Tai languages

The Tai languages are a family of languages spoken across parts of Southeast Asia and southern China, including Thai, Lao, and Zhuang.

Kra–Dai languages: A language family of southern China and Southeast Asia that includes the Tai languages. Tai languages are the largest and most widely distributed branch of this broader family.
Proto-Tai language: The reconstructed ancestral language from which the Tai languages descended. Comparative evidence reconstructs features shared by the family before its branches diverged.
Thai language: The national language of Thailand and a member of the Southwestern Tai branch. Thai is the best-known Tai language and has a large speaker community.
Tai migration: The historical movements of Tai-speaking peoples from southern China into mainland Southeast Asia. Migration helps explain the family’s broad distribution across the region.
Kam–Sui languages: A branch of Kra–Dai languages that includes Kam and Sui, spoken mainly in southern China. Kam–Sui is a neighboring branch of Kra–Dai, not a subgroup of Tai.
Tai languages classification: The subgrouping of Tai languages based on shared linguistic features and historical relationships. Its branches show how languages such as Thai, Lao, and Zhuang are related.
Tai tone development: The historical changes by which tone systems developed and diversified in Tai languages. Different branches reorganized inherited tone contrasts in distinct ways.
Lao language: The national language of Laos and a member of the Southwestern Tai branch. Lao is closely related to Thai but has its own standard and literary traditions.
Tai peoples: Ethnolinguistic communities associated with languages in the Tai branch of Kra–Dai. The family’s history is intertwined with the settlement and identities of Tai-speaking communities.
Hlai languages: A branch of Kra–Dai languages spoken primarily on Hainan Island in China. Their separate branch status distinguishes Hlai from the Tai languages.

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