Tai Tham script

For the Unicode block, see Tai Tham (Unicode block).

Tai Tham ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨵᩢᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼, Tua Tham
Script type	Abugida
Time period	c. 1300–present
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Northern Thai, Tai Lü, Khün, Isan and Lao
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Tamil-Brahmi Pallava alphabet Old Mon script Tai Tham
Child systems	New Tai Lue, Tham Lao
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Lana (351), ​Tai Tham (Lanna)
Unicode
Unicode alias	Tai Tham
Unicode range	U+1A20–U+1AAF

Tai Tham script (Tham meaning "scripture") is an abugida writing system used mainly for a group of Southwestern Tai languages i.e., Northern Thai, Tai Lü, Khün and Lao; as well as the liturgical languages of Buddhism i.e., Pali and Sanskrit. It is historically known as Tua Tham (ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨵᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼ or ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨵᩢᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼). In Thailand and Myanmar, the script is often referred to as Lanna script (Thai: อักษรธรรมล้านนา RTGS: Akson Tham Lan Na; Burmese: လန်နအက္ခရာ RTGS: Lanna Akara) in relation to the historical kingdom of Lan Na situating in the Northern region of modern day Thailand and a part of Shan state in Myanmar. Local people in Northern Thailand also call the script as Tua Mueang (ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨾᩮᩥᩬᨦ, Northern Thai pronunciation: [tǔa̯.mɯ̄a̯ŋ] ) in parallel to Kam Mueang, a local name for Northern Thai language. In Laos and Isan region of Thailand, a variation of Tai Tham script, often dubbed Lao Tham, is also known by the locals as To Tham Lao (Northeastern Thai: โตธรรมลาว /toː˩.tʰam˧˥.laːw˧/, cf. Lao: ໂຕທຳ/ໂຕທັມ BGN/PCGN to tham) or Yuan script. Tai Tham script is traditionally written on a dried palm leaf as a palm-leaf manuscript.

The Northern Thai language is a close relative of (standard) Thai. It is spoken by nearly 6 million people in Northern Thailand and several thousand in Laos of whom few are literate in Lanna script. The script is still read by older monks. Northern Thai has six linguistic tones and Thai only five, making transcription into the Thai alphabet problematic. There is some resurgent interest in the script among younger people, but an added complication is that the modern spoken form, called Kam Muang, differs in pronunciation from the older form.

There are 670,000 speakers of Tai Lü, some of those born before 1950 are literate in Tham, also known as Old Tai Lue. The script has also continued to be taught in the monasteries. The New Tai Lue script is derived from Tham. There are 120,000 speakers of Khün for which Lanna is the only script.

History

Nameboard of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai written with Lanna: Wat Mokhamtuang (and street number 119 in Thai)

Northern Thai inscription in Tai Tham script in Chiang Mai

The Tai Tham script shows a strong similarity to the Mon script used by the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya around the 13th century CE, in the present-day Lamphun Province of Northern Thailand. The oldest known document containing the Tai Tham script is dated to 1376 CE and was found in Sukhothai. The document is a bilingual inscription on a gold folio, containing one line of Pali written in the Tai Tham script, while the vernacular is written in the Siamese language, using the Sukhothai script. The Tai Tham script was adapted to write vernacular languages not later than the 15th century CE, most probably in Chiang Mai, in the Lan Na Kingdom. The script spread from Lan Na to surrounding areas such as modern day Laos, Isan, Shan State and Sipsong Panna. Numerous local variants developed, such as the Lue variant (Sipsong Panna), the Khuen variant (Shan State) and the Tham Lao variant (Laos and Isan). The variants differ only slightly in appearance, and the system of writing has remained the same. As the name suggests, the use of the Tham (Dharma) script in Lao was restricted to religious literature, either used to transcribe Pali, or religious treatises written in Lao intended solely for the clergy. Religious instructional materials and prayer books dedicated to the laity were written in Tai Noi instead. As a result, only a few people outside the temples were literate in the script. In Isan, evidence of the script includes two stone inscriptions, such as the one housed at Wat Tham Suwannakhuha in Nong Bua Lamphu, dated to 1564, and another from Wat Mahaphon in Maha Sarakham from the same period.

A palm-leaf manuscript written in Tai Tham script. Collection of the Museum of Ethnology, Minzu University of China.

Most of the script is recorded on palm-leaf manuscripts, many of which were destroyed during the 'Thaification' purges of the 1930s; contemporaneously this period of Thai nationalisation also ended its use as the primary written language in Northern Thailand. Although no longer in use in Isan, the alphabet is enjoying a resurgence in Northern Thailand, and is still used as the primary written script for the Tai Lü and Tai Khün languages spoken in the 'Golden Triangle' where Thailand, Laos, Burma and southern China meet. Its use is rather limited to the long-term monks in Laos and most materials published today are in the modern Lao script.

Characteristics

Although both the ancient forms of the Mon and Khmer script are different, they are both abugidas that descend from the Brahmic scripts introduced via contacts with South Indian traders, soldiers, merchants and Brahmans. As a Mon-derived script, Tai Tham has many similarities with the writing systems for Burmese, Shan, Rakhine and modern Mon and rounder letter forms compared to the angled letters of Khmer. Letters can be stacked, sometimes with special subscript forms, similar to 'ຼ' which was used in Tai Noi and also in modern Lao as the subscript version of 'ຣ' /r/ or 'ລ' /l/ as in Lao: ຫຼວງພຼະບາງ/ຫລວງພຣະບາງ. Letters also are more circular or rounded than the typically angled style of Khmer.

