Knowra Tai peoples Tai peoples The Tai peoples are diverse communities speaking languages in the Tai branch of the Kra–Dai family, concentrated across mainland Southeast Asia and southern China.
Tai languages : A branch of the Kra–Dai language family spoken by Tai communities across mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. Shared Tai languages provide the clearest basis for grouping these communities.
Kra–Dai homeland hypotheses : Competing proposals about the early geographic center of the Kra–Dai language family. The proposed homeland bears on where Tai-speaking populations may have originated.
Thai people : The principal ethnic group of Thailand, speaking Central Thai and related varieties of Southwestern Tai. Thai people are one of the largest and most internationally familiar Tai communities.
Austroasiatic peoples : Peoples speaking languages in the Austroasiatic family, including Khmer, Vietnamese, and Mon communities. Their languages and histories distinguish them from neighboring Tai-speaking populations.
Tai scripts : Writing systems used for Tai languages, including scripts derived from Indic models and adapted to local traditions. Distinct writing traditions preserve regional languages and mark different histories of literacy.
Kra–Dai languages : A language family found mainly in southern China and mainland Southeast Asia, including Tai, Kra, Kam–Sui, and Hlai branches. Tai languages belong to this broader family, which includes communities with distinct histories.
Tai migration into mainland Southeast Asia : The historical movement of Tai-speaking groups from southern China into mainland Southeast Asia. This migration shaped the distribution of Tai peoples across the region.
Lao people : A Tai-speaking people concentrated in Laos and northeastern Thailand, with shared cultural and linguistic ties across the Mekong. Lao communities demonstrate that national borders divide populations with close Tai connections.
Sino-Tibetan peoples : Peoples speaking languages in the Sino-Tibetan family, including many communities in China and the Himalayas. Tai communities have long interacted with, but are linguistically distinct from, Sino-Tibetan populations.
Tai cultural assimilation in China : Changes through which Tai-speaking communities in China have adopted elements of dominant regional or national cultures. Assimilation affects language transmission and the visibility of local Tai identities.
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