Different Tai (not Thai) languages

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Bamboo Grove
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Different Tai (not Thai) languages

Post by Bamboo Grove »

With a bit more time in my hands now that the winter is almost gone, I got interested in different Tai (part of Tai-Kadai language family) languages. Long time ago, I had interesting chats with Chris (may he rest in peace) at Sugarcane about these languages. Today, I played four different songs from four different Tai languages to my missus (from Chayaphoom, Lao speaker originally) and asked her how much she could understand the different languages.

The results were: Laotian - quite a lot (not surprising), Lanna (Northern Thai or Kham Muang) - still a lot, Shan or Thai Yai (from Shan state, Burma) - nothing and Thai Lue (from Sipsongphanna - Yunnan, China) some.

You could try the same with your wife/husband/friend and see how things correlate with their birthplace. Here are some song examples.

Laotian (from Laos)


Lanna


Shan or Tai Yai


Thai Lue
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