Isan language
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Isan (ภาษาอีสาน: phasa Isan also Isaan or Esarn) is the principal language of the Isan (northeastern) region of Thailand. A tonal language of the Tai-Kadai language family, it is the main language of trade and communication, except for in cities and in media where it gives way to Thai.

The language is noted for its similarities to the Lao language spoken in the neighbouring country of Laos. This is because Isan was historically once a part of Laos (or more properly the Kingdom of Lan Xang), and also because large forced population transfers from Laos to Isan were undertaken at various points in history. In fact, the two languages are mutually intelligible and almost identical, with differences contributed mainly by neologisms created after the two areas were no longer a single political entity and modern Thai began to contribute to the Isan vocabulary. Although Lao and Thai are themselves closely related and somewhat mutually intelligible, Isan is more akin to the Lao language and there are fewer problems in comprehension between speakers of Isan and Lao than between speakers of Thai and Isan. The language is still sometimes occasionally referred to as Lao, either by Thais pejoratively or by older Isan people who may yet regard themselves as part of the Lao ethnic group. Isoglossic differences in Isan mirror those on the other side of the Mekong, so that a speaker from Nongkhai sounds more like a speaker from Vientiane than he would with a speaker from Ubol, who may sound more like someone from Champasak.

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 Isan been influenced increasingly by Thai (especially through the medium of television, print and radio) and has further diverged from Lao. Nevertheless, Isan and Lao remain very similar. Thai is the main source of new words, and younger people are starting to pronounce Isan words as they are written in Thai. Although formerly written in the Lao alphabet, Isan is now largely an unwritten language, and the Thai alphabet is used whenever it is written.

Despite the growing influence of the Thai language, Isan remains an essentially Lao-like language. Historical forced population transfers from Laos to Isan reinforced the Lao features in the past. More recently, large numbers of Lao arrived as refugees after the Vietnam War and the subsequent establishment of the communist Lao People's Democratic Republic. Growing trade, Lao day-labourers, cultural affinities, and popularity of the local music form, morlam — whose artists are popular on both sides of the Mekong — have stabilised Lao features of the Isan language. It still remains the case that though monolingual speakers of Thai may have a difficult time understanding Isan, an Isan speaker will readily understand Lao (and Thai due to being bilingual). Lao speakers can understand both Lao and Thai (due to television and radio), but may not speak Thai very well.

Isan people until the 1960s were recorded as Lao speakers and Lao ethnic people. Then Thaification policies were enacted to strengthen the central government and to discourage Isan people from identifying with the communist guerrillas in Laos. Despite government policies of assimilation and integration, Isan culture and language remain connected and nearly identical to those of neighbouring Laos.

The Isan language is spoken both at home and as an unofficial lingua franca between the Isan and non-Isan ethnic groups, such as the Khmer Surin or related Tai tribes like the Tai Dam. Due to bilingualism, Thai is the main language of business in the cities and is taught to the other minority groups as well.

Phonology

Isan has some regular sound change correspondences with the Thai language, and when written with the Thai alphabet, letters are substituted for by appropriate Thai letters to represent the sound. However, as many Isan words are etymologically related to Thai words, and as there is no Isan alphabet, words which are similar may often still be written the Thai words they are related to are. For example, it is common to see the lyrics of Isan luk thung and morlam songs transcribed this way. Consonant clusters are not pronounced in Isan, even if written, with the first letter of the cluster being the letter pronounced. Also, certain sounds do not exist in Isan, such as /r/ and /tɕʰ/, replaced with either /l/ or /h/ in the case of /r/ and /s/ for //tɕʰ/. Sounds found in Lao and Isan which do not exist in Thai include /ɲ/ and /v/, which are repaced with /j/ and /w/ in Thai.

Thai and Lao Alphabet Correspondence

Tones

Isan uses six tones, like most Lao dialects, while Thai and the speech of Luang Prabang use five. 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.

Two letters serve an alternate purpose: ห ( haw hiip, one of two h, high class) and อ (aw ang, usually used as a silent vowel carrier for writing initial vowel sounds ^[1], because Thai vowel symbols are dependent on an initial written consonant; mid class). These are often used as silent consonants written before a low-class consonant to alter its tone rules. In such cases, ห (high class) imparts high class tone rules to the low class consonant, while อ (mid class) imparts mid class tone rules. In polysyllabic words, an initial high class consonant with an implicit vowel often imparts high class tone rules to the initial consonant of the following syllable.

Vocabulary

Isan language has some noticeable differences with the Thai language, especially for common words. Many are either lesser used variants, obsolete, or archaic in standard Thai, but many are unknown and shared mainly with Lao and other Tai dialects. In reverse, many words more commonly used in Thai are also used in Isan with less frequency.

• แม่น is used for discussing abstract items, inanimate objects, or animals. For people, เป็น is used.
• เรือน is the formal Thai word for house and is the thai variant of เฮือน; Isan speakers also use บ้าน.

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 siao, meaning young friend, is considered pejorative in Thai. There are also a few words that are etymologically similar, but due to pronunciation differences, remain incomprehensible.

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
• [1]