Isan (also Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. It is a tonal language of the Tai family, and is closely related to Lao, but has also been much influenced by Thai; the three are substantially mutually comprehensible. Phonology and the rules for determining tones vary in each dialect, but are generally similar to Lao. The Khorat dialect blends features of Isan and Thai. The vocabulary is largely the same as in Lao, except for the use of Thai loan words and neologisms. It was previously written using the Lao script, with Tua Tham used for religious inscriptions. Since the introduction of Thai language schooling in the 1920s it has been written in the Thai script. For other articles with similar names, see Isan (disambiguation). ... The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... The Tai-Kadai languages are a language family found in Southeast Asia and southern China. ... The Tai languages are a subgroup of the Tai Kadai language family. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Because of technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For other articles with similar names, see Isan (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Tone (linguistics). ... The Tai languages are a subgroup of the Tai Kadai language family. ... The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... A vocabulary is a set of words known to a person or other entity, or that are part of a specific language. ... A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. ... Tua Tham or Akson Tham or Tua Meuang is a Mon-derived script used in Isan and Northern Thailand, as well as Laos. ... The 1920s was a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... The Thai alphabet (ตัวอักษรไทย) is used to write the Thai language (ภาษาไทย) and other minority languages in Thailand. ...

History

The word Isan literally means "North-East", and is a Thai adaptation of a Khmer (an unrelated language) toponym of Sanskrit origin. Since the establishment of the Mekong River as the frontier between Laos and Thailand, the language of the Isan region been influenced increasingly by Thai (especially through the medium of television) and has further diverged from Lao, but the three languages are still substantially mutually comprehensible. The Sanskrit language ( , ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. ...

Isan is generally not used as a language of written communication, but when it is written, the Thai script is used (rather than the Lao), creating another distinction between the two languages. Continued migration of Lao into Thailand (especially during the period of the Indochina wars and following the establishment of a communist regime in Laos in 1975) has tended to preserve Lao features of the language against Thai assimilation. The popularity of a local music form, morlam, has also re-inforced Lao-like features, as artists from both sides of the Mekong, the main division between the Isan region and Laos, are popular in both areas. The Indochina Wars refers to wars for independence that erupted in the wake of World War II, fought in Southeast Asia from 1947 until 1979, between nationalist Vietnamese against French, American, and Chinese forces. ... A khene player in Isan. ... View of the Mekong before sunset The Mekong is one of the worlds major rivers. ...

Phonology

Isan has no r sound; where this sound occurs in Thai, it is replaced in Isan by an l or a h. When writing Isan in the Thai script, ร is normally used to represent an l, while ฮ indicates an h.

The other main differences from Thai are: the pronunciation of ช as s rather than ch; the common palatalisation of ย; and the absence of consonant clusters (where a consonant cluster occurs in Thai, the equivalent word in Isan retains only the first consonant). Look up pronunciation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ... In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ...

Tones

The following six tone pattern is typical:

There are a further two, relatively rare tone marks: mai tri (อ๊) and mai chattawa (อ๋); these always indicate a high and a rising tone respectively.

The letters ห (high class) and อ (mid class) are often used as silent letters to produce the correct tone. In polysyllabic words, an initial high class consonant with an implicit vowel renders the following syllable also high class.

Vocabulary

Isan contains many words not used (or more rarely used) in Thai. Some of the most common of these are:

• ข้อย (koi) I/me
• เจ้า (jao) you
• บ่ (baw) not
• หยัง (nyang) what
• จัก (jak) how many
• ใผ (pai) who
• ใด (dai) which
• แม่น (maen) be
• เฮ็ด (het) do
• เว้า (waw) speak
• เบิ่ง (beung) watch
• ซิ (si) will
• อีหลี (ee-lee) really
• ไวๆ (wai wai) fast

Some differences can cause misunderstandings: the Isan word for buffalo (kuay, i.e. short vowel rather than long) is pronounced like the vulgar Thai word for penis, while บักเสี่ยว bak seew, meaning 'young friend', is considered pejorative in Thai.

References

• Basic Isaan phrases (Some basic Isaan phrases with sound files).
• Ethnologue
• Mollerup, Asger. Thai- Isan- Lao Phrasebook. White Lotus, Bangkok, 2001. ISBN 974-7534-88-6