Countries
Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia
  
Laos
  
National Language
Somalia
  
Laos, Northeastern Thailand
  
Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Speaking Continents
Africa, Middle East
  
Asia
  
Minority Language
Yemen
  
Not spoken in any of the countries
  
Regulated By
National Languages Committee, Regional Somali Language Academy
  
Not Available
  
Interesting Facts
- Somali language is one of the best documented Afro-Asiatic languages.
- One of the most widely spoken of the Cushitic languages is the Somali Language.
  
- 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
Afar and Oromo Language
  
Thai Language
  
Derived From
Arabic Language
  
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages
  
Alphabets in
Somali-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200
  
Phonology
  
  
Scripts
Arabic, Latin, Osmanya
  
Thai and Lao Braille
  
Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal
  
Hard to Learn
  
  
Hello
Hello
  
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)
  
Thank You
Waad ku mahadsan tahay
  
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)
  
How Are You?
Sidee tahay ?
  
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)
  
Good Night
Habeenka Good
  
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)
  
Good Evening
Evening Good
  
ສະບາຍດີຕອນແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)
  
Good Afternoon
galab wanaagsan
  
ສະບາຍດີຕອນສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)
  
Good Morning
Subax wanaagsan
  
ສະບາຍດີຕອນເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)
  
Please
Fadlan
  
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)
  
Sorry
sorry
  
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)
  
Bye
caraysiiyo
  
Sôhk dii der
  
I Love You
Waan ku jeclahay
  
ຂ້ອຍຮັກເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)
  
Excuse Me
iga raali ahow
  
ຂໍໂທດ (kho othd)
  
Dialect 1
Northern Somali
  
Vientiane Lao
  
Where They Speak
Gabon, Standard Somali
  
Laos
  
Dialect 2
Benaadir
  
Northern Lao
  
Where They Speak
Georgia, The capital of Mogadishu
  
Laos
  
Dialect 3
Af-Ashraaf
  
Central Lao
  
Where They Speak
Standard Somali
  
Laos
  
How Many People Speak?
13.00 million
  
99+
25.00 million
  
40
Speaking Population
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Native Speakers
8.00 million
  
99+
25.00 million
  
32
Native Name
af Soomaali
  
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)
  
Alternative Names
Af-Maxaad Tiri, Af-Soomaali, Common Somali, Soomaaliga
  
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
somali
  
lao
  
German Name
Somali
  
Laotisch
  
Pronunciation
Not Available
  
pʰáːsǎː láːw
  
Ethnicity
Somalis
  
Not Available
  
Origin
19th century
  
1283 CE
  
Language Family
Afro-Asiatic Family
  
Tai-Kadai Family
  
Subgroup
Cushitic
  
Tai
  
Branch
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Language Forms
  
  
Early Forms
No early forms
  
No Early forms
  
Standard Forms
Somali
  
Lao
  
Language Position
Not Available
  
Signed Forms
Somali Sign Language
  
Not Available
  
Scope
Individual
  
Individual
  
ISO 639 1
so
  
lo
  
ISO 639 2
  
  
ISO 639 2/T
som
  
lao
  
ISO 639 2/B
som
  
lao
  
ISO 639 3
som
  
lao
  
ISO 639 6
Not Available
  
Not Available
  
Glottocode
soma1255
  
laoo1244
  
Linguasphere
No data available
  
No data available
  
Types of Language
  
  
Language Type
Living
  
Living
  
Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb
  
Subject-Verb-Object
  
Language Morphological Typology
Not Available
  
Isolating
  
Somali 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 Somali and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Somali and Lao language. Somali word for "Hello" is Hello or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Somali Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.
Somali vs Lao Difficulty
The Somali vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Somali 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 Somali and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Somali and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Somali is 52 weeks while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.