Southern Thai ( ), also known as Dambro ( ), Pak Tai (), or "Southern language" (), is a
Southwestern Tai ethnolinguistic identity
and language spoken in
southern Thailand
Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus.
Geography
Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounde ...
as well as by small communities in the northernmost
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
n states. It is spoken by roughly five million people, and as a second language by the 1.5 million speakers of
Pattani and other ethnic groups such as the local
Peranakans
The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...
communities,
Negrito
The term Negrito () refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. Populations often described as Negrito include: the Andamanese peoples (including the Great Andamanese, the On ...
s, and other tribal groups. Most speakers are also fluent in or understand the
Central Thai dialects.
Classification
Southern Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being
Thai,
Northern Thai
Kam Mueang ( nod, , กำเมือง) or Northern Thai language ( th, ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely rela ...
and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form the
Southwestern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
branch of
Tai languages
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or S ...
. 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
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
and
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border.
Dialects
Phonyarit (2018) recognizes the following nine main dialects of Southern Thai, based on tone split and merger patterns.
Southern Thai (Eastern)
* Nakhonsithammarat dialect (Standard), spoken in the upper part of
Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and southern part of
Surat Thani Province
* Thungsong dialect, spoken in the lower part of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and surrounding provinces such as
Phatthalung
Phatthalung (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phatthalung Province.
The town covers ''tambon
''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and provi ...
* Songkhla dialect, spoken in
Songkhla
Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora ( Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of B ...
and surrounding provinces, except in
Hat Yai District
Hat Yai ( th, หาดใหญ่, ) is a district (''amphoe'') of Songkhla province, southern Thailand.
Geography
Neighboring districts are (from the west clockwise): Khuan Kalong of Satun province; Rattaphum, Bang Klam, Khuan Niang, Si ...
, where Central Thai with southern loanwords is spoken
* Syburi dialect, spoken in
Syburi (Kedah),
Palis and
Satun Province
Southern Thai (Western)
* Chaiya dialect, spoken in the northern part of
Surat Thani Province and
Ranong Province, classified as a dialect of the
Peranakan
The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...
s
* Chumphon dialect, spoken in
Chumphon Province and the southern part of
Prachuap Khiri Khan Provinces
* Phuket dialect, spoken by
Peranakan
The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...
s in
Phuket Province
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
,
Krabi Province,
Trang Province and
Phang Nga Provinces
* Samui dialect, spoken in
Samui District and
Pha-ngan District
Takbai dialect
* Takbai dialect, spoken by the
Siamese minority in
Patani
Patani Darussalam ( Bahasa Malayu Arabic : , also sometimes Patani Raya or Patani Besar, "Greater Patani"; th, ปาตานี) is a historical region in the Malay peninsula. It includes the southern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala (Jal ...
Distribution
In Thailand, speakers of Southern Thai can be found in a contiguous region beginning as far north as southern part of
Prachuap Khiri Khan Province and extending southward to the border with
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
. Smaller numbers of speakers reside in the Malaysian border states, especially
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...
,
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in t ...
,
Penang
Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...
,
Perlis
Perlis, ( Northern Malay: ''Peghelih''), also known by its honorific title Perlis Indera Kayangan, is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. Located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it borders the Thai provinces ...
, and
Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...
. In these areas, it is the primary language of ethnic Thais as well as of the ethnically Malay people on both sides of the Thai-Malaysian border in Satun and Songkhla provinces. Although numerous regional variations exist and there is no one standard, the language is most distinct near the Malaysian border. All varieties, however, remain mutually intelligible. For economic reasons, many speakers of Southern Thai have migrated to Bangkok and other Thai cities. Some have also emigrated to Malaysia, which offers not only economic opportunity but also a culture which shares the
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic faith practiced by some speakers of Southern Thai.
History
Malay kingdoms ruled much of the
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...
, such as the
Pattani Kingdom
Patani, or the Sultanate of Patani ( Jawi: كسلطانن ڤطاني) was a Malay sultanate in the historical Pattani Region. It covered approximately the area of the modern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and part of the northe ...
and
Tambralinga, but most of the area, at one time or another, was under the rule of
Srivijaya
Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th ...
