounds such as [p], [t], and [k].
| Tone | Standard Thai Tone Equated to | Example (Northern Thai script) | Example (Thai script) | Phonemic | Phonetic | gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| low-rising (D1-3S) | rising | หลั๋ก | pronounced as //lǎk// | pronounced as /[läk̚˨˦]/ | post | ||
| high-rising (D4S) | high | ลัก | pronounced as //la᷇k// | pronounced as /[läk̚˦˥]/ | steal | ||
| low-falling (D1-3L) | low | หลาก | pronounced as //làːk// | pronounced as /[läːk̚˨˩]/ | differ from others | ||
| high-falling (D4L) | falling | ลาก | pronounced as //lâːk// | pronounced as /[läːk̚˦˨]/ | drag |
The grammar of Northern Thai is similar to those of other Tai languages. The word order is subject–verb–object, although the subject is often omitted. Just as Standard Thai, Northern Thai pronouns are selected according to the gender and relative status of speaker and audience.
There is no morphological distinction between adverbs and adjectives. Many words can be used in either function. They succeed the word which they modify, which may be a noun, verb, or another adjective or adverb.
Because adjectives can be used as complete predicates, many words used to indicate tense in verbs (see Verbs:Aspect below) may be used to describe adjectives.
Verbs do not inflect. They do not change with person, tense, voice, mood, or number; nor are there any participles.
The passive voice is indicated by the insertion of / โดน (don, pronounced as /[dōːn]/) before the verb. For example:
To convey the opposite sense, a sense of having an opportunity arrive, / ได้ (dai, pronounced as /[da᷇j]/, can) is used. For example:
Negation is indicated by placing บ่ (bor,pronounced as /[bɔ̀ː]/ or pronounced as /[bàʔ]/ not) before the verb.
Aspect is conveyed by aspect markers before or after the verb.
Present can be indicated by / กะลัง (kalang, pronounced as /[ka.lāŋ]/, currently) or / กะลังหะ (kalangha, pronounced as /[ka.lāŋ.hà]/, currently) before the verb for ongoing action (like English -ing form), by / อยู่ (yu, pronounced as /[jùː]/) after the verb, or by both. For example:
Future can be indicated by / จะ (cha, pronounced as /[t͡ɕǎʔ]/, will) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the future. For example:
Past can be indicated by / ได้ (dai, pronounced as /[da᷇j]/) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the past. However, / แล้ว (laew, :pronounced as /[lɛ́ːw]/, already) is often used to indicate the past aspect by being placed behind the verb. Or, both ได้ and แล้ว are put together to form the past aspect expression. For example:
Aspect markers are not required.
Words that indicate obligation include at cha (/ อาจจะ), na cha (/ น่าจะ), khuan cha (/ ควรจะ), and tong (/ ต้อง).
Actions that wherein one is busily engaged can be indicated by มัวก่า (mua ka, pronounced as /[mūa̯.kàː]/).
Words that express one's desire to do something can by indicated by khai (ใค่) and kan (กั๊น).
Phor tha wa (/ ผ่อท่าว่า, pronounced as /[pʰɔ̀ː.tʰâː.wâː]/) is used to give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.
Northern Thai has a number of final particles, which have different functions.
Some of the most common interrogative particles are kor (/ ก่อ, pronounced as /[kɔ̀ː]/) and ka (/ กา, pronounced as //kāː//)
Some imperative particles are (แล่), (จิ่ม), and (เตอะ).
lae (/ แล่, pronounced as /[lɛ̂ː]/)
chim (/ จิ่ม, pronounced as /[t͡ɕìm]/)
hia (/ เหีย, pronounced as //hǐa//)
toe (/ เต๊อะ, pronounced as //tɤ᷇ʔ//)
Polite particles include (คับ) and (เจ้า).
Nouns are uninflected and have no gender; there are no articles.
