Northern Thai language

Northern Thai
Kam Mueang ᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩥᩬᨦ
Pronunciation	[kam˧ mɯːəŋ˧],
Region	Northern Thailand
Ethnicity	Northern Thai people
Native speakers	(6 million cited 1983)[1]
Language family	Tai–Kadai Tai Southwestern (Thai) Chiang Saen Northern Thai
Writing system	Tai Tham alphabet (standard), Thai alphabet (de facto since early 20th century)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nod
Glottolog	nort2740[2]

Northern Thai (Thai: ภาษาถิ่นพายัพ; rtgs: Phasa Thin Phayap), Lanna (Thai: ล้านนา), or Kam Mueang (Northern Thai: ᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩥᩬᨦ [kam˧.mɯːəŋ˧], , Thai: คำเมือง  [kʰam˧ mɯːəŋ˧]) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Tai language closely related to Lao. Northern Thai has approximately six million speakers, most of whom live in Thailand, with a few thousand in northwestern Laos.

Speakers of this language generally consider the name "Tai Yuan" to be pejorative. They generally call themselves khon mueang (ฅนเมือง,  [xon˧ mɯːəŋ˧]), Lanna, or Northern Thai. The language is generally known by one of these terms or as Phayap.

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. The modern spoken form is called Kam Muang. There is a resurgence of interest in writing it in the traditional way, but the modern pronunciation differs from that prescribed in spelling rules.^[3]

Most linguists consider Northern Thai to be more closely related to Thai and the other Chiang Saeng languages than to Lao and the Lao–Phutai languages, but the distinction is never easy to make, as the languages form a continuum with few sharp dividing lines.

Names

The Northern Thai language has various names in Northern Thai, Thai, and other Tai languages.

• In Northern Thai, it is commonly called kam mueang (ᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩥᩬᨦ, กำเมือง /kām.mɯ̄aŋ/, literally "the city language"; cf. Standard Thai: คำเมือง /kʰām.mɯ̄aŋ/), or phasa lanna (ᨽᩣᩇᩣᩃ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨶᨶᩣ, ภาษาล้านนา /pʰāː.sǎː.láːn.nāː/, literally "the language of Lanna").
• In Standard Thai, Northern Thai is known as phasa thin phayap (ภาษาถิ่นพายัพ /pʰāː.sǎː.tʰìn.pʰāː.jáp/, literally "the language of the northern region"), or phasa thai thin nuea (ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ /pʰāː.sǎː.tʰāj.tʰìn.nɯ̌a/, literally "the Thai language of the northern region", or colloquially it is known as phasa nuea (ภาษาเหนือ /pʰāː.sǎː.nɯ̌a/, literally "the northern language").
• In Lao, it is known as phasa nyuan or phasa nyon (ພາສາຍວນ or ພາສາໂຍນ respectively, /pʰáː.sǎː.ɲúan/ or /pʰáː.sǎː.ɲóːn/ respectively, literally "the Tai Yuan language").
• In Tai Lü, it is known as kam yon (ᦅᧄᦍᦷᧃ kâm.jôn, literally "the Tai Yuan language").
• In Shan it is known as kwam yon (ၵႂၢမ်းယူၼ်း kwáːm.jón, literally "the Tai Yuan language").

Script

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 (ᨲᩫ᩠ᩅᨾᩮᩥ᩠ᩋᨦ ตั๋วเมือง /tǔa.mɯ̄aŋ/) or tua tham (ᨲᩫ᩠ᩅᨵᩢᨾ᩠ᨾ᩺ ตั๋วธัมม์ /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-falling tone (˥˧) and falling tone (˥˩). However, Thai lacks the distinction between the two falling tones, not having a high-falling tone (˥˧). 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 (˥˩). As an example, the tonal distinction between /ka᷇ː/ (ก้า (ᨠᩖ᩶ᩣ กล้า) "to be brave") and /kâː/ (ก้า (ᨣ᩵ᩤ ค่า) "value") is lost when written in Thai since as only /kâː/ (ก้า) is permitted. Consequently, the meaning of ก้า is ambiguous as it can mean both "to be brave" and "value". Similarly, /pa᷇ːj/ (ป้าย (ᨸ᩶ᩣᩭ ป้าย) "sign") and /pâːj/ (ป้าย (ᨻ᩵ᩣᩭ พ่าย) "to lose") have the same problem and only /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.

• 
  Northern Thai script page 1
• 
  Northern Thai script page 2
• 
  Northern Thai script page 3
• 
  Northern Thai script page 4

Phonology

Consonants

Initial consonants

Northern Thai consonant inventory is similar to that of Lao; both languages have the [ɲ] sound and lack [tɕʰ].

