How to Write 傣 (dǎi) — Meaning “Dai ethnic group”

Imagine a person (亻) from Thailand (泰, similar to "Thai") holding hands with a Dai villager. The character 傣 sounds like "dǎi" and is used mainly for the Dai people, who live in Yunnan near Thailand.

Write the left radical 亻 (two strokes: left-falling and vertical) first, then the right part 泰. In 泰, note the top is 丰 with a horizontal stroke through the middle, and the bottom is 水 (water) but written with four strokes, not five. The overall shape is balanced; keep the right part slightly wider than the left.

傣 (dǎi) always refers to the Dai ethnic group, while 俯 (fǔ) means "to bow" or "to lower" and 俱 (jù) means "all" or "together." Visually, 傣 has the phonetic 泰 on the right, whereas 俯 has 府 (government building) and 俱 has 具 (tool). Their meanings are completely unrelated.

傣 is almost exclusively used in the names of the Dai ethnic group, as in 傣族 (Dǎi zú) and related terms like 傣味 (Dǎi wèi, Dai cuisine). It appears in cultural contexts such as travel, food, and festivals of the Dai people in Yunnan Province, especially the Water Splashing Festival.

Common words containing 傣 include: 傣族 (dǎi zú) — Dai ethnic group; 傣味 (dǎi wèi) — Dai style flavor; Dai cuisine; 傣家 (dǎi jiā) — Dai family; Dai people.