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'''Tai Tham script''' (''[[Dharma|Tham]]'' meaning "scripture") is an [[abugida]] [[writing system]] used mainly for a group of [[Southwestern Tai languages]] i.e., [[Northern Thai language|Northern Thai]], [[Tai Lue language|Tai Lü]], [[Khün language|Khün]] and [[Lao language|Lao]]; as well as the liturgical languages of Buddhism i.e., [[Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]]. It is historically known as '''Tua Tham''' ({{Script|Lana|ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨵᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼}} ตั๋วธัมม์ or {{Script|Lana|ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨵᩢᨾ᩠ᨾ᩼}} ตั๋วธรรม). In [[Thailand]] and [[Myanmar]], the script is often referred to as '''Lanna script''' ({{langx|th|อักษรธรรมล้านนา}} {{RTGS|Akson Tham Lan Na}}; {{lang-my-name-MLCTS|MY=လန်နာအက္ခရာ|MLCTS=Lanna Akhkara}}) in relation to the historical [[Lan Na|kingdom of Lan Na]] situating in the Northern region of modern day Thailand and [[Kengtung|Kyaingtong]], [[Shan State|Shan state]] in Myanmar.<ref name=":03">{{Citation |last=Jenny |first=Mathias |title=Writing systems of MSEA |date=2021-08-23 |work=The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia: A comprehensive guide |pages=879–906 |editor-last=Sidwell |editor-first=Paul |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110558142-036/html |access-date=2024-12-06 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110558142-036 |isbn=978-3-11-055814-2 |editor2-last=Jenny |editor2-first=Mathias|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Local people in [[Northern Thailand]] also call the script as '''Tua Mueang''' ({{Script|Lana|ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨾᩮᩥᩬᨦ}} ตั๋วเมือง, {{IPA|nod|tǔa a̯.mɯ̄aŋa̯ŋ}} {{Audio|nod-tuamueang.ogg|listen|help=no}}) in parallel to '''Kam Mueang''', a local name for [[Northern Thai language]].<ref name=":2" /> In [[Laos]] and [[Isan|Isan region]] of Thailand, a variation of Tai Tham script, often dubbed '''Lao Tham''', is also known by the locals as ''To Tham Lao'' ({{langx|tts|โตธรรมลาว}} {{IPA|tts|tòː tʰâm lâːw|/toː˩.tʰam˧˥.laːw˧/}}, cf. {{langx|lo|ໂຕທຳ/ໂຕທັມ}} BGN/PCGN ''to tham'') or Yuan script.<ref name="Everson2007">[[Michael Everson|Everson, Michael]], Hosken, Martin, & Constable, Peter. (2007). [http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2007/07007r-n3207r-lanna.pdf ''Revised proposal for encoding the Lanna script in the BMP of the UCS''].</ref> Tai Tham script is traditionally written on a dried palm leaf as a [[palm-leaf manuscript]].<ref name=":2" />
The [[Northern Thai language]] is a close relative of [[Thai language|(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 [[tone (linguistics)|linguistic tone]]s 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.<ref name="Natnapang">{{cite book
== Consonants ==
There are 43 Tai Tham consonants. They are divided into three groups: categorized consonants ({{Script|Lana|ᨻ᩠ᨿᩢᨬ᩠ᨩᨶᨶᩲᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼}} ปยัญจนะในวรรค, ''payanjana nai wak''), non-categorized consonants ({{Script|Lana|ᨻ᩠ᨿᩢᨬ᩠ᨩᨶᩋᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼}} ปยัญจนะอวรรค, {{Transliteration|nod|payanjana awak}}), and additional consonants ({{Script|Lana|ᨻ᩠ᨿᩢᨬ᩠ᨩᨶᨲᩮᩬᩥ᩵ᨾ}} ปยัญจนะเติ๋ม, ''payanjana tueam''). Categorized consonants and non-categorized consonants are those derived from [[Old Mon script]] used for [[Pali language|Pali]] and [[Sanskrit]] languages. Similar to [[Devanagari]], [[Pallava script]], and [[Burmese alphabet|Burmese script]], categorized consonants are divided into 5 subgroups called ''wak'' ({{Script|Lana|ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼}}) i.e., ''wak