Lao language

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Categories: Languages of Laos | Tai-Kadai languages | Tonal languages

Lao
ພາສາລາວ phaasaa laao

Spoken in: Laos, Thailand, U.S., France, Canada, China, Australia

Total speakers: 5,225,552 (2006)

Language family: Tai-Kadai
Kam-Tai
Be-Tai
Tai-Sek
Tai
Southwestern Tai
Lao-Phutai
Lao

Official status

Official language in: Laos

Regulated by: no official regulation

Language codes

ISO 639-1: lo

ISO 639-2: lao

ISO 639-3: lao

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Lao (ພາສາລາວ phaasaa laao) also Laotian, is the official language of Laos. It is a tonal language of the Tai family, and is so closely related to the Isan language of the northeast region of Thailand that the two are often classed as one language. The writing system of Lao is an abugida (a writing system composed of signs denoting consonants with an inherent following vowel) and is closely related to the writing system used in Thai.

The Lao language can be divided into five main dialects :

Vientiane Lao
Northern Lao (Luang Prabang)
North-Eastern Lao (Xieng Khouang)
Central Lao (Khammouan)
Southern Lao (Champasak)

Vientiane Lao, the predominant dialect due to its use in the capital (whence it gets its name), is widely understood throughout the country, and all the dialects are for the most part mutually intelligible.

1 Tones
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

Tones

Vientiane Lao has six tones: Low, Mid, High, Rising, High Rising and Low Falling. Pitch levels vary from the speaker's ethnicity and geographic location. Luang Prabang residents use five tones: Mid Falling Rising, Low Rising, Mid, High Falling and Mid Rising.