Lao

Introduction

The origins of Tai-speaking people can be traced back to southern China and bordering areas of northern Vietnam some 2,000 years ago. It is believed that these people moved into the central Mekong valley some time in the 12th century AD. This area was dominated by speakers of Austroasiatic languages, particularly Khmer. Lao script dates back to the 16th century AD.

Lao (also known as Laotian) is a Tai-Kadai language spoken by approximately 3 million people in Laos. It is closely Laos related to Thai, and speakers of Lao are able to understand spoken Thai to which they have a great deal of exposure. On the other hand, speakers of Thai are unable to understand Lao for lack of exposure to it. Lao is the official language of Laos. It is also spoken in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Thailand, and USA. Population total of all countries is estimated at 3,188,577 (Ethnologue).

Click here on the Modern Language Association Interactive Language Map to find out where Lao is spoken in the United States.

Laos has no established standardized form of a national language. There are five regional varieties:

Vientiane
Northern
North-Eastern
Central
Southern

Vientiane Lao, the dialect spoken in the capital of Laos, is widely understood throughout the country. In fact, written Lao is based on the dialect of Vientiane.

Structure

Sound System

Vowels
Lao vowels can be long or short.
Click here to listen to the pronunciation of Lao vowels.

Consonants
There are three classes of consonants in Lao. The class of a consonant determines the tone of a syllable.
Click here to listen to the pronunciation of Lao consonants.

Syllable structure
All consonants can be used at the beginning of syllables but only some can be used in syllable-final position.

Tones
Lao is a tonal language. The tone of a syllable is determined by a combination of the class of consonant, the type of syllable (open or closed), and the length of the vowel . Vientiane Lao has five tones.
Click here for detailed information about and some practice in Lao tones.

Grammar

Lao is an analytic language which means that grammatical functions are expressed by word order and by particles that follow nouns and verbs rather than by inflections, as is the case in Indo-European languages. Particles function as subject markers, equivalents of prepositions, and classifiers, among other uses.

Vocabulary

Laos Woman

Lao spoken in Laos has been influenced by French, while Lao spoken in Northeastern Thailand has been influenced by Thai and English.

Writing

Lao script dates back to the 16th century BC. It descended from the Brahmi script by way of Old Khmer. Part of the complexity of Lao script is due to the large number of consonant symbols, with 27 symbols used to represent 20 unique consonant sounds. Before the spelling reforms of 1960, the script was even more complex.

As in the case of most Indic-derived scripts, the alphabet of Modern Lao is syllabic which means that Lao consonants all have an inherent vowel. The inherent vowel can be replaced by other vowels through the use of vowel diacritics that can appear next to, above, or below a consonant. At the beginning of syllables, vowels represent a glottal stop.
Tone marks always appear above the consonant.
Words in Lao are not separated by spaces. Spaces are used to separate clauses and sentences.
Lao has its own set of symbols for numbers 0 to 9.
There are special symbols for repetition, silent letters, and abbreviations.

There is no official Latin transliteration system for Lao. In Laos, French-based systems are used with considerable variation in spelling. In Thailand, the Royal Thai General Transcription system is used.

Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lao.

What strikes you most about the appearance of the letters?
What general impression about the language do you get from looking at the transliteration?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lao

Transliteration
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Lao Transliteration

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Resources

Lao Language Learning Resources
Lao Language and Culture Learning Resources from SEAsite of Northern Illinois University
Lao connection
Less Commonly Taught Languages Course Offerings
UCLA Language Materials Project
Yamada Language Guides