Consonants

There are 43 Tai Tham consonants. They are divided into three groups: categorized consonants (ᨻ᩠ᨿᩢᨬ᩠ᨩᨶᨶᩲᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼, payanjana nai wak), non-categorized consonants (ᨻ᩠ᨿᩢᨬ᩠ᨩᨶᩋᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼, payanjana awak), and additional consonants (ᨻ᩠ᨿᩢᨬ᩠ᨩᨶᨲᩮᩬᩥ᩵ᨾ, payanjana tueam). Categorized consonants and non-categorized consonants are those derived from Old Mon script used for Pali and Sanskrit languages. Similar to Devanagari, Pallava script, and Burmese script, categorized consonants are divided into 5 subgroups called wak (ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼) i.e., wak ka (ᨠ), wak ja (ᨧ), wak rata (ᨭ), wak ta (ᨲ), and wak pa (ᨷ). The additional consonants are the consonants invented to write Tai sounds that are originally not found in Pali. In a dictionary, letter ᩂ and ᩄ are often put in the consonant list following the letter ᩁ and ᩃ respectively. However, they are a syllabary (also a vowel) and not a consonant letter.

Consonant chart

There are 25 categorized consonants, 10 non-categorized consonants, and 8 additional consonants. Similar to Khmer, Tai Tham also has a subjoined form called haang (ᩉᩣ᩠ᨦ), tua joeng (ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨩᩮᩥ᩠ᨦ), or tua hoy (ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᩉᩬ᩠ᨿ᩶). In the Unicode input method, sakot sign (U1A60) (◌᩠) is used to trigger the subjoined forms. The additional consonants are shown in yellow. These consonants have the characteristics of lacking the subjoined form. Similar to Thai script and Lao script, consonants in Tai Tham can be classified into high, mid, and low classes regarding to the tone rules.

	Letter		Subjoined form	Name		Transliteration		IPA		Tone Class
				Translit.	IPA	Initial	Final	Initial	Final
1. Wak Ka	ᨠ		◌᩠ᨠ	ka	[kǎ]	k	k	[k]	[k̚]	high
	ᨡ		◌᩠ᨡ	xa, kha	[xǎ], [kʰǎ]	x, kh	k	[x], [kʰ]	[k̚]	high
	ᨢ		—	xa, kha	[xǎ]	x, kh	—	[x]	[k̚]	high
	ᨣ		◌᩠ᨣ	ka	[ka᷇]	k	k	[k]	[k̚]	low
	ᨤ		—	xa, kha	[xa᷇]	x, kh	—	[x]	[k̚]	low
	ᨥ		◌᩠ᨥ	xa, kha	[xa᷇], [kʰa᷇]	x, kh	k	[x], [kʰ]	[k̚]	low
	ᨦ		◌᩠ᨦ	nga	[ŋa᷇]	ng	ng	[ŋ]	[ŋ]	low
2. Wak Ja	ᨧ		◌᩠ᨧ	ja, ca	[t͡ɕǎ]	j, c	t	[t͡ɕ]	[t̚]	high
	ᨨ		◌᩠ᨨ	sa, cha	[sǎ], [t͡ɕʰǎ]	s, ch	—	[s], [t͡ɕʰ]	—	high
	ᨩ		◌᩠ᨩ	ja, ca	[t͡ɕa᷇]	j, c	t	[t͡ɕ]	[t̚]	low
	ᨪ		—	sa	[sa᷇]	s	t	[s]	[t̚]	low
	ᨫ	,	◌᩠ᨫ	sa, cha	[sa᷇], [t͡ɕʰa᷄]	s, ch	t	[s], [t͡ɕʰa᷄]	[t̚]	low
	ᨬ		◌᩠ᨬ	nya	[ɲa᷇]	ny, y	n	[ɲ], [j]	[n]	low
3. Wak Rata	ᨭ		◌᩠ᨭ	rata	[lǎ.tǎ]	t	t	[t]	[t̚]	high
	ᨮ	,	◌᩠ᨮ , ◌ᩛ	ratha	[lǎ.tʰǎ]	th	t	[tʰ]	[t̚]	high
	ᨯ		◌᩠ᨯ	da	[dǎ]	d, th	t	[d], [tʰ]	[t̚]	mid
	ᨰ		◌᩠ᨰ	ratha	[lǎ.tʰa᷇]	th	t	[tʰ]	[t̚]	low
	ᨱ		◌᩠ᨱ	rana	[lǎ.na᷇]	n	n	[n]	[n]	low
4. Wak Ta	ᨲ		◌᩠ᨲ	ta	[tǎ]	t	t	[t]	[t̚]	high
	ᨳ		◌᩠ᨳ	tha	[tʰǎ]	th	t	[tʰ]	[t̚]	high
	ᨴ		◌᩠ᨴ	ta	[ta᷇]	t	t	[t]	[t̚]	low
	ᨵ		◌᩠ᨵ	tha	[tʰa᷇]	th	t	[tʰ]	[t̚]	low
	ᨶ		◌᩠ᨶ	na	[na᷇]	n	n	[n]	[n]	low
5. Wak Pa	ᨷ		◌᩠ᨷ , ◌ᩝ	ba	[bǎ]	b	p	[b]	[p̚]	mid
			◌᩠ᨷ	pa	[pǎ]	p	p	[p]	[p̚]	high
	ᨸ		–	pa	[pǎ]	p	p	[p]	[p̚]	high
	ᨹ		◌᩠ᨹ	pha	[pʰǎ]	ph	–	[pʰ]	–	high
	ᨺ		–	fa	[fǎ]	f	–	[f]	–	high
	ᨻ		◌᩠ᨻ , ◌ᩛ	pa	[pa᷇]	p	p	[p]	[p̚]	low
	ᨼ		–	fa	[fa᷇]	f	p	[f]	[p̚]	low
	ᨽ		◌᩠ᨽ	pha	[pʰa᷇]	ph	p	[pʰ]	[p̚]	low
	ᨾ		◌᩠ᨾ , ◌ᩜ	ma	[ma᷇]	m	m	[m]	[m]	low
6. Awak	ᨿ		◌᩠ᨿ	nya	[ɲa᷇]	ny, y	–	[ɲ], [j]	–	low
	ᩀ		–	ya	[jǎ]	y	–	[j]	–	mid
	ᩁ		◌᩠ᩁ , ᩕ	ra, la	[la᷇]	r, l, h	n	[r], [l], [h]	[n]	low
	ᩃ		◌᩠ᩃ , ◌ᩖ	la	[la᷇]	l	n	[l]	[n]	low
	ᩅ		◌᩠ᩅ	wa	[wa᷇]	w	–	[w]	–	low
	ᩆ		◌᩠ᩆ	sa	[sǎ]	s	t	[s]	[t̚]	high
	ᩇ		◌᩠ᩇ	sa	[sǎ]	s	t	[s]	[t̚]	high
	ᩈ		◌᩠ᩈ , ◌ᩞ	sa	[sǎ]	s	t	[s]	[t̚]	high
	ᩉ		◌᩠ᩉ	ha	[hǎ]	h	–	[h]	–	high
	ᩊ		◌᩠ᩊ	la	[la᷇]	l	n	[l]	[n]	low
	ᩋ	,	◌ᩬ	a	[ʔǎ]	–	–	[ʔ]	–	mid
	ᩌ		–	ha	[ha᷇]	h	–	[h]	–	low

