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Lanna language

Thai language related to standard Thai and Lao

  • 16 min read
  • 9 chapters

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Through 6th century

Lab · Class 6–12Buddhist Art at Sanchi

Speakers of this language generally consider the name "Tai Yuan" to be pejorative. They refer to themselves as Khon Mueang (ᨤᩫ᩠ᨶᨾᩮᩬᩥᨦ, คนเมือง, – literally "people of Mueang" meaning "city dwellers"), Lanna, or Northern Thai. The language is also sometimes referred to as Phayap (พายัพ, Thai pronunciation: ), "Northwestern (speech)".

The term Yuan is still sometimes used for Lanna'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, and when used in writing standard Thai script is invariably used. The modern spoken form is called Kam Mueang. There is a resurgence of interest in writing it in the traditional way, but the modern pronunciation differs from that prescribed in spelling rules.

Classification

Lanna is classified as one of the Chiang Saen branch, a model popularized by foundational linguists such as Fang-Kuei Li (1960) and Marvin Brown (1965), others being Thai, Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form the Southwestern branch of Tai languages. The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family, which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border.

From a purely genealogical standpoint, most linguists consider Lanna to be more closely related to Central Thai than to Lao or Isan, but the language has been heavily influenced by both Lao and Central Thai throughout history. All Southwestern Tai languages form a coherent dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible varieties, with few sharp dividing lines. However, this genealogical classification is increasingly contested by modern scholars. Critics argue that these groupings may reflect political "Thaification" and a drive for national unity rather than purely linguistic history. While the Chiang Saen group (including Central Thai, Northern Thai, and Southern Thai) is the standard model, it often masks the closer historical ties Lanna has with the Lao-Phutai branch. Nevertheless, Lanna has today become closer to the Central Thai language, as Standard Thai is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout Thailand.

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