Nouns are neither singular nor plural. Some specific nouns are reduplicated to form collectives: / ละอ่อน (la-orn, pronounced as /[la.ʔɔ̀ːn]/, child) is often repeated as ละอ่อน ๆ (la-orn la-orn, pronounced as /[la.ʔɔ̀ːn la.ʔɔ̀ːn]/,) to refer to a group of children.
The word / หมู่(mu, pronounced as /[mùː]/) may be used as a prefix of a noun or pronoun as a collective to pluralize or emphasise the following word. (/ หมู่ผม, mu phom, pronounced as /[mùː pʰǒm]/, we (exclusive), masculine; / หมู่เฮา mu hao, pronounced as /[mùː hāw]/, emphasised we; / หมู่หมา mu ma, pronounced as /[mùː mǎː]/, (the) dogs).
Plurals are expressed by adding classifiers, used as measure words (ลักษณนาม), in the form of noun-number-classifier (/ คูห้าคน, "teacher five person" for "five teachers").
Pronouns may be omitted once they have already been established in the first sentence, unless the pronoun in the following sentences is different from the first sentence. The pronoun "you" may also be omitted if the speaker is speaking directly to a second person. Moreover, names may replace pronouns, and they can even replace the first person singular pronoun.
| Person | Thai script | Transliteration | Phonemic (IPA) | Phonetic (IPA) | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first | กู | kūu | /kūː/ | [kuː˧] | I/me (impolite/vulgar) | ||
| ฮา | hāa | /hāː/ | [häː˧] | I/me (from high-status to low-status or familiar; informal) | |||
| ข้า | kha᷇a | /kʰa᷇ː/ | [kʰäː˥˧] | I/me (formal; used by male). Literally "servant, slave". | |||
| ผู้ข้า | pʰu᷇u kha᷇a | /pʰu᷇ː kʰa᷇ː/ | [pʰuː˥˧.kʰäː˥˧] | I/me (formal) | |||
| ข้าน้อย | kha᷇a nóoi | /kʰa᷇ː.nɔ́ːj/ | [kʰäː˥˧.nɔːi̯˦˥] | I/me (formal; used by male/archaic) | |||
| ข้าเจ้า | kha᷇a cha᷇o | /kʰa᷇ː tɕa᷇w/ | [kʰäː˥˧.t͡ɕäu̯˥˧] | I/me (formal; used by female/historically also used by male) | |||
| ข้าผะเจ้า | kha᷇a pʰà cha᷇o | /kʰa᷇ː pʰa.tɕa᷇w/ | [kʰäː˥˧.pʰä˨.t͡ɕäu̯˥˧] | I/me (very formal) | |||
| เฮา | hāo | /hāw/ | [häu̯˧] | we/us (common) | |||
| ตู๋ | tǔu | /tǔː/ | [t̪uː˨˦] | we/us (exclusive) | |||
| second | มึง | mūenɡ | /mɯ̄ŋ/ | [mɨŋ˧] | you (impolite/vulgar) | ||
| ฅิง | khīng | /kʰīŋ/ | [kʰiŋ˧] | you (from high-status to low-status or familiar; informal/singular) | |||
| ตั๋ว | tǔa | /tǔa/ | [t̪uə̯˨˦] | you (familiar/singular) | |||
| เจ้า | cha᷇o | /tɕa᷇w/ | [t͡ɕäu̯˥˧] | you (formal/singular). Literally "master, lord" | |||
| สู | sǔu | /sǔː/ | [suː˨˦] | you (informal; plural or formal/singular) | |||
| สูเขา | sǔu khǎo | /sǔː kʰǎw/ | [suː˨˦.kʰäu̯˨˦] | you (informal/plural) | |||
| สูเจ้า | sǔu cha᷇o | /sǔː tɕa᷇w/ | [suː˨˦.t͡ɕäu̯˥˧] | you (formal/plural) | |||
| third | มัน | mān | /mān/ | [män˧] | it, he/she (offensive if used to refer to a person) | ||
| เขา | khǎo | /kʰǎw/ | [kʰäu̯˨˦] | they/them | |||
| เปิ้น | pôen | /pɤ̂n/ | [pən˥˩] | he/she (general), others | |||
| ต้าน | tâan | /tâːn/ | [t̪äːn˥˩] | he/she (formal), you (formal), others | |||
| reflexive | ตั๋วเก่า | tǔa kàw | /tǔa kàw/ | [t̪uə̯˨˦.käu̯˨˩] | oneself |
Northern Thai shares much vocabulary with Standard Thai, especially scientific terms, which draw many prefixes and suffixes from Sanskrit and Pali, and it also has its own distinctive words. Just like Thai and Lao, Northern Thai has borrowed many loanwords from Khmer, Sanskrit, and Pali.