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		[m] ᨾ ᩉ᩠ᨾ	[n] ᨶ ᨱ ᩉ᩠ᨶ	[ɲ] ᨿ ᨬ ᩉ᩠ᨿ	[ŋ] ᨦ ᩉ᩠ᨦ
Stop	tenuis	[p] ᨸ ᨻ	[t] ᨲ ᨴ ᨭ	[t͡ɕ] ᨧ ᨩ	[k] ᨠ ᨣ	[ʔ]* ᩋ
	aspirate	[pʰ] ᨹ ᨽ ᨷᩕ	[tʰ] ᨳ ᨮ ᨵ ᨰ ᨲᩕ ᨴᩕ	([t͡ɕʰ])**	([kʰ])**
	voiced	[b] ᨷ	[d] ᨯ
Fricative		[f] ᨺ ᨼ	[s] ᩈ ᩇ ᩆ ᨨ ᨪ ᨫ		[x] ᨡ ᨤ ᨥ ᨠᩕ ᨣᩕ	[h] ᩉ ᩁ ᩌ ᩉᩕ
Approximant		[w] ᩅ ᩉ᩠ᩅ	[l] ᩃ ᩁ ᩉᩖ ᩉ᩠ᩃ ᩊ	[j] ᩀ

^* Implied before any vowel without an initial and after a short vowel without a final.

^** /kʰ/ and /t͡ɕʰ/ occur in loanwords from Standard Thai.

Initial consonant clusters

There are two relatively common consonant clusters:

• /kw/
• /xw/

There are also several other, less frequent clusters recorded,^[4] though apparently in the process of being lost:^[5]

Final consonants

All plosive sounds are unreleased. Hence, final /p/, /t/, and /k/ sounds are pronounced as [p̚], [t̚], and [k̚] respectively.

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	[m]	[n]		[ŋ]
Stop	[p]	[t]		[k]	[ʔ]*
Approximant	[w]		j

^* The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel.

Vowels

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		Back
	unrounded				rounded
	short	long	short	long	short	long
High	/i/  -ิ	/iː/  -ี	/ɯ/  -ึ	/ɯː/  -ื-	/u/  -ุ	/uː/  -ู
Mid	/e/ เ-ะ	/eː/ เ-	/ɤ/ เ-อะ	/ɤː/ เ-อ	/ɯ/ โ-ะ	/ɯː/ โ-
Low	/ɛ/ แ-ะ	/ɛː/ แ-	/a/ -ะ, -ั-	/aː/ -า	/ɔ/ เ-าะ	/ɔː/ -อ

The vowels each exist in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming unrelated words in Northern Thai,^[7] 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	/aː/	ฝาน	/fǎːn/	'to slice'	–ะ	/a/	ฝัน	/fǎn/	'to dream'
–ี	/iː/	ตี๋	/tǐː/	'to cut'	–ิ	/i/	ติ๋	/tǐʔ/	'to criticize'
–ู	/uː/	สูด	/sùːt/	'to inhale'	–ุ	/u/	สุ๋ด	/sǔt/	'rearmost'
เ–	/eː/	เอน	/ʔēːn/	'to recline'	เ–ะ	/e/	เอ็น	/ʔēn/	'tendon, ligament'
แ–	/ɛː/	แก่	/kɛ̀ː/	'to be old'	แ–ะ	/ɛ/	แก๊ะ	/kɛ́ʔ/	'sheep'
–ื-	/ɯː/	ฅืน	/xɯ̄ːn/	'to return'	–ึ	/ɯ/	ขึ้น	/xɯ᷇n/	'to go up'
เ–อ	/ɤː/	เมิน	/mɤː̄n/	'to delay; long time'	เ–อะ	/ɤ/	เงิน	/ŋɤ̄n/	'silver'
โ–	/ɯː/	โจ๋ร	/t͡ɕǒːn/	'thief'	โ–ะ	/ɯ/	จ๋น	/t͡ɕǒn/	'to be poor'
–อ	/ɔː/	ลอง	/lɔ̄ːŋ/	'to try'	เ–าะ	/ɔ/	ล่อง	/lɔ̂ŋ/	'to go down, to go downhill'

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	/aːj/	ไ–*, ใ–*, ไ–ย, -ัย	/aj/
–าว	/aːw/	เ–า*	/aw/
เ–ีย	/iːa/	เ–ียะ	/ia/
–	–	–ิว	/iw/
–ัว	/uːa/	–ัวะ	/ua/
–ูย	/uːj/	–ุย	/uj/
เ–ว	/eːw/	เ–็ว	/ew/
แ–ว	/ɛːw/	–	–
เ–ือ	/ɯːa/	เ–ือะ	/ɯa/
เ–ย	/ɤːj/	–	–
–อย	/ɔːj/	–	–
โ–ย	/oːj/	–	–

Additionally, there are three triphthongs, all of which are long:

Thai script	IPA
เ–ียว	/iaw/
–วย	/uaj/
เ–ือย	/ɯaj/

Allophones

The following section largely concerns the Nan dialect of Northern Thai.^[8]