Notes

Consonant combinations and ligatures

Consonant digraph with Ha

Certain consonants in the low-class group lack their high-class counterpart. These consonants are sometimes called the single low-class consonants. Their high-class counterparts are created by the combination with letter high Ha (ᩉ) as a digraph, called Ha Nam (ᩉ ᨶᩣᩴ).

Letter	Name		Transliteration		IPA		Tone Class
	Translit.	IPA	Initial	Final	Initial	Final
ᩉ᩠ᨦ	nga	[ŋǎ]	ng	–	[ŋ]	–	high
ᩉ᩠ᨶ	na	[nǎ]	n	–	[n]	–	high
ᩉ᩠ᨾ	ma	[mǎ]	m	–	[m]	–	high
ᩉ᩠ᨿ	nya	[ɲǎ]	ny	–	[ɲ], [j]	–	high
ᩉᩕ	ra, la, ha	[rǎ], [lǎ], [hǎ]	r, l, h	–	[r], [l], [h]	–	high
ᩉᩖ, ᩉ᩠ᩃ	la	[lǎ]	l	–	[l]	–	high
ᩉ᩠ᩅ	wa	[wǎ]	w	–	[w]	–	high

Notes

Special letters

Letter		Name			Phonetic value (IPA)	Comments
		Tham	Translit.	IPA
ᩓ	,	ᩃᩯᩡ, ᩃᩯ	lae	[lɛ̄ː]	[lɛʔ], [lɛ̄ː]	Ligature of letter ᩃ (la) and superscript vowel sign ᩮ (e).
ᨶᩣ		ᨶᩣ	naa	[nāː]	[nāː]	Ligature of letter ᨶ (na) and vowel sign ᩣ (a).
ᨬ᩠ᨬ		ᨬᨬ	nya nya	[ɲa᷇ʔ ɲa᷇ʔ]	[n.ɲ]	Ligature of letter ᨱ (rana) and ᨬ (nya), used in lieu of double ᨬ.
ᩔ		ᩈ ᩈᩬᨦᩉᩬ᩶ᨦ	sa song hong	[sǎː sɔ̌ːŋ hɔ᷇ːŋ]	[t̚.s], [s̚.s]	Ligature of double ᩈ (high sa).
ᩕ		ᩁᩁᩰᩫ᩠ᨦ	rarong, rahong	[la᷇.hōːŋ]	[r], [l], [ʰ]	Subjoined form of letter ᩁ (ra) for a consonant cluster such as ᨷᩕ (pra) ᨻᩕ (pra) as opposed to the subjoined form -᩠ᩁ used as a final consonant. Traditionally considered as a special letter.

Notes

Vowels

Vowel characters come in two forms: as stand-alone letters for writing initial vowels or as diacritics that can be attached to all sides of the consonant letters. However, Lanna excels in terms of the number of diacritics used. Some vowel sounds can be written with a combination of as many as four diacritics: one on each side of the consonant.