| word | gloss | origin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /[kʰɔ̌ːŋ kǐn]/ ของกิ๋น | food | native Tai word | |
| pronounced as /[ʔāː hǎːn]/ อาหาร | food | Pali and/or Sanskrit | |
| pronounced as /[kàm nɤ̀ːt]/ ก่ำเนิด (กำเนิด) | birth | Khmer |
Currently, different scripts are used to write Northern Thai. Northern Thai is traditionally written with the Tai Tham script, which in Northern Thai is called tua mueang (ตั๋วเมือง pronounced as //tǔa.mɯ̄aŋ//) or tua tham (ตั๋วธัมม์ pronounced as //tǔa.tʰām//). However, native speakers are presently illiterate in the traditional script; therefore, they instead use the Thai script to write the language. In Laos, the Lao script is commonly used to write Northern Thai.
Some problems arise when the Thai script is used to write Northern Thai. In particular, Standard Thai script cannot transcribe all Northern Thai tones. The two falling tones in Northern Thai correspond to a single falling tone in Thai. Specifically, Northern Thai has two types of falling tones: high-mid falling tone (pronounced as /˥˧/) and high-falling tone (pronounced as /˥˩/). However, Thai lacks the distinction between the two falling tones, not having a high-falling tone (pronounced as /˥˧/). When using Thai script to write Northern Thai tones, the distinction of the two falling tones is lost because Thai script can only indicate a low falling tone (pronounced as /˥˩/). As an example, the tonal distinction between pronounced as //ka᷇ː// (ก้า (กล้า) "to be brave") and pronounced as //kâː// (ก้า (ค่า) "value") is lost when written in Thai since as only pronounced as //kâː// (ก้า) is permitted. Consequently, the meaning of ก้า is ambiguous as it can mean both "to be brave" and "value". Similarly, pronounced as //pa᷇ːj// (ป้าย (ป้าย) "sign") and pronounced as //pâːj// (ป้าย (พ่าย) "to lose") have the same problem and only pronounced as //pâːj// (ป้าย) is permitted. As a result, the spelling ป้าย is ambiguous because it can mean both "sign" or "to lose". Such tonal mergence ambiguity is avoided when the language is written with the Northern Thai script.
The tables below present the differences between Northern Thai and Standard Thai.
Unlike Northern Thai, Standard Thai lacks alveolo-palatal nasal sound (/ɲ/). Thus, the alveolo-palatal nasal sound (/ɲ/) and the palatal approximant sound (/j/) in Northern Thai both correspond to the palatal approximant sound in Standard Thai:
| Northern Thai | gloss | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [jâːk] ยาก | [ɲâːk] | difficult | cf. Lao: ຍາກ [ɲâːk] | |
| [jūŋ] ยุง | [ɲūŋ] | mosquito | cf. Lao: ຍຸງ [ɲúŋ] | |
| [jāːw] ยาว | [ɲāːw] | long | cf. Lao: ຍາວ [ɲáːw] | |
| [jāː] ยา | [jāː] | medicine | cf. Lao: ຢາ [jàː] | |
| [jàːk] อยาก | [jàːk] | desire | cf. Lao: ຢາກ [jȁːk] | |
| [jàːŋ] อย่าง | [jàːŋ] | manner, way | cf. Lao: ຢ່າງ [jāːŋ] |
Unlike Northern Thai, Standard Thai lacks a high-mid-falling tone ([˥˧]). The high-mid falling tone ([˥˧]) and high-falling tone ([˥˩]) in Northern Thai both correspond to the high-falling tone in Standard Thai ([˥˩]).
