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Khmer vs Lao


Lao
Lao
Lao vs Khmer


Countries

Countries
Cambodia  
Laos  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

National Language
Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam  
Laos, Northeastern Thailand  

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Australia, France, United States of America  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Regulated By
Not Available  
Not Available  

Interesting Facts
  • Khmer is not the tonal language.
  • Khmer language has borrowed philisophical, administrative and technical vocabulary from Sanskrit and Pali.
  
  • There is no space left between words, only between phrases or sentences in Lao language.
  • The Lao alphabets has been reformed many times over the past 50 years.
  

Similar To
Lao Language  
Thai Language  

Derived From
Pali and Sanskrit Languages  
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Khmer-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
53  
32
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
20  
17
28  
20

How Many Consonants
33  
23
27  
17

Scripts
Khmer  
Thai and Lao Braille  

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
4  
3
6  
5

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
11
44 weeks  
11

Greetings

Hello
ND  
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)  

Thank You
សូមអរគុណអ្នក (saum arkoun anak)  
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)  

How Are You?
អ្នក​សុខសប្បាយ​ទេ  
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)  

Good Night
ND  
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)  

Good Evening
ND  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)  

Good Afternoon
ND  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)  

Good Morning
ND  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)  

Please
ND  
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)  

Sorry
ND  
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)  

Bye
ND  
Sôhk dii der  

I Love You
ND  
ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)  

Excuse Me
ND  
ຂໍ​ໂທດ (kho othd)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Northern Khmer  
Vientiane Lao  

Where They Speak
Australia, Cambodia, France, Thailand, United States of America  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
1,400,000.00  
26
Not Available  

Dialect 2
Khmer Krom  
Northern Lao  

Where They Speak
Vietnam  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
1,200,000.00  
24
Not Available  

Dialect 3
Western Khmer  
Central Lao  

Where They Speak
Cambodia, Thailand  
Laos  

Total No. Of Dialects
6  
6
6  
6

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
16.00 million  
99+
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
0.24 %  
99+
Not Available  

Native Speakers
13.00 million  
99+
25.00 million  
32

Native Name
ភាសាខ្មែរ (bhāsā khmɛ̄r)  
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)  

Alternative Names
Cambodian, Khmer  
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao  

French Name
khmer central  
lao  

German Name
Kambodschanisch  
Laotisch  

Pronunciation
[pʰiːəsaː kʰmaːe]  
pʰáːsǎː láːw  

Ethnicity
Khmer, Northern Khmer  
Not Available  

History

Origin
14  
1283 CE  

Language Family
Austroasiatic Family  
Tai-Kadai Family  

Subgroup
Not Available  
Tai  

Branch
Not Available  
Not Available  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Proto-Khmer  
No Early forms  

Standard Forms
Modern Khmer  
Lao  

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Not Available  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
km  
lo  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
khm  
lao  

ISO 639 2/B
khm  
lao  

ISO 639 3
khm  
lao  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
khme1253  
laoo1244  

Linguasphere
Not Available  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object  
Subject-Verb-Object  

Language Morphological Typology
Analytic, Isolating  
Isolating  

Countries >>
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Khmer and Lao Language History

Comparison of Khmer vs Lao language history gives us differences between origin of Khmer and Lao language. History of Khmer language states that this language originated in 14 whereas history of Lao language states that this language originated in 1283 CE. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Khmer and Lao Language History.

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Khmer and Lao Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Khmer and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Khmer and Lao language. Khmer word for "Hello" is ND or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Khmer Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Khmer vs Lao Difficulty

The Khmer vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Khmer Alphabets and Lao Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Khmer and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Khmer and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Khmer is 44 weeks while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.

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