Shan language in the context of "Mae Sot"

The Tai languages (/ˈtaɪ/ TIE), also known as Zhuang–Tai and Daic languages (/ˈdaɪ.ɪk/ DYE-ik), are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Myanmar's Shan language; and Zhuang, a major language in the Southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, spoken by the Zhuang people (壯), the largest minority ethnic group in China, with a population of 15.55 million, living mainly in Guangxi, the rest scattered across Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces.

The Zhuang languages (/ˈdʒwæŋ, ˈdʒwɒŋ/; autonym: Vahcuengh, Zhuang pronunciation: [βa˧ɕuːŋ˧], pre-1982: Vaƅcueŋƅ, Sawndip: 話僮, from vah, 'language' and Cuengh, 'Zhuang'; simplified Chinese: 壮语; traditional Chinese: 壯語; pinyin: Zhuàngyǔ) are the more than a dozen Tai languages spoken by the Zhuang people of Southern China in the province of Guangxi and adjacent parts of Yunnan and Guangdong. The Zhuang languages do not form a monophyletic linguistic unit, as northern and southern Zhuang languages are more closely related to other Tai languages than to each other. Northern Zhuang languages form a dialect continuum with Northern Tai varieties across the provincial border in Guizhou, which are designated as Bouyei, whereas Southern Zhuang languages form another dialect continuum with Central Tai varieties such as Nung, Tay and Caolan in Vietnam. Standard Zhuang is based on the Northern Zhuang dialect of Wuming.

The Tai languages are believed to have been originally spoken in what is now southern China, with speakers of the Southwestern Tai languages (which include Thai, Lao and Shan) having emigrated in the face of Chinese expansion.Noting that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same exonym for the Vietnamese, kɛɛu, from the Chinese commandery of Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam, Jerold A. Edmondson posited that the split between Zhuang and the Southwestern Tai languages happened no earlier than the founding of Jiaozhi in 112 BC. He also argues that the departure of the Thai from southern China must predate the 5th century AD, when the Tai who remained in China began to take family names.

The Burmese alphabet (Burmese: မြန်မာအက္ခရာ, MLCTS: mranma akkhara, pronounced [mjəmà ʔɛʔkʰəjà]) is an abugida used for writing Burmese, based on the Mon–Burmese script. It is ultimately adapted from a Brahmic script, either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabet of South India. The Burmese alphabet is also used for the liturgical languages of Pali and Sanskrit. In recent decades, other, related alphabets, such as Shan and modern Mon, have been restructured according to the standard of the Burmese alphabet (see Mon–Burmese script). Burmese orthography is deep, with an indirect spelling-sound correspondence between graphemes (letters) and phonemes (sounds), due to its long and conservative written history and voicing rules.

Burmese is written from left to right and requires no spaces between words, although modern writing usually contains spaces after each clause to enhance readability and to avoid grammatical complications. There are several systems of transliteration into the Latin alphabet; for this article, the MLC Transcription System is used.

Shan State (Shan: မိူင်းတႆး, Möng Tai; Burmese: ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, pronounced [ʃáɰ̃ pjìnɛ̀]) is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces) to the south, and five administrative divisions of Myanmar in the west (Kachin State, Mandalay Region, Kayin State, Kayah State, and Sagaing Region). The largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km, almost a quarter of the total area of Myanmar. The state gets its name from the Burmese name for the Tai peoples: "Shan people". The Tai (Shan) constitute the majority among several ethnic groups that inhabit the area. Shan State is largely rural, with only three cities of significant size: Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi. Taunggyi is 150.7 kilometres (93.6 mi) northeast of the nation's capital Naypyitaw.

The Shan state, with many ethnic groups, is home to several armed ethnic groups. While the military government has signed ceasefire agreements with most groups, vast areas of the state, especially those east of the Salween River, remain outside the central government's control, and in recent years have come under heavy ethnic-Han Chinese economic and political influence. Other areas are under the control of military groups such as the Shan State Army.

The Shan people (Shan: တႆး, pronounced [taj˥], or Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး, pronounced [ʃáɰ̃ lùmjó]), also known as the Tai Long (တႆးလူင်, [taj˥.loŋ˨˦]) or Tai Yai, are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in the Shan State, but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Region, Kachin State, Kayah State, Sagaing Region and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China (Dai people), Laos, Assam and Meghalaya (Ahom people), Cambodia (Kula people), Vietnam and Thailand. Though no reliable census has been taken in Burma since 1935, the Shan are estimated to number 4–6 million, with CIA Factbook giving an estimate of five million spread throughout Myanmar which is about 10% of the overall Burmese population.

'Shan' is a generic term for all Tai-speaking peoples within Myanmar (Burma). The capital of Shan State is Taunggyi, the fifth-largest city in Myanmar with about 390,000 people. Other major cities include Thibaw (Hsipaw), Lashio, Kengtung and Tachileik.

Myitkyina (Burmese: မြစ်ကြီးနားမြို့, MLCTS: mrac kri: na: mrui., pronounced [mjɪʔtɕíná]; Jinghpaw: Myitkyina, [mjìtkjí̠ná]; Shan: ၸႄႈၼႃး) is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), located 1,480 kilometers (920 mi) from Yangon, and 785 kilometers (488 mi) from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and Myitkyina is on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, just 40 kilometers (25 mi) downstream from Myit-son (Burmese for confluence) of its two headstreams (the Mali and N'mai rivers). It is the northernmost river port and railway terminus in Myanmar. The city is served by Myitkyina Airport.

The Dai people (Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; Tai Lü: ᨴᩱ/ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿ; Lao: ໄຕ; Thai: ไท; Shan: တႆး, [tai˥˩]; Tai Nüa: ᥖᥭᥰ, [tai˥]; Chinese: 傣族; pinyin: Dǎizú) are several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of China's Yunnan Province. The Dai people form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. By extension, the term can apply to groups in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar when Dai is used to mean specifically Tai Yai, Lue, Chinese Shan, Tai Dam, Tai Khao or even Tai in general. For other names, see the table below.

Bhamo (Burmese: ဗန်းမော်မြို့ ban: mau mrui., also spelt Banmaw), historically known as Man Maw (Shan: မၢၼ်ႈမူဝ်ႇ; Tai Nüa: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥨᥝᥱ) or Hsinkai (Chinese: 新街; pinyin: Xīnjiē) is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, 186 km (116 mi) south of the state capital, (Myitkyina). It is on the Ayeyarwady River. It lies within 65 km (40 mi) of the border with Yunnan Province, China. The population consists primarily of residents Chinese or Shan descent, with Kachin peoples primarily occupying the hills around the town. It is the administrative center of Bhamo District and Bhamo Township.