Independent vowels

Independent vowels are mainly reserved for writing Pali words, except for ᩐᩣ /ʔau/ which is used as a special vowel sign and not for Pali words.

Tai Tham		IPA	Transliteration
ᩋ		/áʔ/	a
ᩋᩣ		/āː/	aa
ᩍ		/íʔ/	i
ᩎ		/īː/	ii
ᩏ		/úʔ/	u
ᩐ		/ūː/	uu
ᩑ		/ēː/	e
ᩒ		/ōː/	o
ᩂ		/li/, /lɯ̄ː/, /lɯ᷇ʔ/, /lɤː/	rue, ruue, ri, roe
ᩄ			lue, luue, li, loe
ᩐᩣ		/aw/	aw, au, ao

Dependent vowels

Short vowels (with consonant ᨠ)				Long vowels (with consonant ᨠ)
IPA	No final consonant	With final consonant (ᨦ)		IPA	No final consonant	With final consonant (ᨦ)
Simple vowels
/a/	ᨠ, ᨠᩡ	ᨠᩢ᩠ᨦ		/aː/	ᨠᩣ	ᨠᩣ᩠ᨦ
/i/	ᨠᩥ	ᨠᩥ᩠ᨦ		/iː/	ᨠᩦ	ᨠᩦ᩠ᨦ
/ɯ/	ᨠᩧ	ᨠᩧ᩠ᨦ		/ɯː/	ᨠᩨ	ᨠᩨ᩠ᨦ
/u/	ᨠᩩ	ᨠᩩᨦ, ᨠᩩᨦ᩼		/uː/	ᨠᩪ	ᨠᩪᨦ, ᨠᩪᨦ᩼
/e/	ᨠᩮᩡ, ᨠᩮᩬᩡ	ᨠᩮᩢ᩠ᨦ, ᨠᩮᩬᨦᩡ		/eː/	ᨠᩮ	ᨠᩮ᩠ᨦ
/ɛ/	ᨠᩯᩡ, ᨠᩯᩬᩡ	ᨠᩯᩢ᩠ᨦ, ᨠᩯᩬᨦᩡ		/ɛː/	ᨠᩯ	ᨠᩯ᩠ᨦ
/o/	ᨠᩰᩡ	ᨠᩫ᩠ᨦ		/oː/	ᨠᩰ, ᨠᩮᩣ	ᨠᩰᩫ᩠ᨦ, ᨠᩰ᩠ᨦ
/ɔ/	ᨠᩰᩬᩡ	ᨠᩬᩢᨦ, ᨠᩬᨦᩡ		/ɔː/	ᨠᩬᩴ, ᨠᩳ	ᨠᩬᨦ, ᨠᩬᨦ᩼
/ɤ/	ᨠᩮᩬᩥᩡ	ᨠᩮᩥᩢ᩠ᨦ, ᨠᩮᩥ᩠ᨦᩡ		/ɤː/	ᨠᩮᩬᩥ	ᨠᩮᩥ᩠ᨦ
Diphthongs
/iaʔ/	ᨠ᩠ᨿᩮᩡ	ᨠ᩠ᨿᩢᨦ, ᨠ᩠ᨿᨦᩡ		/ia/	ᨠ᩠ᨿᩮ	ᨠ᩠ᨿᨦ
/ɯaʔ/	ᨠᩮᩬᩥᩋᩡ	ᨠᩮᩬᩥᩢᨦ, ᨠᩮᩬᩥᨦᩡ		/ɯa/	ᨠᩮᩬᩥᩋ	ᨠᩮᩬᩥᨦ
	ᨠᩮᩬᩨᩋᩡ	ᨠᩮᩬᩨᩢᨦ, ᨠᩮᩬᩨᨦᩡ			ᨠᩮᩬᩨᩋ	ᨠᩮᩬᩨᨦ
/uaʔ/	ᨠ᩠ᩅᩫᩡ	ᨠ᩠ᩅᩢᨦ, ᨠ᩠ᩅᨦᩡ		/ua/	ᨠ᩠ᩅᩫ	ᨠ᩠ᩅᨦ, ᨠ᩠ᩅᨦ᩼
Phonetic diphthongs
/aw/	ᨠᩮᩢᩣ, ᨠᩳ, ᨠᩪᩦ	–
/aj/	ᨠᩱ, ᨠᩲ, ᨠᩱ᩠ᨿ, ᨠᩱᨿ᩠ᨿ, ᨠᩮᨿ᩠ᨿ, ᨠᩢ᩠ᨿ	-
				/ɔːj/	ᨠᩭ, ᨠᩬ᩠ᨿ	-
Extra vowels
/aŋ/	ᨠᩴ, ᨠᩘ	—
/am/	ᨠᩣᩴ	—
/lɯ/	ᩂ	–		/lɯː/	ᩂ, ᩄ	-
Notes

