|ພາສາລາວ phasa lao|
|Native to||Laos, northeastern Thailand|
|20–25 million (2004)
(3 million in Laos, 2005 census)
|Lao in Laos
Thai in Thailand
Thai and Lao Braille
Official language in
lao – Laotian Lao
tts – Isan (Thailand Lao)
Lao, also referred to as Laotian, (ລາວ 'lao' or ພາສາລາວ 'lao language') is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language.
- 1 History
- 2 Dialects
- 3 Vocabulary
- 4 Phonology
- 5 Morphology
- 6 Script
- 7 See also
- 8 References
- 9 Further reading
- 10 External links
The Lao language is descended from Tai languages spoken in what is now southern China and northern Vietnam in areas believed to be the homeland of the language family and where several related languages are still spoken by scattered minority groups.
Due to Han Chinese expansion, Mongol invasion pressures, and a search for lands more suitable for wet-rice cultivation, the Tai peoples moved south towards India, down the Mekong River valley, and as far south as the Malay Peninsula. Oral history of the migrations is preserved in the legends of Khun Borom. Tai speakers in what is now Laos pushed out or absorbed earlier groups of Mon–Khmer and Austronesian languages.
|Dialect||Lao Provinces||Thai Provinces|
|Vientiane Lao||Vientiane, Vientiane Capital Prefecture, Bolikhamsai||Nong Bua Lamphu, Chaiyaphum, and parts of Nong Khai, Yasothorn, Khon Kaen, and Udon Thani.|
|Northern Lao||Luang Prabang, Sainyabuli, Oudomxay.||Loei and parts of Udon Thani and Khon Kaen.|
|Northeastern Lao/Tai Phuan||Xiangkhoang and Houaphanh.||Parts of Sakon Nakhon, Udon Thani.|
|Central Lao||Savannakhet and Khammouan.||Mukdahan and parts of Sakon Nakhon and Nong Khai.|
|Southern Lao||Champasak, Salavan, Sekong, and Attapeu.||Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen, and parts of Yasothorn, Buriram, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Nakhon Ratchasima|
|Western Lao||||Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, and Roi Et.|
In addition to the dialects of Lao, numerous closely related languages (or dialects, depending on the classification) are spoken throughout the Lao-speaking realm in Laos and Thailand, such as the Nyaw, Phu Thai, Saek, Lao Wiang, Tai Dam, Tai Daeng, etc. These Tai peoples are classified by the Lao government as Lao Loum (ລາວລຸ່ມ) or lowland Lao. Lao and Thai are also very similar and share most of their basic vocabulary, but differences in many basic words limit inter-comprehension.
The Lao language consists primarily of native Lao words. Because of Buddhism, however, Pali has contributed numerous terms, especially relating to religion and in conversation with members of the Sangha. Due to their geographic proximity, Lao has influenced the Khmer and Thai languages and vice versa.
Formal writing has a larger amount of foreign loanwords, especially Pali and Sanskrit terms, much as Latin and Greek have influenced European languages. For politeness, pronouns (and more formal pronouns) are used, plus ending statements with ແດ່ (dè [dɛː]) or ເດີ້ (deu [dɤ̂ː]). Negative statements are made more polite by ending with ດອກ (dok [dɔ̭ːk]). The following are formal register examples.
- ຂອບໃຈຫຼາຍໆເດີ້ (khop chai lai lai deu, [kʰɔ᷆ːp t͡ɕàj lǎːj lǎːj dɤ̂ː]) Thank you very much.
- ຂ້ານ້ອຍເຮັດບໍ່ໄດ້ດອກ (khanoi hét bo dai dok, [kʰa᷆ːnɔ̂ːj hēt bɔ̄ː dâj dɔ᷆ːk]) I cannot.
- ໄຂປະຕູໃຫ້ແດ່ (khai pa too hai dè, [kʰǎj pa.tùː ha᷆j dɛ̄ː ]) Open the door, please.
- * The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel.
is back unrounded
is back rounded
Lao has six lexical tones.
There are six phonemic tones in unchecked syllables, that is, in syllables ending in a vowel or other sonorant sound ([m], [n], [ŋ], [w], and [j]).
|Name||Diacritic on ⟨e⟩||Tone letter||Example||Gloss|
|Rising||ě||˨˦ or ˨˩˦||/kʰǎː/
|galangal, value resp.|
Lao syllables are of the form (C)V(C), i.e. they consist of a vowel in the syllable nucleus, optionally preceded by a single consonant in the syllable onset and optionally followed by single consonant in the syllable coda. The o