Lao language
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lao_language".

Lao (ພາສາລາວ phaasaa laao) also Laotian, is the official language of Laos. It is a tonal language of the Tai family, and is closely related to the Isan language of the northeast region of Thailand, so 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.

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.

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.

See also

• Romanization of Lao
• Isan language

Lao is also taught in Canada and Australia.

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

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