Southern Thai or Dambro (Thai: ภาษาไทยใต้, IPA: pʰaːsaː tʰajɗaj; Thai: ภาษาตามโปร, IPA: pʰaːsaː ɗaːmbro) is a Tai language spoken in the 14 changwat of Southern Thailand as well as by small communities in the northernmost Malaysian states. It is spoken by roughly five million people, and as a second language by the 1.5 million speakers of Pattani Malay and other ethnic groups such as the local Thai Chinese communities, Negritos, and other tribal groups. Most speakers are also fluent or understand the standard Thai language.

Distribution

In Thailand, speakers of Southern Thai can be found from as far north as Prachuap Khiri Khan Province all the way down to the border with Malaysia. Small numbers of speakers can be found in the Malaysian border states, especially Kelantan, Penang, Perlis, Kedah, and Perak. It is the primary language of Thai people as well as ethnically Malay people on both sides of the Thai-Malaysian border, who often use it as a second language. Although numerous regional variations exist and there is no one standard, the language is most distinct near the Malaysian border, but all varieties remain mutually intelligible to each other. For economic reasons, many speakers of Southern Thai have moved to Bangkok and other Thai cities or to the Middle East, where many speakers share Islam as a professed religion.

History

Malay kingdoms ruled much of the Malay Peninsula, such as the Pattani Kingdom and Tambralinga, but most of the area fell under the rule of Srivijaya. The area was heavily influenced by the culture of Indian traders, and numerous Buddhist and Hindu shrines attest to the diffusion of culture. The collapse of Srivijaya was filled by the growth of the Kingdom of Nakhon Sri Thammaraj, which subsequently became a vassal of Sukhothai. The area has been a frontier between the northern Tai peoples and the southern Malay peoples as well as between Buddhism and Islam. The tensions fuelled by brutal Thaification policies, suppression of local culture, and general poverty has lead to the current South Thailand insurgency.

Differences from Standard Thai

Although the most similar in lexicon and grammar of the major regional languages of Thailand, Southern Thai is different enough that mutual intelligibility between the two can be problematic. Southern Thai represents a diglossic situation from the formal Thai spoken with Southern Thai tones and accent to the common language, which utilises more local vocabulary and incorporates more words from Pattani Malay. The Thai language was introduced with Siamese incursions into the Malay Peninsula starting as early as Sukhothai, and the area in which Southern Thai is spoken was a frontier zone between the Malay Sultanates. Malay vocabulary is an integral part of the vocabulary as Malay was formerly spoken throughout the region and many speakers of the language still speak the Pattani dialect of Malay.

Southern Thai is mainly a spoken language, although the Thai alphabet is often used to write it in the informal situations when it is written.

The words that are used that are etymologically Thai are often spoken in a reduced and rapid manner, making comprehension difficult. Also, the tonal distribution is different, with Southern Thai using up to seven tones in certain provinces. In contrast to Northern Thai, Isan language, and informal registers of Standard Thai, Southern Thai speakers almost always preserve ร as /r/ and not as /l/.