Phoneme	Allophone	Context	Example using Thai script	IPA	Gloss
/b/	[b]	onset	บ่า	/bàː/	shoulder
/ɤ/	[d]	onset	ดอย	/dɔ̄ːj/	mountain
/p/	[p]	onset	ป่า	/pàː/	forest
	[p̚]	coda	อาบ	/ʔàːp/	bath
	[pm̩]	coda, emphasised	บ่หลับ	/bɔ̀ lǎp/	not sleep!
/t/	[t]	onset	ตา	/tǎː/	eye
	[t̚]	coda	เปิด	/pɤ̀ːt/	open
	[tn̩]	coda, emphasised	บ่เผ็ด	/bɔ̀ pʰět/	not spicy!
/k/	[k]	onset	กา	/kǎː/	crow
	[k̚]	coda	ปีก	/pìːk/	wing
	[kŋ̩]	coda, emphasised	บ่สุก	/bɔ̀ sǔk/	not ripe!
/x/	[x]	before non-front vowels	แขก	/xɛ̀ːk/	guest
	[ç]	before front vowels	ฅิง	/xīŋ/	you(familiar)
/s/	[s]	onset	ซาว	/sāːw/	twenty
	[ɕ]	under emphasis	สาทุ	/sǎː.túʔ/	surely
/h/	[h]	non-intervocalic	ห้า	/ha᷇ː/	five
	[f]	intervocalic	ใผมาหา	/pʰǎj māː hǎː/	who come find(Who is here to see you?)
/nɯ̂ŋ/	[m̩]	after bilabial stop	ฅืบนึ่ง	/xɯ̂ːp nɯ̂ŋ/	span one(one more span)
	[n̩]	after alveolar stop	แถมขวดนึ่ง	/tʰɛ̌m xùat nɯ̂ŋ/	more bottle one(one more bottle)
	[ŋ̩]	after velar stop	แถมดอกนึ่ง	/tʰɛ̌m dɔ̀ːk nɯ̂ŋ/	more flower one(one more flower)

Tones

There are six phonemic tones in the Chiangmai dialect of Northern Thai: low-rising, mid-low, high-falling, mid-high, falling, and high rising-falling.^[9]

Contrastive tones in unchecked syllables

The table below presents six phonemic tones in unchecked syllables, i.e. closed syllables ending in sonorant sounds such as [m], [n], [ŋ], [w], and [j] and open syllables.

Tone	Standard Thai Tone Equated to[10]	Example (Northern Thai script)	Example (Thai script)	Phonemic	Phonetic	Tone letter	gloss
low-rising	rising	ᩉᩮᩖᩢᩣ	เหลา	/lǎw/	[law˨˦]	24	sharpen
mid-low	low	ᩉᩮᩖᩢ᩵ᩣ	เหล่า	/làw/	[law˨]	22	forest; group
high-falling (glottalized)	(none)	ᩉᩮᩖᩢ᩶ᩣ	เหล้า	/la᷇w/	[la̰w˥˧]	53	liquor, alcoholic drink
mid-high	mid	ᩃᩮᩢᩣ	เลา	/lāw/	[law˧]	33	beautiful, pretty; reed
falling	falling	ᩃᩮᩢ᩵ᩣ	เล่า	/lâw/	[law˥˩]	51	tell (a story)
high rising-falling (glottalized)	high	ᩃᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ	เล้า	/láw/	[la̰w˦˥˦]	454	coop, pen (for chickens or pigs)

Contrastive tones in checked syllables

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[10]	Example (Northern Thai script)	Example (Thai script)	Phonemic	Phonetic	gloss
low-rising	rising	ᩉᩖᩢᨠ	หลัก	/lǎk/	[lak̚˨˦]	post
high-falling	high	ᩃᩢ᩠ᨠ	ลัก	/la᷇k/	[lak̚˥]	steal
low	low	ᩉᩖᩣ᩠ᨠ	หลาก	/làːk/	[laːk̚˨]	differ from others
falling	falling	ᩃᩣ᩠ᨠ	ลาก	/lâːk/	[laːk̚˥˩]	drag

Grammar

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.

Adjectives and adverbs

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.

• แม่ญิงเฒ่า (mae nying thao, /mɛ̂ː.ɲīŋ.tʰa᷇w/) an old woman
• แม่ญิงตี้เฒ่าโวย (mae nying ti thao woi, /mɛ̂ː.ɲīŋ.tîː.tʰa᷇w.wōːj/) a woman who became old quickly

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.

• ข้าหิว (kha hiw, [xa᷇ː hǐw]) I am hungry.
• ข้าจะหิว (kha cha hiw, [xa᷇ː t͡ɕa hǐw]) I will be hungry.
• ข้ากะลังหิว (kha kalang hiw, [xa᷇ː ka.lāŋ hǐw]) I am hungry right now.
• ข้าหิวแล้ว (kha hiu laew, [xa᷇ː hǐw lɛ́ːw]) I am already hungry.

Verbs

Verbs do not inflect. They do not change with person, tense, voice, mood, or number; nor are there any participles.

• ข้าตี๋เปิ้น (kha ti poen, [xa᷇ː tǐː pɤ̂n]), I hit him.
• เปิ้นตี๋ข้า (poen ti kha, [pɤ̂n tǐː xa᷇ː]), He hit me.

The passive voice is indicated by the insertion of โดน (don, [dōːn]) before the verb. For example:

• เปิ้นโดนตี๋ (poen don ti, [pɤ̂n dōːn tǐː]), He is hit or He got hit. This describes an action that is out of the receiver's control and, thus, conveys suffering.

To convey the opposite sense, a sense of having an opportunity arrive, ได้ (dai, [da᷇j], can) is used. For example:

• เปิ้นจะได้ไปแอ่วเมืองลาว (poen cha dai pai aew mueang lao, [pɤ̂n t͡ɕa da᷇j pāj ʔɛ̀w mɯ̄aŋ lāːw]), He gets to visit Laos.
• เปิ้นตี๋ได้ (poen ti dai, [pɤ̂n tǐː da᷇j]), He is/was allowed to hit or He is/was able to hit

Negation is indicated by placing บ่ (bor,[bɔ̀] or [bà] not) before the verb.

