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Lao Language

Lao
ພາສາລາວ phasa lao
Lao in the Alice3 font.png
Pronunciation pʰáːsǎː láːw
Native to Laos, northeastern Thailand
Native speakers
20–25 million (2004)
(3 million in Laos, 2005 census)
Tai–Kadai
Lao in Laos
Thai in Thailand
Thai and Lao Braille
Official status
Official language in
 Laos
Language codes
ISO 639-1 lo
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3 Either:
lao – Laotian Lao
tts – Isan (Thailand Lao)
Glottolog laoo1244  (Lao)
nort2741  (Northeastern Thai)
Linguasphere 47-AAA-c
Idioma lao.png
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Lao, also referred to as Laotian, (ລາວ 'lao' or ພາສາລາວ 'lao language') is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language.

The Lao language serves as an important lingua franca as the country of Laos consists of multiple ethnic groups, whose population speaks about 86 different languages.

Spoken Lao is mutually intelligible with the Thai language (the two languages are written with slightly different scripts but are linguistically similar).

Lao, like many languages in Laos, is written in the Lao script, an abugida. Although there is no official standard, the Vientiane dialect has become the de facto standard.

The Lao language is descended from Tai languages spoken in what is now southern China and northern Vietnam in areas believed to be the homeland of the language family and where several related languages are still spoken by scattered minority groups.

Due to Han Chinese expansion, Mongol invasion pressures, and a search for lands more suitable for wet-rice cultivation, the Tai peoples moved south towards India, down the Mekong River valley, and as far south as the Malay Peninsula. Oral history of the migrations is preserved in the legends of Khun Borom. Tai speakers in what is now Laos pushed out or absorbed earlier groups of Mon–Khmer and Austronesian languages.


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