A family of roughly 93 million speakers across southern China, Hainan Island, Southeast Asia and northeast India, containing Thai and Lao, the national languages of Thailand and Laos; about 60 percent of Kra-Dai speakers speak Thai. Ethnologue counts 95 languages in the family, 62 of them in the Tai branch. Proto-Kra-Dai has been reconstructed, and the family's relationship to its neighbors is unsettled: Weera Ostapirat treats Kra-Dai and Austronesian as sister families descended from a shared ancestor, while Laurent Sagart argues instead that Kra-Dai is a branch nested within Austronesian, descended from a Formosan ancestral population he labels FATK.
Facts
RegionSouthern China, Hainan Island, mainland Southeast Asia (especially Thailand and Laos) and northeast India. 1 Speaker Count Proto-Language StatusProto-Kra-Dai is reconstructed and the family's internal structure is well established. 1 The unsettled question is external, not internal: how Kra-Dai relates to Austronesian. Connections
Ancestor Of
Kam-Tai is a major branch of the Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai) family, grouping the Tai languages (Thai, Lao, Zhuang and others) with the Kam-Sui languages.
Held Differently
Austronesian, Language Families Why this is disputed. Weera Ostapirat proposes Kra-Dai and Austronesian as sister families descended from a common ancestor, on the strength of regular sound correspondences.
Source Wikipedia: Kra-Dai Languages
Includes
Source Wikipedia: Thai Language
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Kra-Dai Languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead and Classification sections
All languages in the family are tonal, including Thai and Lao, the national languages of Thailand and Laos, respectively. Around 93 million people speak Kra-Dai languages; 60% of those speak Thai. Ethnologue lists 95 languages in the family, with 62 of these being in the Tai branch.
Names section
The name Tai-Kadai was used in older references and continues to be used in Ethnologue and Glottolog, but Ostapirat (2000) and others suggest that it is problematic and confusing.
- Associated With: Austronesian
View the Source Wikipedia: Thai Language
WikipediaIncludes: Thai, Classification sectionQuote, Includes: Thai, Classification section
Standard Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages, others being Northern Thai, Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Associated With: Austronesian
Sagart argues Kra-Dai descended from a Formosan ancestral branch of Austronesian (FATK, Formosan Ancestor of Tai-Kadai), making Kra-Dai a subgroup nested within Austronesian rather than a sister family descended from an independent common ancestor, contrary to Ostapirat's sister-family account recorded on this edge.
A dissenting reading, from Laurent SagartWikipedia: Kra-Dai Languages, Wikimedia Foundation
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