• เปิ้นบ่ตี๋, (poen bor ti, [pɤ̂n bɔ̀ tǐː]) He is not hitting. or He not hit.

Aspect is conveyed by aspect markers before or after the verb.

Present can be indicated by กะลัง (kalang, [ka.lāŋ], currently) or กะลังหะ (kalangha, [ka.lāŋ.hà], currently) before the verb for ongoing action (like English -ing form), by อยู่ (yu, [jùː]) after the verb, or by both. For example:

• เปิ้นกะลังหะล่น (poen kalangha lon, [pɤ̂n ka.lāŋ.hà lôn]), or
• เปิ้นล่นอยู่ (poen lon yu, [pɤ̂n lôn jùː]), or
• เปิ้นกะลังหะล่นอยู่ (poen kalanɡha lon yu, [pɤ̂n ka.lāŋ.hà lôn jùː]), He is running.

Future can be indicated by จะ (cha, [t͡ɕaʔ], will) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the future. For example:

• เปิ้นจะล่น (poen cha lon, [pɤ̂n t͡ɕaʔ lôn]), He will run or He is going to run.

Past can be indicated by ได้ (dai, [da᷇j]) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the past. However, แล้ว (laew,  :[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:

• เปิ้นได้กิ๋น (poen dai kin, [pɤ̂n da᷇j kǐn]), He ate.
• เปิ้นกิ๋นแล้ว (poen kin laew, [pɤ̂n kǐn lɛ́ːw], He has eaten.
• เปิ้นได้กิ๋นแล้ว (poen dai kin laew, [pɤ̂n da᷇j kǐn lɛ́ːw]), He's already eaten.

Aspect markers are not required.

• ข้ากิ๋นตี้หั้น (kha kin tihan, [xa᷇ kǐn tîː.ha᷇n]), I eat there.
• ข้ากิ๋นตี้หั้นตะวา (kha kin tihan tawa, [xa᷇ kǐn tîː.ha᷇n ta.wāː]), I ate there yesterday.
• ข้ากิ๋นตี้หั้นวันพูก (kha kin tihan wanphuk, [xa᷇ kǐn tîː.ha᷇n wān.pʰûːk]), I'll eat there tomorrow.

Words that indicate obligation include at cha (อาจจะ), na cha (น่าจะ), khuan cha (ควรจะ), and tong (ต้อง).

• at cha (อาจจะ, /ʔàːt.t͡ɕa/) Might

• เปิ้นอาจจะมา (poen at cha ma, /pɤ̂n ʔàːt.t͡ɕa māː/) He might come.

• na cha (น่าจะ, /na᷇ː.t͡ɕa/) Likely to

• เปิ้นน่าจะมา (poen na cha ma, /pɤ̂n na᷇ː.t͡ɕa māː/) He is likely to come.

• khuan cha (ควรจะ, /xūan.t͡ɕa/) Should

• เปิ้นควรจะมา (poen khuan cha ma, /pɤ̂n xūan.t͡ɕa māː/) He should come.

• tong (ต้อง, /tɔ᷇ːŋ/) Must

• เปิ้นต้องมา (poen tong ma, /pɤ̂n tɔ᷇ːŋ māː/) He must come.

Actions that wherein one is busily engaged can be indicated by มัวก่า (mua ka, /mūa.kàː/).

• ก่อมัวก่ากิ๋นหั้นเนาะ (kor mua ka kin han nor, /kɔ̀ mūa kàː kǐn ha᷇n nɔ᷇ʔ/) (It's that you/he/she) just keeps on eating it like that, you know?

Words that express one's desire to do something can by indicated by khai (ใค่) and kan (กั๊น).

• khai (ใค่, /xâj/, to want, to desire)

• ข้าเจ้าใค่กิ๋น (kha.chao khai kin, /xa᷇ː.t͡ɕa᷇w xâj kǐn/) I want to eat.

• kan (กั๊น, /kán/, to try)

• ข้าเจ้ากั๊นกิ๋น (kha.chao kan kin, /xa᷇ː.t͡ɕa᷇w kán kǐn/) I try to eat.

Phor tha wa (ผ่อท่าว่า, /pʰɔ̀ː.tʰâː.wâː/) is used to give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.

• ผ่อท่าว่าเปิ้นปิ๊กมาแล้ว (phor tha wa poen pik ma laew, /pʰɔ̀ː tʰâː wâː pɤ̂n pi᷇k māː lɛ́ːw/) It seems that he has returned.

Final particles

Northern Thai has a number of final particles, which have different functions.

Interrogative particles

Some of the most common interrogative particles are kor (ก่อ, /kɔ̀ː/) and ka (กา, /kāː/)

• kor (ก่อ, /kɔ̀ː/, denoting yes/no question)

• ม่วนก่อ (muan kor, /mûan kɔ̀ː/) Is it fun?

• ka (กา (and its variants: ก๋า, กา), /kāː/, denoting confirmative question)

• ม่วนกา (muan ka, /mûan kāː/) It is fun, right?