Tone marks

Further information: Northern Thai language § Tones

Tone marks		Name			Comments
		Tham	Transliteration	IPA
᩵		ᨾᩱ᩶ᩀᩢ᩠ᨠ, ᨾᩱ᩶ᩀᩰᩬᩡ	mai yak, mai yo	/máj.jǎk/, /máj.jɔ́ʔ/
᩶		ᨾᩱ᩶ᨡᩬᩴᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ, ᨾᩱ᩶ᨪᩢ᩠ᨯ	mai kho jang, mai sat	/máj.xɔ̌ː.t͡ɕáːŋ/, /máj.sát/
᩷		ᨾᩱ᩶ᨠᩳᩉ᩠ᨶᩮᩬᩥᩋ	mai ko nuea	/máj.kɔ̌.nɯa̯/	Invented for Khuen language, shape like vowel sign -ᩳ (mai ko).
᩸		ᨾᩱ᩶ᩈᩬᨦᩉ᩠ᨶᩮᩬᩥᩋ	mai song nuea	/máj.sɔ̌ːŋ.nɯa̯/	Invented for Khuen language, shape like ᪂ (Hora digit 2).
᩹		ᨾᩱ᩶ᩈᩣ᩠ᨾᩉ᩠ᨶᩮᩬᩥᩋ	mai sam nuea	/máj.sǎːm.nɯa̯/	Invented for Khuen language, shape like ᪃ (Hora digit 3).
๋		-	–	-	Borrowed from Thai script "Mai Chattawa" into Khuen language. Interchangeable with mai song nuea.
้		-	–	-	Borrowed from Thai script "Mai Tho" into Khuen language. Interchangeable with mai sam nuea.

Tone mark conjugation

There are six phonemic tones in the Chiang Mai dialect of Northern Thai: low-rising, low-falling, high-level with glottal stop, mid-level, high-falling, and high-rising. Tones in Chiang Mai dialect are very close to the standard Thai five tones systems and the equivalence can be drawn between the two. Lanna–Thai dictionaries often equate Chiang Mai tones with standard Thai tones, shown in a table below.

Northern Thai–Standard Thai tone equivalence

Chiang Mai Tone		Thai Tone Equivalence
Name	Tone letters	Name			Tone letters
mid-level	33 or ˧˧	สามัญ	saman	mid-level	33 or ˧˧
low-falling	21 or ˨˩	เอก	ek	low-falling	21 or ˨˩
high-falling	42 or ˦˨	โท	tho	high-falling	41 or ˦˩
high-level, glottalized	44ʔ or ˦˦ʔ	โทพิเศษ	special tho	–	–
high-rising	45 or ˦˥	ตรี	tree	high-rising	45 or ˦˥
low-rising	24 or ˨˦	จัตวา	chattawa	low-rising	24 or ˨˥

Tone mark conjugation system of Tai Tham highly correlates with the system used by Thai script. Despite the difference in tone quality between Northern Thai, Tai Khuen, Thai, and Lao; equivalent words in each language are, in large part, marked with the same (or equivalent) tone mark. For example, the word ᨣ᩶ᩤ (Northern Thai pronunciation: [kaː˦˥]; Khuen: [kaː˦˩]) which is equivalent to Thai ค้า (Thai pronunciation: [kʰaː˦˥]), and Lao ຄ້າ (Lao pronunciation: [kʰaː˥˨]) all has the same meaning "to trade" and is expressed with the same or equivalent tone mark mai tho/mai kho jang but is pronounced with different tones differed by the languages.

Tone mark conjugation in Tai Tham follows the same model used for Thai script. Consonants are divided into 3 classes: high, mid, low; with some degree of variation form Thai script due to the phonological differences between Northern Thai and standard Thai. Consonants in each class are combined with these tone marks to give a different tonal pattern.

Only two tone marks mai yo (᩵) and mai kho jang (᩶) are mainly used. Low class and High class consonants only have one tone per one tone mark. Hence, to achieve the 6 tones while using only 2 tone marks (and one case of no tone mark), they are conjugated as a couple of the same sound.

High class–Low class consonants couple for tone conjugation

IPA	High class	Low class
[k]	ᨠ	ᨣ
[x]	ᨡ, ᨢ	ᨤ, ᨥ
[ŋ]	ᩉ᩠ᨦ	ᨦ
[t͡ɕ]	ᨧ	ᨩ
[s]	ᨨ, ᩆ, ᩇ, ᩈ	ᨪ, ᨫ
[ɲ]	ᩉ᩠ᨿ	ᨬ, ᨿ
[t]	ᨭ, ᨲ	ᨴ
[tʰ]	ᨮ, ᨳ	ᨰ, ᨵ
[n]	ᩉ᩠ᨶ	ᨱ, ᨶ
[p]	ᨷ ᨸ	ᨻ
[pʰ]	ᨹ	ᨽ
[f]	ᨺ	ᨼ
[m]	ᩉ᩠ᨾ	ᨾ
[r]	ᩉᩕ	ᩁ
[l]	ᩉᩖ, ᩉ᩠ᩃ, ᩉᩕ	ᩃ, ᩊ, ᩁ
[h]	ᩉ, ᩉᩕ	ᩌ, ᩁ
[w]	ᩉ᩠ᩅ	ᩅ

Notes

Mid class consonants ([ʔ], [b], [d], and [j]) do not have a couple for tone conjugation. Hence, different tones can be expressed with the same tone mark. Readers have to rely on the context in order to know the correct tone pronunciation. Therefore, to solve this ambiguity, three new tone marks: mai ko nuea (᩷), mai song nuea (᩸), and mai sam nuea (᩹) were invented for the mid class consonants in Khuen language. However, these three new tone marks aren't used in Lanna spelling convention and even in Khuen, they are rarely used. The use of these new three tone marks is also not standardized and may also differ between the dialects of Khuen language.

