Thai: ภาษา Thai is the national language of
Thailand, spoken by around eighty percent of the sixty million
residents of the South-East Asian country. Linguists consider it an
"uninflected, primarily monosyllabic, tonal language" in the "Ka-Tai
group." The spoken language is believed to have originated in the
area which is now the border between Vietnam and China, an idea
which provides clues to the origin of the Thai people, an area of
continued scholarly debate. Linguistically, the language is related
to languages spoken in eastern Burma, northern Vietnam, Yunnan, and
Laos.
The written Thai Language was introduced by the third
Sukothai period king, Ramkamhaeng, in 1283. This writing system has
undergone little change since its introduction, so inscriptions from
the Sukothai era can be read by modern Thai readers. The writing was
based on Pali, Sanskrit, and Indian concepts, and many Mon and Khmer
words entered the language. -- http://www.thai-language.com/ |