Imperative particles

Some imperative particles are แล่, จิ่ม, and เตอะ. lae (แล่, /lɛ̂ː/)

• กิ๋นแล่ (kin lae, /kǐn lɛ̂ː/) Eat! (Authoritative).

chim (จิ่ม, /t͡ɕìm/)

• ขอกิ๋นจิ่ม (khor kin chim, /xɔ̌ː kǐn t͡ɕìm/) May I eat please?

hia (เหีย, /hǐa/)

• กิ๋นเหีย (kin hia, /kǐn hǐa/) Eat! (because I know it will be beneficial to you).

toe (เตอะ, /tɤ᷇ʔ/)

• กิ๋นเตอะ (kin toe, /kǐn tɤ᷇ʔ/) Eat, please.

Polite particles

Polite particles include คับ and เจ้า.

• khap (คับ, /xa᷇p/, used by males)

• กิ๋นเข้าแล้วคับ (kin khaw laew khap, /kǐn xa᷇w lɛ́ːw xa᷇p/) I have eaten, sir/ma'am.

• chao (เจ้า, /t͡ɕa᷇w/, used by females)

• กิ๋นเข้าแล้วเจ้า (kin khaw laew chao, /kǐn xa᷇w lɛ́ːw t͡ɕa᷇w/) I have eaten, sir/ma'am.

Nouns

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, [la.ʔɔ̀ːn], child) is often repeated as ละอ่อนๆ (la-orn la-orn, [la.ʔɔ̀ːn la.ʔɔ̀ːn],) to refer to a group of children.

The word หมู่(mu, [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, [mùː pʰǒm], we (exclusive), masculine; หมู่เฮา mu hao, [mùː hāw], emphasised we; หมู่หมา mu ma, [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

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	Tai Tham script	Thai script	Transliteration	Phonemic (IPA)	Phonetic (IPA)	Meaning
first	ᨣᩪ	กู	kūu	/kūː/	[kuː˧]	I/me (familiar; informal)
	ᩁᩣ	ฮา	hāa	/hāː/	[haː˧]	I/me (familiar; informal)
	ᨡ᩶ᩣ	ข้า	kha᷇a	/xa᷇ː/	[xaː˥˧]	I/me (formal; used by male). Literally "servant, slave".
	ᨹᩪ᩶ᨡ᩶ᩣ	ผู้ข้า	pʰu᷇u kha᷇a	/pʰu᷇ː.xa᷇ː/	[pʰuː˥˧.xaː˥˧]	I/me (formal)
	ᨡ᩶ᩣᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ	ข้าเจ้า	kha᷇a cha᷇o	/xa᷇ː.t͡ɕa᷇w/	[xaː˥˧.t͡ɕaw˥˧]	I/me (formal; used by female)
	ᩁᩮᩢᩣ	เฮา	hāo	/hāw/	[haw˧]	we/us
	ᨲᩪ	ตู๋	tǔu	/tǔː/	[tuː˨˦]	we/us (exclusive)
second	ᨾᩧ᩠ᨦ	มึง	mūenɡ	/mɯ̄ŋ/	[mɯŋ˧]	you (informal, singular)
	ᨤᩥ᩠ᨦ	ฅิง	khīng	/xīŋ/	[xiŋ˧]	you (informal, singular)
	ᨲᩫ᩠ᩅ	ตั๋ว	tǔa	/tǔa/	[tua˨˦]	you (familiar, singular)
	ᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ	เจ้า	cha᷇o	/t͡ɕa᷇w/	[t͡ɕaw˥˧]	you (formal, singular). Literally "master, lord"
	ᩈᩪ	สู	sǔu	/sǔː/	[suː˨˦]	you (informal, plural or formal, singular)
	ᩈᩪᨡᩮᩢᩣ	สูเขา	sǔu khǎo	/sǔː.xǎw/	[suː˨˦.xaw˨˦]	you (informal, plural)
	ᩈᩪᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ	สูเจ้า	sǔu cha᷇o	/sǔː.t͡ɕa᷇w/	[suː˨˦.t͡ɕaw˥˧]	you (formal, plural)
third	ᨾᩢ᩠ᨶ	มัน	mān	/mān/	[man˧]	he/she/it (informal)
	ᨡᩮᩢᩣ	เขา	khǎo	/xǎw/	[xaw˨˦]	they/them
	ᨻᩮᩥ᩠᩵ᨶ	เปิ้น	pôen	/pɤ̂n/	[pɤn˥˩]	he/she (general), others
	ᨴ᩵ᩤ᩠ᨶ	ต้าน	tâan	/tâːn/	[taːn˥˩]	he/she (formal), you (formal), others
reflexive	ᨲᩫ᩠ᩅᨠᩮᩢ᩵ᩣ	ตั๋วเก่า	tǔa kàw	/tǔa.kàw/	[tua˨˦.kaw˨]

Vocabulary

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
/xɔ̌ːŋ.kǐn/ ᨡᩬᨦᨠᩥ᩠ᨦ ของกิ๋น	food	native Tai word
/ʔāː.hǎːn/ ᩋᩣᩉᩣ᩠ᩁ อาหาร	food	Pali and/or Sanskrit
/kàm.nɤ̀ːt/ ᨠᩴ᩵ᩣᨶᩮᩥ᩠ᨯ ก่ำเนิด (กำเนิด)	birth	Khmer

Northern Thai and Standard Thai

The tables below present the differences between Northern Thai and Standard Thai.