ka'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨠ}}), ''wak ja'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨧ}}), ''wak rata'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨭ}}), ''wak ta'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨲ}}), and ''wak pa'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨷ}}). The additional consonants are the consonants invented to write [[Tai languages|Tai]] sounds that are originally not found in Pali. In a dictionary, letter {{Script|Lana|ᩂ}} and {{Script|Lana|ᩄ}} are often put in the consonant list following the letter {{Script|Lana|ᩁ}} and {{Script|Lana|ᩃ}} respectively. However, they are a [[syllabary]] (also a vowel<!-- for example: ᩁᩂᨠ᩠ᩈ᩼ can also be pronounced as luek as here ᩂ acts as the ue 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'' ({{Script|Lana|ᩉᩣ᩠ᨦ}} หาง), ''tua joeng'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᨩᩮᩥ᩠ᨦ}} ตั๋วเจิง), or ''tua hoy'' ({{Script|Lana|ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫᩉᩬ᩠ᨿ᩶}} ตั๋วห้อย). In the [[Tai Tham (Unicode block)|Unicode input method]], ''sakot sign'' (U1A60U1A60) ({{Script|Lana|◌᩠}}) is used to trigger the subjoined forms.<ref name="Everson2007Everson2007" /><ref>Chew, P., Saengboon, P., & Wordingham, R. (2015). [https://unicodeconference.org/39/presentations/S3S3-T3T3-Chew.pdf "Tai Tham: A Hybrid Script that Challenges Current Encoding Models"]. Presented at the ''Internationalization and Unicode Conference (IUC 39)''.</ref> 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.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
=== Consonant cluster ===
Tai Tham has three medial letters to form a consonant cluster: medial ''La'' (◌ᩖ a.k.a ''La Noi''), medial ''Ra'' (ᩕ a.k.a ''Rawong''), and medial ''Wa''. Consonant cluster with medial ''Wa'' is the only true consonant cluster where both consonants are pronounced as one phoneme. Consonant cluster with Medial ''La'' and Medial ''Ra'' are considered a false consonant cluster as they do not produce the same effect. They are the remnant of the [[Southwestern Tai languages|Proto-Southwestern Tai]] initial consonant clusters that existed during the early development of Tai Tham before the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tangsiriwattanakul |first=Shinnakrit |date=4 Oct 2024 |year=2024 |orig-date=27 Feb 2024 |title=From Proto-Southwestern Tai to Modern Lanna Tai: Implications From the 16th-Century Phonology |url=http://www.manusya.journals.chula.ac.th/articles/from-proto-southwestern-tai-to-modern-lanna-tai-implications-from-the-16th-century-phonology/ |journal=Manusya: Journal of Humanities |volume=26 |pages=1–33 |doi=10.1163/26659077-26010011|doi-access=free }}</ref>
==== Medial ''La'' ====
== 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.<ref name="everson">{{cite web|title=Lanna Unicode: A Proposal|url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3207.pdf|last1=Everson|first1=Michael|last2=Hosken|first2=Martin|last3=Constable|first3=Peter|date=March 21, 2007|access-date=May 4, 2015|archive-date=June 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625014059/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3207.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="burutphakdee">{{cite web|title=Khon Muang Neu Kap Phasa Muang: Attitudes of Northern Thai Youth towards Kammuang and the Lanna Script|url=http://ic.payap.ac.th/graduate/linguistics/theses/Natnapang_Thesis.pdf|last=Burutphakdee|first=Natnapang|publisher=SIL International|pages=32–61|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505040726/http://ic.payap.ac.th/graduate/linguistics/theses/Natnapang_Thesis.pdf|archive-date=May 5, 2015|date=October 2004}}</ref>
=== Independent vowels ===
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