. The population of the Malay peninsula was heavily influenced by the culture of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
transmitted through missionaries or indirectly through traders. Numerous Buddhist and Hindu shrines attest to the diffusion of Indian culture. The power vacuum left by the collapse of Srivijaya was filled by the growth of the kingdom of
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat pro ...
, which subsequently became a vassal of the
Sukhothai Kingdom
The Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom ( mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was ...
. The area has been a frontier between the northern
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, a ...
and the southern
ethnic Malays
Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations — areas that are col ...
as well as between
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
.
Phonology
Dialects
*Ligor dialect, spoken in
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat pro ...
,
Phatthalung
Phatthalung (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phatthalung Province.
The town covers ''tambon
''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and provi ...
,
Trang Trang may refer to:
Places
* Trang province, Thailand
**Trang, Thailand, capital city of Trang province
**Trang Airport
** Trang railway station
** Trang River
*Trang, a sub-district of Mayo district, Pattani province, Thailand
* Trang (commune), ...
,
Satun provinces and
Mueang Pattani Kedah state,
Mae Lan,
Khok Pho and
Nong Chik Districts of
Pattani Province.
*Chaiya dialect, spoken in
Krabi,
Phang Nga
Phang Nga ( th, พังงา, , ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phang Nga Province. The town covers the whole ''tambon'' Thai Chang of Mueang Phang Nga district. As of 2005 it had a population of 9,559 and ...
,
Phuket
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands o ...
,
Ranong
Ranong ( th, ระนองPronunciation) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong District. The town covers completely the area of the '' tambon'' Khao Niwet (เขานิ� ...
,
Surat Thani
Surat Thani ( th, สุราษฎร์ธานี, ) is a city in Amphoe Mueang Surat Thani, Surat Thani Province, southern Thailand. It lies south of Bangkok. It is the capital of Surat Thani Province. The city has a population of 1 ...
and
Chumphon Provinces.
*Singora dialect, spoken in
Songkhla
Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora ( Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of B ...
,
Yala and mostly part of
Pattani Provinces.
*Tak Bai dialect, spoken in
Kelantan state,
Narathiwat Province
Narathiwat ( th, นราธิวาส, Malay: Menara) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from west clockwise) Yala and Pattani. To the south it borders the Malaysian state of Kelantan ...
and
Yaring,
Panare,
Sai Buri districts of
Pattani Province.
Tones
The majority of speakers using Southern Thai varieties display five phonemic tones (
tonemes
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to distinguish or to inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information and to convey emph ...
) in citation monosyllables, although effects of
sandhi
Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...
can result in a substantially higher number of tonal
allophones
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
. This is true for dialects north of approximately 10° N and south of 7° N
latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
, as well as urban
sociolects
In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language (non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group.
Sociolects involve both passive acquisit ...
throughout Southern Thailand. In between, there are dialects with six- and seven-tone systems. The dialect of
Nakhon Si Thammarat Province (approximately centered on 8° N latitude) for example, has seven phonemic tones.
Initials
:
* In some dialects.
:
** Implied before any vowel without an initial and after a short vowel without a final
:
***ฃ and ฅ are no longer used. Thus, modern Thai is said to have 42 consonant letters.
Clusters
In Southern Thai, each syllable in a word is considered separate from the others, so combinations of consonants from adjacent syllables are never recognised as a cluster. Southern thai has
phonotactical constraints that define permissible syllable structure,
consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
s, and vowel sequences. Original Thai vocabulary introduces only 11 combined consonantal patterns:
* (กร), (กล), (กว)
* (ขร,คร), (ขล,คล), (ขว,คว)
* (ปร), (ปล)
* (พร), (ผล,พล)
* (ตร)
Finals
All
plosive sounds are
unreleased. Hence, final , , and sounds are pronounced as , , and respectively.
:
* The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel.
