Northern Thai language
| Northern Thai | |
|---|---|
 Kam Mueangᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩥᩬᨦ |
|
| Pronunciation | [kam˧ mɯːəŋ˧], |
| Region | Northern Thailand |
| Ethnicity | Northern Thai people |
|
Native speakers
|
(6 million cited 1983) |
|
Tai–Kadai
|
|
|
Tai Tham alphabet (standard), Thai alphabet (de facto since early 20th century) |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | nort2740 |
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.
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