| Northern Thai | gloss | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| [bâːn] บ้าน | [ba᷇ːn] | village, home | |
| [hâː] ห้า | [ha᷇ː] | five | |
| [t͡ɕâw] เจ้า | [t͡ɕa᷇w] | master, lord, you | |
| [lâw] เหล้า | [la᷇w] | alcohol | |
| [lâw] เล่า | [lâw] | tell (a story) |
Many words differ from Standard Thai greatly:
| Northern Thai | gloss | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [jîː.sìp] ยี่สิบ | [sāːw] ซาว | twenty | cf. Lao: ຊາວ [sáːw] "twenty" and Shan: [sáːw] "twenty" | |
| [pʰûːt] พูด | [ʔu᷇ː] อู้ | speak | ||
| [pʰîː.t͡ɕʰāːj] พี่ชาย | [ʔa᷇ːj] อ้าย | older brother | cf. Lao: ອ້າຍ [ʔâːj] "older brother" and Shan: [ʔāːj] "eldest brother, first born son" | |
| [tʰáːj.tʰɔ̄ːj] ท้ายทอย | [ŋɔ̂n] ง่อน | nape | cf. Lao: ງ່ອນ [ŋɔ̄n] "nape" | |
| [t͡ɕa.mùːk] จมูก | [dāŋ] ดัง | nose | cf. Lao: ດັງ [dàŋ] "nose", Standard Thai: ดั้ง [dâŋ] "nasal bridge". | |
| [tʰām] ทำ | [ɲa᷇ʔ] / ยะ/เยียะ | do | ||
| [dūː] ดู | [pʰɔ̀ː] ผ่อ | look | cf. Lao: ຜໍ່ [pʰɔ̀ː] "to see, to look" and Tai Lü: [pʰɔ̀ː] "to see, to look" | |
| [tʰîaw] เที่ยว | [ʔɛ̀w] แอ่ว | visit, travel | cf. Tai Lü: [ʔɛ᷄w] "to visit, to travel" | |
| [nɯ́a] เนื้อ | [t͡ɕín] จิ๊น | meat | cf. Lao: ຊີ້ນ [sîːn] "meat" | |
| [mâj] ไม่ | [bɔ̀ː] บ่อ | no | cf. Lao: ບໍ່ [bɔ̄ː] "no, not" | |
| [t͡ɕʰɔ̂ːp] ชอบ | [ma᷇k] มัก | like | cf. Lao: ມັກ [māk] "to like" | |
| [mâːk] มาก | [na᷇k] นัก | much, many | ||
| [dɤ̄ːn] เดิน | [tīaw] เตียว | walk | cf. Tai Lü: [têw] "to walk" | |
| [wîŋ] วิ่ง | [lôn] ล่น | run | ||
| [hǔa.rɔ́ʔ] หัวเราะ | [kʰâj.hǔa] ใค่หัว | laugh | cf. Tai Lü: [xāj.hó] "to laugh" | |
| [sa.nùk] สนุก | [mûan] ม่วน | funny, amusing | cf. Lao: ມ່ວນ [mūan] "fun, amusing, pleasant", Tai Lü: [mōn] "fun, amusing, pleasant", and Shan: [mōn] "fun, amusing, pleasant" | |
| [kōː.hòk] โกหก | [t͡ɕúʔ] จุ๋ | lie | cf. Tai Lü: [t͡su᷄ʔ] "to lie, to deceive" | |
| [ʔa.rāj] อะไร | [ʔa.ɲǎŋ] อะหยัง | what | cf. Lao: ອີ່ຫຍັງ [ʔī.ɲǎŋ] "what" | |
| [dèk] เด็ก | [la.ʔɔ̀n] ละอ่อน | child | cf. Tai Lü: [lūk.ʔɔ᷄n] "child, young offspring" | |
| [pʰráʔ] พระ | [tu᷇.t͡ɕa᷇w] ตุ๊เจ้า | Buddhist monk | cf. Tai Lü: [tūʔ.tsa᷅w] "Buddhist monk" |
There is not a straightforward correspondence between the tones of Northern and Standard Thai. It also depends on the initial consonant, as can be seen from the merged Gedney tone boxes for Standard Thai and the accent of Chiang Mai:
