ชนกลุ่มน้อย
minority group
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 minority group、ethnic minority、minority
This word refers to a minority group within a society, especially one distinguished by ethnicity, culture, language, religion, or social position. It is common in news, policy, and social issues contexts.
minority group、ethnic minority、minority
A group of people who are not part of the dominant or majority group in a country or society, often in terms of ethnicity, culture, language, or religion.
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สิทธิของชนกลุ่มน้อย sìtthí khɔ̌ɔŋ chon klùm nɔ́ɔy the rights of minority groups สิทธิของชนกลุ่มน้อย details
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ภาษาและวัฒนธรรมของชนกลุ่มน้อย phaasǎa lɛ́ wátthanátham khɔ̌ɔŋ chon klùm nɔ́ɔy the language and culture of ethnic minorities ภาษาและวัฒนธรรมของชนกลุ่มน้อย details
Learning notes
Explanation
ชนกลุ่มน้อย is built from ชน “people,” กลุ่ม “group,” and น้อย “few/small.” In actual use, it does not simply mean any small group of people. It refers to a socially recognized minority within a larger society, often in ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural, or political contexts. The tone is fairly formal and explanatory. Common classifiers include กลุ่ม for groups, พวก for people, and เผ่า when referring to a tribe or ethnic group.
Usage
It is often used in news, politics, human rights, education, history, and social issues, especially when discussing minority rights, cultural protection, discrimination, language education, or nationality issues.
Caution
Do not use this for an ordinary small group of friends or people; คนกลุ่มเล็ก ๆ is more natural for that. When a specific ethnic name or preferred self-designation is known, it may be more respectful to use that instead.
Differences from similar words
1 minority group synonyms
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กลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ means an ethnic group and does not itself imply minority status. ชนกลุ่มน้อย specifically emphasizes being a minority within a society.