Moreover, similar to standard Thai, the tonal pattern for each consonant class also differs by vowel length and final consonant sounds, which can be divided into the "checked" and "unchecked" syllables. Checked syllables are a group of syllables with the obstruent coda sounds [p̚], [t̚], [k̚], and [ʔ] (short vowel with no final consonant actually ends with the glottal stop, but often omitted). The unchecked syllables are a group of syllables with the sonorant coda sound [m], [n], [ŋ], [j], and [w].

Hence, by combining the consonant classes and the system of checked–unchecked syllables, the full tone conjugation table can be constructed as shown below. Color codes are assigned in the table to each tone mark: cyan – no tone mark; yellow – mai yo (equi. Thai mai ek); pink – mai kho jang (equi. Thai mai tho). Low class and high class rows are paired together to show the system of the consonant couples.

final consonant sound	Vowel length	Consonant class	Chiang Mai Tone
			mid-level	low-falling	high-falling	high-level, glottalized	high-rising	low-rising
			Thai Tone Equivalence
			สามัญ (saman)	เอก (ek)	โท (tho)	โทพิเศษ (special tho)	ตรี (tree)	จัตวา (chattawa)
			mid	low	falling	-	high	rising
m, n, ŋ, j, w coda (unchecked syllables) (sonorant)	long & short	Low	ᨴᩣ /taː˧˧/ "to smear"		ᨴ᩵ᩣ /taː˦˨/ "port"		ᨴ᩶ᩣ /taː˦˥/ "to challenge"
		High		ᨲ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨦ /taːŋ˨˩/ "to carry"		ᨲ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨶ /taːn˦˦ʔ/ "to oppose"		ᨲᩣ /taː˨˦/ "eye"
		Mid	ᩋᩩ᩠ᨿ /ʔuj˧˧/ "soft hair"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩵ᨿ /ʔuj˨˩/ "to scatter"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩶ᨿᩌᩩ᩠᩵ᨿ /ʔuj˦˨.huj˦˨/ "greenish"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩶ᨿ /ʔuj˦˦ʔ/ "thigh"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩶ᨿ /ʔuj˦˥/ "grand parents"	ᩋᩩ᩠ᨿ /ʔuj˨˦/ "breast"
ʔ, p̚, t̚, k̚ coda (checked syllables) (obstruent)	long	Low			ᨴᩣ᩠ᨠ /taːk̚˦˨/ "slug"		ᨶᩰ᩠᩶ᨴ /noːt̚˦˥/ "note"
		High		ᨲᩣ᩠ᨠ /taːk̚˨˩/ "to dry"
		Mid		ᨯᩣ᩠ᨷ /daːp̚˨˩/ "sword"	ᩋᩪ᩶ᨯ /ʔuːt̚˦˨/ "to swell"		ᩋ᩶ᩬᨷ /ʔɔːp̚˦˥/ "bottle neck"
	short	Low					ᨴᩢ᩠ᨠ /tak̚˦˥/ "to greet"
		High						ᨲᩢ᩠ᨷ /tap̚˨˦/ "liver"
		Mid					ᩋᩩ᩶ᨠ /ʔuk̚˦˥/ "to ferment"	ᨯᩢ᩠ᨷ /dap̚˨˦/ "to distinguish (fire)"

Notes

Numerals

Lanna has two sets of numerals. The first set, Lek Nai Tham, is reserved for liturgical purposes. The other set, Lek Hora, is used in everyday life.

Arabic numerals	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Hora digits	᪀	᪁	᪂	᪃	᪄	᪅	᪆	᪇	᪈	᪉
Tham digits	᪐	᪑	᪒	᪓	᪔	᪕	᪖	᪗	᪘	᪙
Thai numerals	๐	๑	๒	๓	๔	๕	๖	๗	๘	๙
Lao numerals	໐	໑	໒	໓	໔	໕	໖	໗	໘	໙
Burmese numerals	๐	၁	၂	၃	၄	၅	၆	၇	၈	၉
Khmer numerals	០	១	២	៣	៤	៥	៦	៧	៨	៩

Relation with other scripts

Tai Tham is very similar in shape to Burmese script since both are derived from Old Mon script. New Tai Lue is a descendant of Tai Tham with its shape simplified and many consonants removed. Thai script looks distinctive from Tai Tham but covers all equivalent consonants including 8 additional consonants, as Thai is the closest sister language to the Northern Thai, Khuen, and Lue languages. A variation of Thai script (Sukhothai script) called Fakkham script was also used in Lan Na to write Northern Thai, Khuen, and Lue during the 14th century, influencing the development of the modern Tai Tham script.