| Ancestral tone: | A (smooth, no tone mark) | B (mai ek) | DL (checked, long vowel) | DS (dead, short vowel) | C (mai tho) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Consonant | Std Thai | CM NT | gloss | Std Thai | CM NT | gloss | Std Thai | CM NT | gloss | Std Thai | CM NT | gloss | Std Thai | CM NT | gloss |
| 1. High | rising | low-rising | ear | low | mid-low | four | low | low | to hit | low | low-rising | to dig | falling | high-falling | old |
| /hǔː/ หู | /hǔː/ หู | /sìː/ สี่ | /sìː/ สี่ | /tʰùːk/ ถูก | /tʰùːk/ ถูก | /kʰùt/ ขุด | /kʰǔt/ ขุ๋ด | /tʰâw/ เฒ่า | /tʰa᷇w/ เฒ่า | ||||||
| 2. CM High but Std Mid (= Std Thai ก ต ป) | mid | low-rising | eye | low | mid-low | turtle | low | low | mouth | low | low-rising | to fall | falling | high-falling | aunt |
| /tāː/ ตา | /tǎː/ ต๋า | /tàw/ เต่า | /tàw/ เต่า | /pàːk/ ปาก | /pàːk/ ปาก | /tòk/ ตก | /tǒk/ ต๋ก | /pâː/ ป้า | /pa᷇ː/ ป้า | ||||||
| 3. Mid for Both (= Std Thai ด บ อ อย) | mid | mid-high | good | low | mid-low | to scold | low | low | flower | low | low-rising | to bend | falling | high-falling | mad |
| /dīː/ ดี | /dīː/ ดี | /dàː/ ด่า | /dà:/ ด่า | /dɔ̀ːk/ ดอก | /dɔ̀ːk/ ดอก | /dàt/ ดัด | /dǎt/ ดั่ด | /bâː/ บ้า | /ba᷇ː/ บ้า | ||||||
| 4. Low | mid | mid-high | fly | falling | falling | mother | falling | falling | knife | high | high-falling | bird | high | high rising-falling | horse |
| /bīn/ บิน | /bīn/ บิน | /mɛ̂ː/ แม่ | /mɛ̂ː/ แม่ | /mîːt/ มีด | /mîːt/ มีด | /nók/ นก | /no᷇k/ นก | /máː/ ม้า | /máː/ ม้า | ||||||
Note that the commonalities between columns are features of the Chiang Mai accent. On the other hand, the relationships between rows are typical of Northern Thai, being found for at least for Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao,Nan and Prae, and extending at least to Tak and the old 6-tone accent of Tai Khuen, except that the checked syllables of Chiang Rai are more complicated.
The primary function of a tone box is etymological. However, it also serves as a summary of the rules for tone indication when the writing system is essentially etymological in that regard, as is the case with the major Tai-language writing systems using the Thai, Lanna, New Tai Lue, Lao and Tai Dam scripts.
