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Tai Peoples
Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, and Northern Thai peoples. The Tai are scattered through much of South China and Mainland Southeast Asia, with some (''e.g.'' Tai Ahom, Tai Khamti, Tai Phake, Tai Aiton) inhabiting parts of Northeast India. Tai peoples are both culturally and genetically very similar and therefore primarily identified through their language. Names Speakers of the many languages in the Tai branch of the Tai–Kadai language family are spread over many countries in Southern China, Indochina and Northeast India. Unsurprisingly, there are many terms used to describe the distinct Tai peoples of these regions. According to Michel Ferlus, the ethnonyms Tai/Thai (or Tay/Thay) would have evolved from the etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being' through the following cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thai People
Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย; ''endonym''), Central Thai people ( th, คนภาคกลาง, sou, คนใต้, ตามโพร; ''exonym and also domestically'') or Siamese ( th, ชาวสยาม; ''historical exonym and sometimes domestically''), T(h)ai Noi people ( th, ไทยน้อย; ''historical endonym and sometimes domestically''), in a narrow sense, are a Tai ethnic group dominant in Central and Southern Thailand (Siam proper). Part of the larger Tai ethno-linguistic group native to Southeast Asia as well as Southern China and Northeast India, Thais speak the Sukhothai languages ( Central Thai and Southern Thai language), which is classified as part of the Kra–Dai family of languages. The majority of Thais are followers of Theravada Buddhism. As a result of government policy during the 1930s and 1940s resulting in successful forced assimilation of many the various ethno-linguistic groups in the country into the dominant Thai language and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