	Tai Tham		Burmese	New Tai Lue	Khmer	Thai	Lao
	Unicode	Lanna style
1. Wak Ka	ᨠ		က	ᦂ	ក	ก	ກ
	ᨡ		ခ	ᦃ	ខ	ข	ຂ
	ᨢ		–	–	–	ฃ	–
	ᨣ		ဂ	ᦅ	គ	ค	ຄ
	ᨤ		–	ᦆ	–	ฅ	–
	ᨥ		ဃ	–	ឃ	ฆ	(modern: ຄ)
	ᨦ		င	ᦇ	ង	ง	ງ
2. Wak Ja	ᨧ		စ	ᦈ	ច	จ	ຈ
	ᨨ		ဆ	–	ឆ	ฉ	(modern: ສ)
	ᨩ		ဇ	ᦋ	ជ	ช	ຊ
	ᨪ		–	ᦌ	–	ซ	–
	ᨫ		ဈ	–	ឈ	ฌ	(modern: ຊ)
	ᨬ		ည	–	ញ	ญ	(modern: ຍ)
3. Wak Rata	ᨭ		ဋ	–	ដ	ฏ	(modern: ຕ)
	ᨮ		ဌ	–	ឋ	ฐ	(modern: ຖ)
	ᨯ		ဍ	ᦡ	ឌ	ฑ, ฎ, ด	(modern: ທ, ດ)
	ᨰ		ဎ	–	ឍ	ฒ	(modern: ທ)
	ᨱ		ဏ	–	ណ	ณ	(modern: ນ)
4. Wak Ta	ᨲ		တ	ᦎ	ត	ต	ຕ
	ᨳ		ထ	ᦏ	ថ	ถ	ຖ
	ᨴ		ဒ	ᦑ	ទ	ท	ທ
	ᨵ		ဓ	ᦒ	ធ	ธ	(modern: ທ)
	ᨶ		န	ᦓ	ន	น	ນ
5. Wak Pa	ᨷ		ပ	ᦢ	ប	บ	ບ
	ᨸ		–	ᦔ	–	ป	ປ
	ᨹ		ဖ	ᦕ	ផ	ผ	ຜ
	ᨺ		–	ᦚ	–	ฝ	ຝ
	ᨻ		ဗ	ᦗ	ព	พ	ພ
	ᨼ		–	ᦝ	–	ฟ	ຟ
	ᨽ		ဘ	ᦘ	ភ	ภ	(modern: ພ)
	ᨾ		မ	ᦙ	ម	ม	ມ
6. Awak	ᨿ		ယ	ᦍ	យ	ย	ຍ
	ᩀ		–	ᦊ	–	อย	ຢ
	ᩁ		ရ	ᦣ	រ	ร	ຣ (modern: ລ)
	ᩃ		လ	ᦟ	ល	ล	ລ
	ᩅ		ဝ	ᦞ	វ	ว	ວ
	ᩆ		ၐ (modern: သ)	–	ឝ (modern: ស)	ศ	(modern: ສ)
	ᩇ		ၑ (modern: သ)	–	ឞ (modern: ស)	ษ	(modern: ສ)
	ᩈ		သ	ᦉ	ស	ส	ສ
	ᩉ		ဟ	ᦠ	ហ	ห	ຫ
	ᩊ		ဠ	–	ឡ	ฬ	(modern: ລ)
	ᩋ		အ	ᦀ	អ	อ	ອ
	ᩌ		–	–	–	ฮ	ຮ
7. Special	ᩂ		ၒ	–	ឫ	ฤ	–
	ᩄ		ၔ	–	ឭ	ฦ	–

Sanskrit and Pali

The Tai Tham script (like all Indic scripts) uses a number of modifications to write Pali and related languages (in particular, Sanskrit). When writing Pali, only 33 consonants and 12 vowels are used.

Pali consonants in Tai Tham script

	Plosive				Nasal	Approximant		Fricative
	voiceless		voiced
	unaspirated	aspirated	unaspirated	aspirated		central	lateral
Velar	[ka]	[kha]	[ga]	[gha]	[ṅa]
Palatal	[ca]	[cha]	[ja]	[jha]	[ña]	[ya]
Retroflex	[ṭa]	[ṭha]	[ḍa]	[ḍha]	[ṇa]	[ra]	[ḷa]
Dental	[ta]	[tha]	[da]	[dha]	[na]		[la]	[sa]
Labial	[pa]	[pha]	[ba]	[bha]	[ma]	[va]
Glottal								[ha]

Sanskrit consonants in Tai Tham script

	Plosive				Nasal	Approximant	Frictive
	voiceless		voiced		voiced	voiced	voiceless
	unaspirated	aspirated	unaspirated	aspirated	unaspirated	unaspirated	aspirated
Guttural	[ka]	[kha]	[ga]	[gha]	[ṅa]	[ha]
Palatal	[ca]	[cha]	[ja]	[jha]	[ña]	[ya]	[śa]
Retroflex	[ṭa]	[ṭha]	[ḍa]	[ḍha]	[ṇa]	[ra]	[ṣa]
Dental	[ta]	[tha]	[da]	[dha]	[na]	[la]	[sa]
Labial	[pa]	[pha]	[ba]	[bha]	[ma]	[va]

Unicode block

Tai Tham script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.