Different sounds

Unlike Northern Thai, Standard Thai lacks palatal nasal sound (/ɲ/). Thus, the palatal nasal sound (/ɲ/) and the palatal approximant sound (/j/) in Northern Thai both correspond to the palatal approximant sound in Standard Thai:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss	note
/jâːk/ ยาก	/ɲâːk/ ᨿᩣ᩠ᨠ	difficult	cf. Lao: ຍາກ /ɲâːk/
/jūŋ/ ยุง	/ɲūŋ/ ᨿᩩᨦ	mosquito	cf. Lao: ຍຸງ /ɲúŋ/
/jāːw/ ยาว	/ɲāːw/ ᨿᩣ᩠ᩅ	long	cf. Lao: ຍາວ /ɲáːw/
/jāː/ ยา	/jāː/ ᩀᩣ (อยา)	medicine	cf. Lao: ຢາ /jàː/
/jàːk/ อยาก	/jàːk/ ᩀᩣ᩠ᨠ	desire	cf. Lao: ຢາກ /ja᷅ːk/
/jàːŋ/ อย่าง	/jàːŋ/ ᩀ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨦ	manner, way	cf. Lao: ຢ່າງ /jāːŋ/

Unlike Northern Thai, Standard Thai lacks a high-falling tone ([˥˧]). The high falling tone ([˥˧]) and falling tone ([˥˩]) in Northern Thai both correspond to the falling tone in Standard Thai ([˥˩]).

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss
/bâːn/ บ้าน	/ba᷇ːn/ ᨷ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨶ	village, home
/hâː/ ห้า	/ha᷇ː/ ᩉ᩶ᩣ	five
/t͡ɕâw/ เจ้า	/t͡ɕa᷇w/ ᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ	master, lord, you
/lâw/ เหล้า	/la᷇w/ ᩉᩖᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ	alcohol
/lâw/ เล่า	/lâw/ ᩃᩮᩢ᩵ᩣ	tell (a story)

Different words

Many words differ from Standard Thai greatly:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss	note
/jîː.sìp/ ยี่สิบ	/sāːw/ ᨪᩣ᩠ᩅ ซาว	twenty	cf. Lao: ຊາວ /sáːw/ "twenty" and Shan: သၢဝ်း /sáːw/ "twenty"
/pʰûːt/ พูด	/ʔu᷇ː/ ᩋᩪ᩶ อู้	speak
/pʰîː.tɕʰaːj/ พี่ชาย	/ʔa᷇ːj/ ᩋ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨿ อ้าย	older brother	cf. Lao: ອ້າຍ /ʔâːj/ "older brother" and Shan: ဢၢႆႈ /ʔāːj/ "eldest brother, first born son"
/tʰáːj.tʰɔ̄ːj/ ท้ายทอย	/ŋɔ̂n/ ᨦ᩵ᩬᩁ ง่อน	nape	cf. Lao: ງ່ອນ /ŋɔ̄ɔn/ "nape"
/t͡ɕa.mùːk/ จมูก	/dāŋ/ ᨯᩢ᩠ᨦ ดัง	nose	cf. Lao: ດັງ /dàŋ/ "nose", Standard Thai: ดั้ง /dâŋ/ "nasal bridge".
/hâj/ ให้	/hɯ᷇ː/ ᩉᩨ᩶ หื้อ	give, let	cf. Tai Lü: ᦠᦹᧉ /hɯ᷄/ "to give, to allow"
/tʰām/ ทำ	/ɲa᷇ʔ/ ᨿᩡ ญะ	do
/dūː/ ดู	/pʰɔ̀ː/ ᨹᩴ᩵ᩬ ผ่อ	look	cf. Lao: ຜໍ່ /pʰɔ̀ː/ "to see, to look" and Tai Lü: ᦕᦸᧈ /pʰɔ̀ː/ "to see, to look"
/tʰîaw/ เที่ยว	/ʔɛ̀ːw/ ᩋᩯ᩠᩵ᩅ แอ่ว	visit, travel	cf. Tai Lü: ᦀᦶᧁᧈ /ʔɛ᷄w/ "to visit, to travel"
/nɯ́a/ เนื้อ	/t͡ɕín/ ᨩᩥ᩠᩶ᨶ จิ๊น	meat	cf. Lao: ຊີ້ນ /sîːn/ "meat"
/mâj/ ไม่	/bɔ̀ː/ ᨷᩴ᩵ บ่อ	no	cf. Lao: ບໍ່ /bɔ̄ː/ "no, not"
อร่อย	ลำ	tasty, delicious
/t͡ɕʰɔ̂ːp/ ชอบ	/ma᷇k/ ᨾᩢ᩠ᨠ มัก	like	cf. Lao: ມັກ /māk/ "to like"
/mâːk/ มาก	/na᷇k/ ᨶᩢ᩠ᨠ นัก	much, many
/dɤ̄ːn/ เดิน	/tīaw/ ᨴ᩠ᨿᩅ เตียว	walk	cf. Tai Lü: ᦑᦵᧁ /têw/ "to give, to allow"
/wîŋ/ วิ่ง	/lôn/ ᩃᩫ᩠᩵ᨶ ล่น	run
/hǔa.rɔ́ʔ/ หัวเราะ	/xâj.hǔa/ ใค่หัว	laugh	cf. Tai Lü: ᦆᦺᧈᦠᦷ /xāj.hó/ "to laugh"
/sa.nùk/ สนุก	/mûan/ ม่วน	funny, amusing	cf. Lao: ມ່ວນ /mūan/ "fun, amusing, pleasant", Tai Lü: ᦙᦷᦓᧈ /mōn/ "fun, amusing, pleasant", and Shan: မူၼ်ႈ /mōn/ "fun, amusing, pleasant"
/kōː.hòk/ โกหก	/t͡ɕúʔ/ จุ๊	lie	cf. Tai Lü: ᦈᦳ /t͡su᷄ʔ/ "to lie, to deceive"
/ʔa.rāj/ อะไร	/ʔa.ɲǎŋ/ อะหญัง	what	cf. Lao: ອີ່ຫຍັງ /ʔī.ɲǎŋ/ "what"
/dèk/ เด็ก	/la.ʔɔ̀ːn/ ᩃᩡᩋ᩵ᩬᩁ ละอ่อน	child	cf. Tai Lü: ᦟᦳᧅᦀᦸᧃᧈ /lūk.ʔɔ᷄n/ "child, young offspring"
/pʰráʔ/ พระ	/tu᷇.t͡ɕa᷇w/ ᨴᩩᨧᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ ตุ๊เจ้า	Buddhist monk	cf. Tai Lü: ᦑᦳᦈᧁᧉ /tūʔ.tsa᷅w/ "Buddhist monk"

