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 of:	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. Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Tai-Kadai languages are a language family found in Southeast Asia and southern China. ... An Introduction to the Kam-Tai (Zhuang-Dong) Group of Languages in China The term Zhuang-Dong group of languages refers to a group of ethnic minority languages which have a genetic linguistic relationship and a common historical origin. ... 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 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is an international standard for language codes. ... Image File history File links Example. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas (writing systems) used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Tai languages are a subgroup of the Tai Kadai language family. ... Isan (also Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. ... For other articles with similar names, see Isan (disambiguation). ... The Lao alphabet is used to write the Lao language. ... An inscription of Swampy Cree using Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics, an abugida developed by Christian missionaries for Aboriginal Canadian languages An abugida, alphasyllabary, or syllabics is a writing system in which consonant signs (graphemes) are inherently associated with a following vowel. ...

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. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Royal palace museum of Luang Prabang. ... Xiangkhoang (Lao ຊຽງຂວາງ) is a province of Laos, located in the north-east of the country. ... Khammouan (Lao ຄໍາມ່ວນ) is a province of Laos, located in the south of the country. ... -1... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

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. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Royal palace museum of Luang Prabang. ...

Script

Main article: Lao script

Lao has traditionally been written in two scripts: Lao and Tham. The Lao alphabet is used mainly to write the Lao language. ... Tua Tham or Akson Tham or Tua Meuang is a Mon-derived script used in Isan and Northern Thailand, as well as Laos. ...

The Lao alphabet is based on the same script as the Thai alphabet, which is likely ancient Khmer. It is made up of 33 consonants and 28 vowels representing respectively 21 and 27 original sounds, written left to right. It is simpler and thus easier to learn than its Thai and Khmer counterparts. Lao is written phonetically using this script. The Thai alphabet (Thai: ) (àk-sŏn tai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand. ...

The Tham script is derived from the script used in Lan Na prior to the standardization of the Thai alphabet, which is itself derived from the Mon script. Tham script is employed in northeastern Thailand and Laos in religious inscriptions, and in reading older religious texts. Lanna (English One Million Thai Rice Fields, Thai ล้านนา) was a kingdom in the north of Thailand around the city of Chiang Mai. ... Look up mon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Lao is written left to right, without spaces between words.

See also

• Romanization of Lao
• Isan language
• Literature of Laos

There are several different Lao romanization systems, i. ... Isan (also Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. ... This is an introduction to some of the books written about Southeast Asia. ...

References

Lao language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Phrasebook for the Lao language from Wikitravel
• Ethnologue report
• Lao Language & Culture Site
• Omniglot: Lao script

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1058x1058, 477 KB) aa Wikipedia logo, version 1058px square, no text Wikipedia logo by Nohat (concept by Paullusmagnus); compare Wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Arabic language Talk:Anarcho-capitalism Talk:Algorithm Talk:Anno Domini Talk:The... Wikipedia (IPA: , or ( ) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. ... Wikitravel is a project to create an open content, complete, up-to-date, and reliable world-wide travel guide. ...

External links

• JUSK Lao, a javascript based Lao unicode keyboard
• Online English-Lao and Lao-English Dictionary
• Phrasebook for the Lao language from Wikitravel
• Lao Alphabet (Omniglot)
• Laoconnection.com
• Virtual Lao Keyboard