Main article: Tai Tham (Unicode block)

The Unicode block for Tai Tham is U+1A20–U+1AAF:

Tai Tham[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1A2x

ᨠ

ᨡ

ᨢ

ᨣ

ᨤ

ᨥ

ᨦ

ᨧ

ᨨ

ᨩ

ᨪ

ᨫ

ᨬ

ᨭ

ᨮ

ᨯ

U+1A3x

ᨰ

ᨱ

ᨲ

ᨳ

ᨴ

ᨵ

ᨶ

ᨷ

ᨸ

ᨹ

ᨺ

ᨻ

ᨼ

ᨽ

ᨾ

ᨿ

U+1A4x

ᩀ

ᩁ

ᩂ

ᩃ

ᩄ

ᩅ

ᩆ

ᩇ

ᩈ

ᩉ

ᩊ

ᩋ

ᩌ

ᩍ

ᩎ

ᩏ

U+1A5x

ᩐ

ᩑ

ᩒ

ᩓ

ᩔ

ᩕ

ᩖ

ᩗ

ᩘ

ᩙ

ᩚ

ᩛ

ᩜ

ᩝ

ᩞ

U+1A6x

᩠

ᩡ

ᩢ

ᩣ

ᩤ

ᩥ

ᩦ

ᩧ

ᩨ

ᩩ

ᩪ

ᩫ

ᩬ

ᩭ

ᩮ

ᩯ

U+1A7x

ᩰ

ᩱ

ᩲ

ᩳ

ᩴ

᩵

᩶

᩷

᩸

᩹

᩺

᩻

᩼

᩿

U+1A8x

᪀

᪁

᪂

᪃

᪄

᪅

᪆

᪇

᪈

᪉

U+1A9x

᪐

᪑

᪒

᪓

᪔

᪕

᪖

᪗

᪘

᪙

U+1AAx

᪠

᪡

᪢

᪣

᪤

᪥

᪦

ᪧ

᪨

᪩

᪪

᪫

᪬

᪭

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Fonts

Lanna Alif vs Lanna Unicode UI

Supports for Tai Tham Unicode font in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft office are still limited causing the widespread use of non-Unicode fonts. Fonts published by the Royal Society of Thailand and Chiang Mai University are also non-Unicode due to this problem and to maximize the ability to transcribe and display the ancient Tai Tham text, which frequently contains various special ligatures and symbols not supported by Unicode. Non-Unicode fonts often use a combination of Thai script and Latin Unicode ranges to resolves the incompatibility problem of Unicode Tai Tham in Microsoft office. However, these fonts may encounter a display problem when used on web browsers as the text can be encoded as an unintelligible Thai text instead. In recent years, many Tai Tham Unicode fonts have been developed for web display and communications via smart phones. Google's Noto Sans Tai Tham becomes the default font for Tai Tham on Mac OS and iOS. However, the current version of this font still fails to display Tai Tham text correctly. The table below gives a list of publicly available Tai Tham fonts.

Font name	Supports		Script style	Font family	Publisher (with page link)
	Unicode	Non-Unicode
A Tai Tham KH New V3	Yes	No	Khün	Sans-serif	Arloka Tai Tham Unicode group
A Tai Tham LN	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	Arloka
Chiangsaen Alif	Yes	No	Lanna	Sans-serif	Alif Silapachai
CR Insom Lanna	Yes	Yes	Lanna	Serif	Worawut Thanawatanawanich
Hariphunchai	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	TragerStudio, Richard Wordingham
Kotthabun	Yes	No	Lao Tham	Serif	Theppitak Karoonboonyanan Tai Tham Unicode group
Lanna Alif	Yes	No	Lanna	Sans-serif	Alif Silapachai
Lamphun	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	Richard Wordingham
LN Mon Saen	No	Yes	Khün	Serif	Chiang Mai University (page link), Pichai Saengboon
LN Tilok	No	Yes	Lanna	Serif	Chiang Mai University (page link), Pichai Saengboon
LN Wat Inda	No	Yes	Khün	Serif	Chiang Mai University (page link), Pichai Saengboon
Noto Sans Tai Tham	Yes	No	Khün	Sans-serif	Google Fonts
Pali-Kotthabun	Pali only	Yes	Lao Tham	Serif	Worawut Thanawatanawanich, Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
Pali-Tilok	Pali only	Yes	Lanna	Serif	Worawut Thanawatanawanich, Pichai Saengboon
Payap Lanna	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	SIL International
RST-ISAN	No	Yes	Lao Tham	Serif	Royal Society of Thailand (page link)
RST-LANNA	No	Yes	Lanna	Serif	Royal Society of Thailand (page link)
Tai Tham BXL	Yes	No	Lue	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
Tai Tham Kammattana	Yes	No	Khün	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
Tai Tham Kasem	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
Tai Tham Kruba Promma	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
Tai Tham Nang Kham	Yes	No	Khün	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
Tai Tham Sripanyawut	Yes	No	Lanna	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
Tai Tham Thatdaokham	Yes	No	Lue	Serif	Tai Tham Unicode group
VS Tham Lanxang	Yes	Yes	Lao Tham	Serif	Worawut Thanawatanawanich

Note

Further reading

• Khamjan, Mala(มาลา คำจันทร์). Kham Mueang Dictionary(พจนานุกรมคำเมือง). Chiang Mai: bookworm, 2008. ISBN 978-974-8418-55-1.
• "Lanna script". Complete information from traditional sources. Sky Knowledge. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
• Owen, R. Wyn. 2017. A description and linguistic analysis of the Tai Khuen writing system. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 10.1, 140–164.
• Trager, Ed. (2014). Hariphunchai Tai Tham Font Project.
• Wordingham, Richard. Lamphun glyphs (A page with specimen of the font Lamphun). Retrieved 15 May 2019.
• Alan Wood's Tai Tham test page

External links

• ISO/IEC 10646:2003/Amd.5:2008 Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS) – Amendment 5: AMENDMENT 5: Tai Tham, Tai Viet, Avestan, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, CJK Unified Ideographs Extension C, and other characters