Similar words

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 (unchecked, no tone mark)			B (mai ek)			DL (checked, long vowel)			DS (dead, short vowel)			C (mai tho)
Initial Consonant	Std Thai	CM Thai	gloss	Std Thai	CM Thai	gloss	Std Thai	CM Thai	gloss	Std Thai	CM Thai	gloss	Std Thai	CM Thai	gloss
1. High	rising	low-​rising		low	mid-​low		low	low		low	low-​rising		falling	high-​falling
	/hǔː/ หู	/hǔː/ ᩉᩪ หู	ear
2. CM High but Std Mid (= Std Thai ก ต ป)	mid	low-​rising
	/tāː/ ตา	/tǎː/ ᨲᩣ ต๋า	eye	/tàw/ เต่า	/tàw/ ᨲᩮᩢ᩵ᩣ เต่า	turtle	/dɔ̀ːk/ ดอก	/dɔ̀ːk/ ᨯᩬᨠ ดอก	flower	/kʰùt/ ขุด	/xǔt/ ᨡᩩᨯ ขุ๋ด	dig	/bâː/ บ้า	/ba᷇ː/ ᨷ᩶ᩤ บ้า	mad
3. Mid for Both (= Std Thai ด บ อ อย)	mid	mid-​high
4. Low	/bīn/ บิน	/bīn/ ᨷᩥ᩠ᨶ บิน	fly	falling	falling		falling	falling		high	high-​falling		high	high rising-​falling
				/mɛ̂ː/ แม่	/mɛ̂ː/ ᨾᩯ᩵ แม่	mother	/mîːt/ มีด	/mîːt/ ᨾᩦ᩠ᨯ มีด	knife	/nók/ นก	/no᷇k/ ᨶᩫ᩠ᨠ นก	bird	/máː/ ม้า	/máː/ ᨾ᩶ᩣ ม้า	horse

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,^[11] Phayao,^[11] Nan and Prae,^[11] and extending at least to Tak^[11] and the old 6-tone accent of Tai Khuen,^[11] 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:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss
/hòk/ หก	/hǒk/[12] ᩉᩫ᩠ᨠ ห๋ก	six
/t͡ɕèt/ เจ็ด	/t͡ɕět/[13] ᨧᩮᩢ᩠ᨯ เจ๋ด	seven
/sìp/ สิบ	/sǐp/[14] ᩈᩥ᩠ᨷ สิ๋บ	ten
/pēn/ เป็น	/pěn/ ᨸᩮ᩠ᨶ เป๋น	be (copula)
/kīn/ กิน	/kǐn/ ᨠᩥ᩠ᨶ กิ๋น	eat

Other tone differences are irregular, such as:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss
/nɯ̀ŋ/ หนึ่ง	/nɯ̂ŋ/ ᨶᩧ᩠᩵ᨦ นึ่ง	one

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:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss	note
/rɔ́ːn/ ร้อน	/hɔ́ːn/ ᩁ᩶ᩬᩁ ฮ้อน	hot	cf. Lao: ຮ້ອນ /hɔ̂ːn/ "to be hot" and Shan: ႁွၼ်ႉ /hɔ̰n/ "to be hot"
/rák/ รัก	/ha᷇k/ ᩁᩢ᩠ᨠ ฮัก	love	cf. Lao: ຮັກ /hāk/ "to love" and Shan: ႁၵ်ႉ /ha̰k/ "to love"
/rúː/ รู้	/húː/ ᩁᩪ᩶ ฮู้	know	cf. Lao: ຮູ້ /hûː/ "know" and Shan: ႁူ /hṵ/ "know"

