“Sawaddee Kha”, “Sawaddee Khrab”, “Pai nai?”, “Khobkhun, Kha”, “Khobkhun, Khrab”……These are common for visitors to Thailand to hear on entering Thailand, or on the streets. They are the Thai language commonly speaking to all. The intonation of the words may be difficult for those who are not used to hearing the language to catch the right word said. That’s because Thai is a tonal and analytic language; and has a complex orthography.
“Thai” is the national and official language of Thailand. It is also the native language of the Thai people-the dominant ethnic group. However, there are numerous numbers of speakers of Thai dialects and minority languages in Thailand, Thai language spoken within Bangkok, the capital, is settled as official Thai language to ease the communication with those use dialects and minority languages. The major Thai dialects are the dialect in the south – “Southern Thai language”; the dialect in the northeastern part – “Isan language” or the Northern dialect-“Lanna Language”; the Central areas also have their dialects that differ from each other by the accent within the provincial area. Apart from that, some minority languages speak in Thailand have totally not related to the Thai language. These languages are such as Chinese, and Hindi languages. Most of these two minority languages are conversed heavily in their societies in the central area of Thailand; Burma, Lao mostly at the border area near Burma and Lao which are in the north, northeastern part, and some parts in the south; Malaya at the border area at the south; hill tribes- Mon-Khmer language, Karen, and etc. at the north. By settling Bangkok dialect as official language and being enforced to be used in schools and universities all across the kingdom, nearly all speakers of dialects and minority languages are capable to speak Central Thai as well.
The Thai script, though complex, is believed to be derived from the Khmer script which is modeled after the Brahmic script from the Indic family. The Thais adopted and modified the Khmer script to create their own writing system. Somewhat, Thai language and its script are closely related to the Lao language and script. Thus, most literates Lao are able to read and understand Thai. The inscriptions in Thai writing began to appear around 1292 CE.
Thai is composed of several distinct registers, forms for different social contexts. They are:
- Street or common Thai (spoken Thai): informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.
- Elegant or formal Thai (written Thai): official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers.
- Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
- Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks.
- Royal Thai: used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities.
Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts. Street and elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations; rhetorical, religious and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum.