Vowels
The vowels of the Southern Thai are similar to those of
Central Thai. They, from front to back and close to open, are given in the following table. The top entry in every cell is the symbol from the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...
, the second entry gives the spelling in the
Thai alphabet
The Thai script ( th, อักษรไทย, ) is the abugida used to write Thai, Southern Thai and many other languages spoken in Thailand. The Thai alphabet itself (as used to write Thai) has 44 consonant symbols ( th, พยัญชน ...
, where a dash (–) indicates the position of the initial consonant after which the vowel is pronounced. A second dash indicates that a final consonant must follow.
The vowels each exist in
long-short pairs: these are distinct
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...
s forming unrelated words in Isan, but usually transliterated the same: เขา (''khao'') means "he/she", while ขาว (''khao'') means "white".
The long-short pairs are as follows:
The basic vowels can be combined into
diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...
s. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:
Additionally, there are three
triphthongs. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:
Differences from Central Thai
Although of the major regional languages of Thailand, Southern Thai is most similar in
lexicon
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...
and grammar to Central Thai, the varieties are sufficiently different that mutual intelligibility between the two can be problematic. Southern Thai presents a
diglossic situation wherein
registers range from the most formal (Standard Central Thai spoken with Southern Thai tones and accent) to the common vernacular (usually a contracted form of Thai expressions and with some amount of loan words from
Malay). The Thai language was introduced with Siamese incursions into the Malay Peninsula possibly starting as early as the
Sukhothai Kingdom
The Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom ( mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was ...
. During this and successive kingdoms, the area in which Southern Thai is spoken was a frontier zone between Thai polities and the Malay Sultanates. Malay vocabulary has been absorbed into the lexicon, as a considerable number of Malay speakers lived in or near Patani polity and interacted with the Thai speakers through trade; and the Malay language was formerly considered to be a
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of the southern part of the Malay peninsula.
Southern Thai is mainly a spoken language, although the
Thai alphabet
The Thai script ( th, อักษรไทย, ) is the abugida used to write Thai, Southern Thai and many other languages spoken in Thailand. The Thai alphabet itself (as used to write Thai) has 44 consonant symbols ( th, พยัญชน ...
is often used in the informal situations when it is written.
The words used that are etymologically Thai are often spoken in a reduced and rapid manner, making comprehension by speakers of other varieties difficult. Also, as Southern Thai uses up to seven tones in certain provinces, the tonal distribution is different from other regional varieties of Thai. Additionally, Southern Thai speakers almost always preserve ร as /r/ in contrast to
Northern Thai
Kam Mueang ( nod, , กำเมือง) or Northern Thai language ( th, ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely rela ...
, the Lao-based
Isan language
Isan or Northeastern Thai ( th, ภาษาอีสาน, ภาษาไทยถิ่นตะวันออกเฉียงเหนือ, ภาษาไทยถิ่นอีสาน, ภาษาไทยอีสาน, ภ� ...
, and informal
registers of Central Thai where it is generally realized as /l/.
References
Sources
* Bradley, David. (1992). "Southwestern Dai as a lingua franca." ''Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas.'' Vol. II.I:13, pp. 780–781.
* Levinson, David. ''Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook.'' Greenwood Publishing Group. ISPN: 1573560197.
* Miyaoka, Osahito. (2007). ''The Vanishing Languages of the Pacific Rim.'' Oxford University Press. .
* Taher, Mohamed. (1998). ''Encyclopaedic Survey of Islamic Culture.'' Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. .
* Yegar, Moshe. ''Between Integration and Secession: The Muslim Communities of the Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, and Western Burma/Myanmar.'' Lexington Books. .
* Diller, A. Van Nostrand. (1976). ''Toward a Model of Southern Thai Diglossic Speech Variation.'' Cornell University Publishers.
* Li, Fang Kuei. (1977). ''A Handbook of Comparative Tai.'' University of Hawaii Press. .
External links
{{Languages of Malaysia
Tai languages
Languages of Thailand
Languages of Malaysia
Languages of Myanmar
Malay Peninsula
Peninsular Malaysia
Southern Thailand