Name
Cognates with the name Tai (Thai, Dai, etc.) are used by speakers of many Tai languages. The term Tai is now well-established as the generic name in English. Several Lao linguists have objected to this, opining that Siamese Thai should be considered a Lao language, but that hasn't made much headway in English usage. Because Tai and Thai, the national language of Thailand, are homonyms, some linguists continue to use Siamese for the latter. Similarly, the terms Dai and Daic have fallen somewhat out of favor as the name for the entire family, with forms based on Kadai now more common.
Many of the languages are called Zhuang in China and Nung in Vietnam.
Read more about this topic: Tai Languages
Famous quotes containing the word name:
“What is it? a learned man
Could give it a clumsy name.
Let him name it who can,
The beauty would be the same.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Name any name and then remember everybody you ever knew who bore than name. Are they all alike. I think so.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)