Thai Language
/taɪ ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/noun
The language or group of closely related varieties spoken primarily by the Thai people, especially Standard Thai.
Did you know?The name Thai is commonly connected with a Tai word meaning “free” or “person,” though scholars debate aspects of its deeper historical development and the relationship between the ethnonym and the older term Tai.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Tai
Proto-Tai
*tʰɯːj / *tai
“An ancestral Tai ethnonym reconstructed with meanings associated with person, people, or free; exact reconstruction and semantic history remain debated.”
13th–14th Century
Old Thai
ไท (thai)
“A Tai-related ethnonym meaning “free” or “person” in historical usage; it distinguished Tai peoples from some outsiders or subject populations.”
13th–14th Century
Old French
langage
“Speech, language, or a manner of speaking.”
Late Middle English
English
language
“Human speech or a system of communication, borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Latin lingua, “tongue.””
Modern English
English
Thai language
“The language of Thailand, generally referring to Standard Thai or, more broadly, the Tai languages spoken in the country.”
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