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Lao vs Thai


Lao
Lao
Thai vs Lao


Countries

Countries
Laos  
Thailand  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

National Language
Laos, Northeastern Thailand  
Thailand  

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

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Burma, Cambodia, Laos  

Regulated By
Not Available  
Royal Society of Thailand (ราชบัณฑิตยสภา)  

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
  
  • Thai is tonal language and also it is very repetitive and exaggerative language.
  • You should learn thai language with native speakers and not with books or recorders, since speaking and writing in thai are not the same.
  

Similar To
Thai Language  
Lao Language  

Derived From
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages  
Khmer Language  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
53  
32
44  
24

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
28  
20
32  
21

How Many Consonants
27  
17
44  
33

Scripts
Thai and Lao Braille  
Thai  

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

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
6  
5
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
11
44 weeks  
11

Greetings

Hello
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)  
สวัสดี (S̄wạs̄dī)  

Thank You
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)  
ขอบคุณ (K̄hxbkhuṇ)  

How Are You?
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)  
คุณเป็นอย่างไร? (Khuṇ pĕn xỳāngrị?)  

Good Night
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)  
นอนหลับฝันดี (Nxn h̄lạb f̄ạn dī)  

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

Good Afternoon
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)  
สวัสดีตอนบ่าย (S̄wạs̄dī txn b̀āy)  

Good Morning
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)  
อรุณสวัสดิ์ (Xruṇ s̄wạs̄di̒)  

Please
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)  
โปรด (Pord)  

Sorry
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)  
ขอโทษ (K̄hxthos̄ʹ)  

Bye
Sôhk dii der  
ลาก่อน (Lā k̀xn)  

I Love You
ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)  
ผมรักคุณ (P̄hm rạk khuṇ)  

Excuse Me
ຂໍ​ໂທດ (kho othd)  
ขอโทษ (K̄hxthos̄ʹ)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Vientiane Lao  
Isan  

Where They Speak
Laos  
Isan  

How Many People Speak
Not Available  
20,000,000.00  
10

Dialect 2
Northern Lao  
Northern Thai  

Where They Speak
Laos  
Northern Thailand  

How Many People Speak
Not Available  
6,000,000.00  
13

Dialect 3
Central Lao  
Southern Thai  

Where They Speak
Laos  
Kedah, Kelantan, Southern Thailand, Tanintharyi  

How Many People Speak
Not Available  
4,500,000.00  
8

Total No. Of Dialects
6  
6
9  
9

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
25.00 million  
40
60.00 million  
27

Speaking Population
Not Available  
0.85 %  
23

Native Speakers
25.00 million  
32
20.00 million  
37

Second Language Speakers
Not Available  
40.00 million  
15

Native Name
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)  
ภาษาไทย  

Alternative Names
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao  
Siamese, Standard Thai, Thaiklang  

French Name
lao  
thaï  

German Name
Laotisch  
Thailändisch  

Pronunciation
pʰáːsǎː láːw  
[pʰāːsǎː tʰāj]  

Ethnicity
Not Available  
Central Thai and Thai Chinese  

History

Origin
1283 CE  
1283 CE  

Language Family
Tai-Kadai Family  
Tai-Kadai Family  

Subgroup
Tai  
Tai  

Branch
Not Available  
Not Available  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No Early forms  
Old Thai  

Standard Forms
Lao  
Thai  

Language Position
Not Available  
47  
34

Signed Forms
Not Available  
Thai Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
lo  
th  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
lao  
tha  

ISO 639 2/B
lao  
tha  

ISO 639 3
lao  
tha  

ISO 639 6
Not Available  
Not Available  

Glottocode
laoo1244  
thai1261  

Linguasphere
No data available  
47-AAA-b  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

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

Language Morphological Typology
Isolating  
Analytic, Isolating  

Countries >>
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Lao and Thai Language History

Comparison of Lao vs Thai language history gives us differences between origin of Lao and Thai language. History of Lao language states that this language originated in 1283 CE whereas history of Thai 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 Lao and Thai Language History.

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Lao and Thai 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 Lao and Thai greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Lao and Thai language. Lao word for "Hello" is ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i) or Thai word for "Thank You" is ขอบคุณ (K̄hxbkhuṇ). Find more of such common Lao Greetings and Thai Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Lao vs Thai Difficulty

The Lao vs Thai difficulty level basically depends on the number of Lao Alphabets and Thai 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 Lao and Thai are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Lao and Thai, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Lao is 44 weeks while to learn Thai time required is 44 weeks.

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