 The peak frequency of Haplogroup O-M119 is found among the aborigines of Taiwan, precisely the region from which linguists have hypothesized that the Austronesian language family originated.A slightly weaker correlation is observed between Haplogroup O-M119 and the Han Chinese populations of southern China, as well as between this haplogroup and the Tai–Kadai-speaking populations of southern China and Southeast Asia.The distribution of Tai–Kadai languages in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia outside of China has long been believed, for reasons of traditional linguistic geography, to reflect a recent invasion of Southeast Asia by Tai–Kadai-speaking populations originating from southeastern China, and the somewhat elevated frequency of Haplogroup O-M119 among the Tai–Kadai populations, coupled with a high frequency of Haplogroup O-M95, which is a genetic characteristic of the Austroasiatic-speaking peoples of Southeast Asia, suggests that the genetic signature of the Tai–Kadai peoples' affinity with populations of southeastern China has been weakened due to extensive assimilation of the earlier Austroasiatic residents of the lands which the Tai–Kadai peoples invaded.