What is Thai based on?

Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, similar to Chinese and Vietnamese.

Why does the Thai language look like that?

The Thai alphabet was probably derived from, or at least influenced by, the Old Khmer alphabet. According to tradition it was created in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng (พ่อขุนรามคำแหงมหาราช). The Thai alphabet is used to write Thai, Sanskrit, Pali, and a number of minority languages spoken in Thailand.

What alphabet does Thailand use?

the Thai script
The Thai language is written using its own unique alphabet, which was derived from the old Khmer script. Known as ‘aksorn Thai’ (อักษรไทย), the Thai script is used throughout Thailand and in some regions of neighboring countries.

What is the origin of Thai language?

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 academic debate.

Is Thai language similar to Chinese?

They are both tonal languages, but they are not in the same language family. And they use different writing systems. Thai belongs to the Tai-Kadai language family. Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family.

Is Thai read left to right?

Thai is written across the page from left to right, with no spaces between words, for example: You are trying to view Flash content, but you have no Flash plugin installed. To find out how to install a Flash plugin, go to the WebWise Flash install guide. Noi has been working here for almost 20 years.

Why is Lao and Thai similar?

Lao and Thai languages are very similar to each other. The two languages, Lao and Thai depict many similarities mainly because both belong to the Tai-Kadai language family. Thailand and Laos share border, and because of international trade between the two nations, there has been a lot of language exchange since ages.

Are Thai and Korean similar languages?

Thai and Korean have basically nothing in common at all. They are also both very different from both Portuguese and English. Thai is a “monosyllabic” tonal language like Chinese and Vietnamese, but not related to either.

Is Thai mutually intelligible?

Thai, also known as Siamese, is the national language of the people of Thailand. It is mutually intelligible to a certain degree with other Tai languages including Lao and Isan. There are 36 million native speakers of the Thai language. It is also spoken by millions of people as a second language.

What languages are written in the Thai alphabet?

The Thai alphabet is used to write Thai, Sanskrit, Pali, and a number of minority languages spoken in Thailand.

What is the origin of the Thai language?

Thai vocabulary includes many words from Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer. The Thai alphabet was probably derived from, or at least influenced by, the Old Khmer alphabet. According to tradition it was created in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng ( พ่อขุนรามคำแหงมหาราช ).

What is the writing system in Thailand?

The Thai alphabet is used to write Thai, Sanskrit, Pali, and a number of minority languages spoken in Thailand. Type of writing system: abugida / syllabic alphabet consisting of 44 basic consonants, each with an inherent vowel: [o] in medial position and [a] in final position.

What is the difference between [a] and [O] in Thai?

The [a] is usually found in words of Sanskrit, Pali or Khmer origin while the [o] is found native Thai words. The 18 other vowels and 6 diphthongs are indicated using diacritics which appear in front of, above, below of after the consonants they modify.