Thai-Together.com

Official Language	Thailand
Common 2nd language of	Parts of China, Laos, Vietnam
Number of speakers	20-30million
Origin	A member of the Tai group of languages, a branch of the Sino-Tibetan family - so it's distantly related to Chinese
Alphabet & Scripts	The alphabet is believed to have originated from Southern India. It consists of 44 consonants and 32 vowels. The vowels are indicated by marks instead of actual characters. Words are written without being separated and letters flow uninterrupted until the idea changes. No capital letters in Thai

History of the Language

Thailand exports a great deal – but nothing as enchantingly beautiful as its language. To learn Thai is to enter a world of mysticism and legend and to gain a unique perspective on Thailand and its rich culture.

Thai is a member of the Tai branch of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages which are dispersed over a wide area of Asia, from Northern Vietnam to northern India.

It is the national language of Thailand and is spoken by nearly 50 million people. Distinct dialects are spoken in the north, the north-east, the south and the central region of the country.

Thai Grammar

Thai is a tonal language, so the pitch or tone with which a word or syllable is pronounced determines its meaning. For example the Thai word ‘maa’ can mean ‘horse’, ‘dog’ or ‘come’ depending on the tone with which it is pronounced.

More confusingly ‘klay’ means either ‘near’, when pronounced with one tone or ‘far’, when pronounced with another!

While this sometimes causes the western learner problems in the initial stages, the grammar compared with more familiar European languages, is relatively easy.

Like many other south-east Asian languages, Thai can use the same form of a noun to indicate both singular and plural meanings and the same form of the verb to indicate a variety of tenses.

Although Thai does not have a rigid grammatical structure, it does have some fascinating idiosyncrasies. For example, there is no single word for ‘yes’ in Thai. Vowels in Thai are sometimes written on top of a consonant, sometimes underneath it and sometimes surrounding it on three sides.

Thai Writing

Thai is written in an alphabetical script that originated in South India. The earliest surviving writings are stone inscriptions dating back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Since then many letters have undergone considerable changes in appearance, and to read the old script you need special training.

One of the most striking features of the modern Thai writing system is the absence of the spaces between words. Letters generally flow uninterruptedly through a sentence.

When spaces do occur, they often correspond to some form of punctuation mark in English such as a full stop, comma or question mark. Thai itself seldom uses punctuation marks and there are no capital letters in the Thai script.

Finally . . .

Should you be lucky enough to visit the bustling city of Bangkok, be sure to use the abbreviated name otherwise it will take you some time to pronounce. The city’s full name is:

“KRUNGHEEP – PHRAMAHAA NAKHOON BOWOON – RATTANAKOOSIN MAHIN THARAAYUTTAYAA MAHAA DILOK –PHIPHOP NOP PHARAT RAAT CHATHAANII – BURII ROM UDOM SANTISUK. (Tone marks omitted).

or in other words:

“The City of Gods. The Great City. The Residence of the Emerald Buddha. The Impregnable City (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra. The Grand Capital of the World endowed with nine precious gems. The Happy City, abounding in enormous Royal Palace which resembles the Heavenly Abode where reigns the Reincarnated God. A City given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”