▁language . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁Patrick ▁John stone ▁and ▁Jason ▁Mand ry k ▁estimated ▁ 3 . 2 ▁million ▁Sh an ▁speak ers ▁in ▁My an mar ; ▁the ▁Mah id ol ▁University ▁Institute ▁for ▁Language ▁and ▁Culture ▁gave ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁Sh an ▁speak ers ▁in ▁Th ailand ▁as ▁ 9 5 , 0 0 0 ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 6 . ▁Many ▁Sh an ▁speak ▁local ▁dialect s ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁the ▁language ▁of ▁their ▁trad ing ▁partners . ▁Due ▁to ▁the ▁civil ▁war ▁in ▁Bur ma , ▁few ▁Sh an ▁today ▁can ▁read ▁or ▁write ▁in ▁Sh an ▁script , ▁which ▁was ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁Bur m ese ▁alphabet . ▁ ▁Names ▁ ▁The ▁Sh an ▁language ▁has ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁names ▁in ▁different ▁Tai ▁languages ▁and ▁Bur m ese . ▁▁ ▁In ▁Sh an , ▁the ▁language ▁is ▁commonly ▁called ▁kwam ▁t ai ▁( ▁, ▁literally ▁" T ai ▁language "). ▁ ▁In ▁Bur m ese , ▁it ▁is ▁called ▁sh an : ▁b has a ▁( , ▁), ▁wh ence ▁the ▁English ▁word ▁" Sh an ". ▁The ▁term ▁" Sh an ," ▁which ▁was ▁formerly ▁sp elt ▁ ▁( hs y am :) ▁in ▁Bur m ese , ▁is ▁an ▁ex onym ▁believed ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁Bur m ese ▁derivative ▁of ▁" S iam " ▁( an ▁old ▁term ▁for ▁Th ailand ). ▁ ▁In ▁Th ai ▁and ▁Southern ▁Th ai , ▁it ▁is ▁called ▁ph asa ▁th ai ▁y ai ▁( ภ