| Southern Thai | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ภาษาไทยใต้ pʰaːsaː tʰajɗaj | ||||
| Spoken in | Thailand | |||
| Region | South Myanmar, Southern Thailand, Northern Malaysia | |||
| Native speakers | 5 million (date missing) | |||
| Language family |
Tai–Kadai
|
|||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-3 | sou | |||
|
||||
Southern Thai or Dambro (Thai: ภาษาไทยใต้, Thai pronunciation: [pʰaːsǎː tʰajtâːj]; Thai: ภาษาตามโพร, Thai pronunciation: [pʰaːsǎː taːm.pʰroː]) is a Tai language spoken in the 14 changwat of Southern Thailand as well as by small communities in the northernmost Malaysian states. It is spoken by roughly five million people, and as a second language by the 1.5 million speakers of Patani Malay and other ethnic groups such as the local Thai Chinese communities, Negritos, and other tribal groups. Most speakers are also fluent or understand the standard Thai language.
Contents |
In Thailand, speakers of Southern Thai can be found from as far north as Prachuap Khiri Khan Province down to the border with Malaysia. Small numbers of speakers can be found in the Malaysian border states, especially Kelantan, Penang, Perlis, Kedah, and Perak. It is the primary language of 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, but all varieties remain mutually intelligible to each other. For economic reasons, many speakers of Southern Thai have moved to Bangkok and other Thai cities or to the Middle East, where many speakers share Islam as a professed religion.
Malay kingdoms ruled much of the Malay Peninsula, such as the Pattani Kingdom and Tambralinga, but most of the area fell under the rule of Srivijaya. The area was heavily influenced by the culture of Indian traders, and numerous Buddhist and Hindu shrines attest to the diffusion of culture. The collapse of Srivijaya was filled by the growth of the Kingdom of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, which subsequently became a vassal of Sukhothai. The area has been a frontier between the northern Tai peoples and the southern Malay peoples as well as between Buddhism and Islam. The tensions fuelled by brutal Thaification policies, suppression of local culture, and general poverty has led to the current Southern Thailand insurgency.
There are five phonemic tones in the Nakohn Si Thammarat dialect: high, mid rising-falling, low-rising, mid-high, and low.[1]
| Tone | Standard Thai | Phonemic | Phonetic | Example meaning in English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | ผ่า | /pʰáː/ | [pʰaː˥˥] | to split |
| mid rising-falling | ปลา | /plâː/ | [plaː˧˦˧] | fish |
| low-rising | ถ้า | /tʰǎː/ | [tʰaː˩˦] | landing |
| mid-high | ห้า | /haː/ | [haː˦˦] | five |
| low | ค้า | /kʰàː/ | [kʰaː˩˩] | to trade |
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | [m] | [n] | [ŋ] | |||||||||||
| Plosive | [p] | [pʰ] | [b] | [t] | [tʰ] | [d] | [k] | [kʰ] | [ʔ] * |
|||||
| Fricative | [f] | [s] | [h] | |||||||||||
| Affricate | [tɕ] | [tɕʰ] | ||||||||||||
| Trill | [r] | |||||||||||||
| Approximant | [j] | [w] | ||||||||||||
| Lateral approximant |
[l] | |||||||||||||
Although the most similar in lexicon and grammar to Central Thai of the major regional languages of Thailand, Southern Thai is sufficiently different that mutual intelligibility between the two can be problematic. Southern Thai represents a diglossic situation from the formal Thai spoken with Southern Thai tones and accent to the common language, which utilises more local vocabulary and incorporates more words from Patani Malay. The Thai language was introduced with Siamese incursions into the Malay Peninsula allegedly starting as early as the Sukhothai Kingdom, and the area in which Southern Thai is spoken was a frontier zone between Thailand and the Malay Sultanates. Malay vocabulary is an integral part of the vocabulary, as Malay was formerly spoken throughout the region and many speakers of the language still speak the Patani dialect of Malay.
Southern Thai is mainly a spoken language, although the Thai alphabet 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 difficult. Also, the tonal distribution is different, with Southern Thai using up to seven tones in certain provinces. In contrast to Northern Thai, the Lao based Isan language, and informal registers of Standard Thai, Southern Thai speakers almost always preserve ร as /r/ and not as /l/.
| Dambro | Thai | English | Dambro | Thai | English |
| หร่อย, rɔːj | อร่อย, aʔrɔ̀ːj | delicious | ม่าย, maːj | ไหม, mǎj | question particle |
| แหลง, lɛːŋ | พูด, pʰûːt | to speak | จังหู้, tɕaŋhuː | มาก, mâːk | a lot |
| ดีปรี, _diːpriː | พริก, pʰrík | chilli | หลุหละ, lulaʔ | สกปรก, sòk.ka.pròk | dirty |
| หย้บ, jop | ยี่สิบ, jîːsìp | twenty | บาย, baːj | สบาย, saʔbaːj | to be well |
| ยานัด, jaːnát | สับปะรด, sàp.paʔ.rót | pineapple | นากา, naːkaː | นาฬิกา, naːlí.kaː | clock |
| ขี้มัน, kʰiːman | ขี้เหนียว, kʰîːnǐaw | stingy | พรือ, pʰrɯːa | อะไร, aʔraj | what? |
| ยัง, jaŋ | มี, miː | to have | แค, kʰɛː | ใกล้, klâj | near |
| พี่บ่าว, pʰiːbaːw | พี่ชาย, pʰîːtɕʰaːj | older brother | เกือก, kɯːak | รองเท้า, rɔːŋtʰáːw | shoe |
| ตอเช้า, tɔ.tɕʰaw | พรุ่งนี้, pʰrûŋ.níː | tomorrow | พร้าว, pʰraːw | มะพร้าว, máʔ.pʰráːw | coconut |
| หลาด, laːt | ตลาด, taʔ.làːt | market | ตู, tuː | ประตู, pʰraʔ.tuː | door |
| แล, lɛː | ดู, duː | to see | นายหัว, naːj.hua | หัวหน้า, hǔa.nâː | boss |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||