Tai-Kadai · ISO 639-3 nod
Northern Thai Language ᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩬᩥᨦ
Northern Thai is a Tai-Kadai language spoken by about 6.6 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Thai and Lanna scripts.
Where Northern Thai is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Northern Thai
Language family
- Tai-Kadai
- Kam-Tai
- Daic-Beic
- Daic
- Central-Southwestern Tai
- Wenma-Southwestern Tai
- Sapa-Southwestern Tai
- Southwestern Tai
- Southwestern Tai P
- Shanic
- Southern Shanic
- Yuanic
- Northern Thai
Writing system
Thai and Lanna scripts
Related languages
About the Northern Thai language
Northern Thai (ᨣᩴᩤᨾᩮᩬᩥᨦ) is spoken by about 6.6 million people, which makes it the 158th most spoken language in the world — just behind Armenian (6.7 million) and ahead of Central Pashto (6.5 million). It belongs to the Tai-Kadai language family and, more precisely, to the Yuanic group within the Daic-Beic branch.
Where is Northern Thai spoken?
Northern Thai is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Thailand (6.7 million).
Northern Thai is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Northern Thai is written in the Thai and Lanna scripts. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Shan, Tai Dam, Thai, Northeastern Thai, Southern Thai, Lao and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 nod.
Frequently asked questions about Northern Thai
How many people speak Northern Thai?
Where is Northern Thai spoken?
What language family does Northern Thai belong to?
What is Northern Thai called in Northern Thai?
Is Northern Thai an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.