Aspiration of initial consonants

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/, /t͡ɕʰ/, /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).:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss	note
/t͡ɕʰiaŋ.rāːj/ เชียงราย	/t͡ɕiaŋ.hāːj/ ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦᩁᩣ᩠ᨿ เจียงฮาย	Chiang Rai city and province	cf. Tai Lü: ᦈᦵᧂᦣᦻ /tsêŋ.hâːj/ "Chiang Rai"
/kʰít/ คิด	/kɯ́t/ ᨣᩧ᩠ᨯ กึ๊ด	think	cf. Tai Lü: ᦅᦹᧆ /kɯ̄t/ "to think"
/t͡ɕʰɔ́ːn/ ช้อน	/t͡ɕɔ́ːn/ ᨩ᩶ᩬᩁ จ๊อน	spoon	cf. Tai Lü: ᦋᦸᧃᧉ /tsɔ̀n/ "spoon"
/t͡ɕʰáj/ ใช้	/t͡ɕáj/ ᨩᩲ᩶ ใจ๊	use	cf. Shan: ၸႂ်ႉ /tsa̰ɰ/ "to use", Tai Lü: ᦋᦺᧉ /tsàj/ "to use"
/pʰɔ̂ː/ พ่อ	/pɔ̂ː/ ᨻᩴ᩵ᩬ ป้อ	father	cf. Shan: ပေႃႈ /pɔ̄/ "father", Tai Lü: ᦗᦸᧈ /pɔ̄/ "father"
/tʰāːŋ/ ทาง	/tāːŋ/ ᨴᩣ᩠ᨦ ตาง	way	cf. Shan: တၢင်း /táːŋ/ "way", Tai Lü: ᦑᦱᧂ /tâːŋ/ "way"

But not:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss	note
/kʰôːt.sa.nāː/ โฆษณา	/xôːt.sa.nāː/ โฆษณา	commercial, advertisement	cf. Tai Lü: ᦆᦷᦉᦓᦱ /xôː.sa.nâː/ "advertisement"
/pʰāː.sǎː/ ภาษา	/pʰāː.sǎː/ ภาษา	language	cf. Tai Lü: ᦘᦱᦉᦱ /pʰâː.sáː/ "nationality"
/wát.tʰa.náʔ.tʰām/ วัฒนธรรม	/wa᷇t.tʰa.na᷇ʔ.tʰām/ วัฒนธัมม์	culture	cf. Tai Lü: ᦞᧆᦒᦓᦱᦒᧄ /wāt.tʰa.na.tʰâm/ "culture"
/tʰām/ ธรรม	/tʰām/ ธัมม์	Dharma	cf. Tai Lü: ᦒᧄ /tʰâm/ "Dharma"

Though a number of aspirated consonants in Standard Thai often correspond to unaspirated sounds in Northern Thai, when an unaspirated consonant is followed by ร (/r/) the unaspirated consonant becomes aspirated:

Standard Thai	Northern Thai	gloss	note
/pràʔ.tʰêːt/ ประเทศ	/pʰa.têːt/ ᨷᩕᨴᩮ᩠ᩆ ผะเต้ด	country	cf. Tai Lü: ᦕᦑᦵᧆ /pʰa.te᷄ːt/ "country"
/kràːp/ กราบ	/xàːp/ or /kʰàːp/ ᨠᩕᩣ᩠ᨷ ขาบ	kowtow, prostrate	cf. Tai Lü: ᦃᦱᧇ /xa᷄ːp/ "to prostrate oneself"
/prāː.sàːt/ ปราสาท	/pʰǎː.sàːt/ ᨷᩕᩤᩈᩣ᩠ᨴ ผาสาท	palace	cf. Tai Lü: ᦕᦱᦉᦱᧆ /pʰáː.sa᷄ːt/ "palace"

Notes

References

• Khamjan, Mala (2008). Kham Mueang Dictionary พจนานุกรมคำเมือง [Photchananukrom Kham Mueang] (in Thai). Chiang Mai: Bookworm. ISBN 978-974-8418-55-1. 
• Natnapang Burutphakdee (October 2004). Khon Muang Neu Kap Phasa Muang [Attitudes of Northern Thai Youth towards Kammuang and the Lanna Script] (M.A. Thesis). Presented at 4th National Symposium on Graduate Research, Chiang Mai, Thailand, August 10–11, 2004. Asst. Prof. Dr. Kirk R. Person, adviser. Chiang Mai: Payap University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-14. Retrieved June 8, 2013. 
• Rungrueangsi, Udom (2004) [1991]. Lanna-Thai Dictionary, Princess Mother Version พจนานุกรมล้านนา ~ ไทย ฉบับแม่ฟ้าหลวง [Photchananukrom Lanna ~ Thai, Chabap Maefa Luang] (in Thai) (Revision 1 ed.). Chiang Mai: Rongphim Ming Mueang (โรงพิมพ์มิ่งมือง). ISBN 974-8359-03-4. 

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lanna language.

Northern Thai language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

• สำนักส่งเสริมศิลปวัฒนธรรม มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่ (Thai)