Some words differ only as a result of the regular tone correspondences:
| Northern Thai | gloss | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| [hòk] หก | [hǒk][17] ห๋ก | six | |
| [t͡ɕèt] เจ็ด | [t͡ɕět][18] เจ๋ด | seven | |
| [sìp] สิบ | [sǐp][19] สิ๋บ | ten | |
| [pēn] เป็น | [pěn] เป๋น | be (copula) | |
| [kīn] กิน | [kǐn] กิ๋น | eat |
Other tone differences are unpredictable, such as:
Some words differ in a single sound and associated tone. In many words, the initial ร (/r/) in Standard Thai corresponds to ฮ (/h/) in Northern Thai:
| Northern Thai | gloss | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [rɔ́ːn] ร้อน | [hɔ́ːn] ฮ้อน | hot | cf. Lao: ຮ້ອນ [hɔ̂ːn] "to be hot" and Shan: [hɔ̰n] "to be hot" | |
| [rák] รัก | [ha᷇k] ฮัก | love | cf. Lao: ຮັກ [hāk] "to love" and Shan: [ha̰k] "to love" | |
| [rúː] รู้ | [húː] ฮู้ | know | cf. Lao: ຮູ້ [hûː] "know" and Shan: [hṵ] "know" |
Some aspirated consonants in the low-class consonant group (อักษรต่ำ /ʔàk.sɔ̌ːn.tàm/) in Standard Thai correspond to unaspirated sounds in Northern Thai. These sounds include ค, ช, ท, and พ (/kʰ/, /tɕʰ/, /tʰ/, and /pʰ/ respectively), but sounds such as ฅ, คร, ฆ, ฒ, พร, ภ (/kʰ/, /kʰr/, /kʰ/, /tʰ/, /pʰr/, and /pʰ/ respectively) remain aspirated. Such aspirated consonants that are unaspirated in Northern Thai correspond to unaspirated voiced sounds in Proto-Tai which are *ɡ, *ɟ, *d, and *b (ค, ช, ท, and พ respectively).:
| Northern Thai | gloss | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [t͡ɕʰiaŋ rāːj] เชียงราย | [t͡ɕiaŋ hāːj] เจียงฮาย | cf. Tai Lü: [tsêŋ hâːj] "Chiang Rai" | ||
| [kʰít] คิด | [kɯ́t] กึ๊ด | think | cf. Tai Lü: [kɯ̄t] "to think" | |
| [t͡ɕʰɔ́ːn] ช้อน | [t͡ɕɔ́ːn] จ๊อน | spoon | cf. Tai Lü: [tsɔ̀n] "spoon" | |
| [t͡ɕʰáj] ใช้ | [t͡ɕáj] ใจ๊ | use | cf. Shan: [tsa̰ɰ] "to use", Tai Lü: [tsàj] "to use" | |
| [pʰɔ̂ː] พ่อ | [pɔ̂ː] ป้อ | father | cf. Shan: [pɔ̄] "father", Tai Lü: [pɔ̄] "father" | |
| [tʰāːŋ] ทาง | [tāːŋ] ตาง | way | cf. Shan: [táːŋ] "way", Tai Lü: [tâːŋ] "way" |
| Northern Thai | gloss | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [kʰôːt sa.nāː] โฆษณา | [kʰôːt sa.nāː] โฆษณา | commercial, advertisement | cf. Tai Lü: [xôː.sa.nâː] "advertisement" | |
| [pʰāː sǎː] ภาษา | [pʰāː.sǎː] ภาษา | language | cf. Tai Lü: [pʰâː.sáː] "nationality" | |
| [wát.'''tʰa'''.náʔ.'''tʰām'''] วัฒนธรรม | [wa᷇t.'''tʰa'''.na᷇ʔ.'''tʰām'''] วัฒนธัมม์ | culture | cf. Tai Lü: [wāt.tʰa.na.tʰâm] "culture" | |
| [tʰām] ธรรม | [tʰām] ธัมม์ | Dharma | cf. Tai Lü: [tʰâm] "Dharma" |
| Northern Thai | gloss | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [pra.tʰêːt] ประเทศ | [pʰa.têːt] ผะเต้ด | country | cf. Tai Lü: [pʰa.te᷄ːt] "country" | |
| [kràːp] กราบ | [kʰàːp] ขาบ | kowtow, prostrate | cf. Tai Lü: [xa᷄ːp] "to prostrate oneself" | |
| [prāː sàːt] ปราสาท | [pʰǎː sàːt] ผาสาท | palace | cf. Tai Lü: [pʰáː sa᷄ːt] "palace" |