Get to Know the Lao language and explore Laos

 

The Lao language is from the Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai) language family, and is both a first language and a lingua franca in Laos - a country with more than 80 languages, two of the most widely spoken of which (after Lao) are Hmong and Khmu.

In Lao, the Lao language is called ພາສາລາວ (Phasa Lao), and is written in the Lao script, ອັກສອນລາວ (Akson Lao). The Lao language can also simply be referred to as ລາວ (Lao). Lao is a tonal language, with most of the Lao dialects having six tones.

 

Get to Know the Lao language

The Lao language is spoken by around 30 million people - predominantly in Laos, where it is spoken by 7 million - and northeast Thailand, where it is spoken by 23 million.

This stems from the Franco-Siamese War of 1893, after which the Lao-speaking lands were politically separated through a border drawn along the Mekong River.

In northeast Thailand, the Lao language can also be known as Isan, although native speakers still refer to it as Lao.

Waterfalls and trees in Laos

Though slightly different, the scripts of Lao and Thai are closely related, and the spoken languages are mutually intelligible - forming a dialect continuum with other languages from the Southwestern Tai language group.

Whilst there is no official standard dialect in Laos, the dialect of the country’s capital, Vientiane, became the de facto standard.

Vang Vieng, Laos
Kuang Si Falls, Louangphabang, Laos

Kuang Si Falls, Louangphabang, Laos

Speakers :

30 million

Where :

Laos, Thailand (Isan), Cambodia (Stung Treng, Preah Vihear and Ratanakiri), Vietnam (Điện Biên, Lai Châu, and Sơn La)

Dialects :

Northern Lao (Louang Phrabang Lao), Northeastern Lao (Phuan), Central Lao, Southern Lao, Western Lao (Isan)

Map of Laos, where the Lao language is spoken
 

Cover Image

The scenery of southern Laos

Photo by Joule Benjarat on Unsplash

Map

Map of Laos with regions colour coded, by User:Burmesedays, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection Laos Maps, OpenStreetMap

https://wikitravel.org/shared/File:Laos_Regions_Map.png

Resources for learning the Lao language

How to Learn Vietnamese eBook

One of the great things about learning Vietnamese is that it makes learning languages like Lao easier, not only because of the close ties between Việt Nam and Laos, but also because of the amount of resources available in Vietnamese for learning Lao.

If you're interested in learning Vietnamese, How to Learn Vietnamese will guide you through the process in a fast and fun way.

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