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Isan language
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Isan (Thai: ?????????, RTGS: phasa isan, IPA: p?a?sa? i?sa?n) is the principal language of the Isan (northeastern) region of Thailand. A tonal language of the Tai language family, it is the main language of trade and communication in the Isan region, except for in cities and in media where it gives way to Thai.
The language is noted for its similarities to the Lao language spoken in the neighbouring country of Laos. This is because Isan was historically once a part of Laos (or more properly the Kingdom of Lan Xang), and also because large forced population transfers from Laos to Isan were undertaken at various points in history.
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Encyclopedia
Isan (Thai: ?????????, RTGS: phasa isan, IPA: p?a?sa? i?sa?n) is the principal language of the Isan (northeastern) region of Thailand. A tonal language of the Tai language family, it is the main language of trade and communication in the Isan region, except for in cities and in media where it gives way to Thai.
The language is noted for its similarities to the Lao language spoken in the neighbouring country of Laos. This is because Isan was historically once a part of Laos (or more properly the Kingdom of Lan Xang), and also because large forced population transfers from Laos to Isan were undertaken at various points in history. In fact, the two languages are mutually intelligible and almost identical, with differences contributed mainly by neologisms created after the two areas were no longer a single political entity and modern Thai began to contribute to the Isan vocabulary. Although Lao and Thai are themselves closely related and somewhat mutually intelligible, and Isan is often considered a regional dialect of Thai, Isan is actually more akin to the Lao language and there are fewer problems in comprehension between speakers of Isan and Lao than between speakers of Thai and Isan. The language is still sometimes occasionally referred to as Lao, either by Thais pejoratively or by older Isan people who may yet regard themselves as part of the Lao ethnic group. Isoglossic differences in Isan mirror those on the other side of the Mekong, so that a speaker from Nongkhai sounds more like a speaker from Vientiane than he would with a speaker from Ubol, who may sound more like someone from Champasak. Nonetheless, there are unique tonal patterns and vocabulary distinct from Lao. There is no official standard, although radio broadcasts and traditional centres of morlam music in Isan have had a unifying effect on the language.
Names
The language is sometimes referred to as 'Northeastern Thai' or 'Thai Lao'. Alternative Thai names include ????????, or Thai Isan (thai eesan, t?aj i?sa?n) and ????????, or 'Lao Isan' (lao eesan, la?w i?sa?n). Whereas 'Isan' is the most common English transcription, other variants such as 'Eesan', 'Eesarn', and 'Isaan' can be found.
History
The word Isan literally means "North-East", and is a Thai adaptation of a Khmer (an unrelated language) toponym of Sanskrit origin. Since the establishment of the Mekong River as the frontier between Laos and Thailand, the language of Isan been influenced increasingly by Thai (especially through the medium of television, print and radio) and has further diverged from Lao. Nevertheless, Isan and Lao remain very similar. Thai is the main source of new words, and younger people are starting to pronounce Isan words as they are written in Thai. Although formerly written in the Lao alphabet, Isan is now largely an unwritten language, and the Thai alphabet is used whenever it is written.
Despite the growing influence of the Thai language, Isan remains an essentially Lao-like language. Historical forced population transfers from Laos to Isan re-enforced the Lao features in the past. More recently, large numbers of Lao arrived as refugees after the Vietnam War and the subsequent establishment of the communist Lao People's Democratic Republic. Growing trade, Lao day-labourers, cultural affinities, and popularity of the local music form, morlam — whose artists are popular on both sides of the Mekong — have stabilised Lao features of the Isan language. It still remains the case that though monolingual speakers of Thai may have a difficult time understanding Isan, an Isan speaker will readily understand Lao (and Thai due to being bilingual). Lao speakers can understand both Isan and Thai (due to television and radio), but may not speak Thai very well.
Isan people until the 1960s were recorded as Lao speakers and Lao ethnic people. Then Thaification policies were enacted to strengthen the central government and to discourage Isan people from identifying with the communist guerrillas in Laos. Despite government policies of assimilation and integration, Isan culture and language remain connected and nearly identical to those of neighbouring Laos.
The Isan language is spoken both at home and as an unofficial lingua franca between the Isan and non-Isan ethnic groups, such as the Khmer Surin or related Tai tribes like the Tai Dam. Due to bilingualism, Thai is the main language of business in the cities and is taught to the other minority groups as well. Although absent in most media, the popularity of morlam music and the presence of local Isan radio stations gives Isan a visible presence.
Phonology
Isan shares most of its phonology with the Lao language, although code-switching and Standard Thai influences leads some features non-native to the Isan language being adopted in certain cases.
- Lack of pronounced consonant clusters
Thai word ???? song (phlaeng, p?le??) is pronounced as ??? (phaeng, p?e??) but still written as ????.
- ? (r) is pronounced as ? (l) or ? (h)
Thai words ?? car (rot) and ?? dance (ram) become ?? (lot) and ?? (lam) (rarely seen) respectively, as in informal Standard Thai.
Thai words ??? love (rak) and ???? (ron, r??n) become ??? (hak) and ???? (hon, h??n) respectively.
(words pronounced with the h are generally written out with ? but generally not when pronounced as ?)
- ?, ?, and ? (ch/t??) is pronounced as ? (s/s)
???? copy (chabap, t??a?bap) ???? elephant (chang, t??a??) and ??? meditative absorption (chan, t??a?n) become ???? (sabap, sa?bap), ???? (sang, sa??) and ??? (san, sa?n), respectively.
(ch/t??) and (sh/?) are allophones in Thai, and the (sh/?) pronunciation is becoming more common in Isan.
- ? and ? (y/j) is sometimes pronounced as ? and ? (ny, ?)
??????? girl (phuying/p?u?ji?) and ??? maternal grandmother (yai/jaj) become ??????? (phunying/p?u??i?) and ??? (nyai, ?aj).
- ? and ? (y/j) is not pronounced as (ny, ?) if etymologically related to Lao letter ?.
?? medicine (ya/ja?) and ???? (yu, ju?) to be somewhere, not (nya) and (nyu); compare Lao ?? and ???.
- consonantal ? (w/w) is sometimes pronounced as ? (v/v)
??? to turn (wen, we?n) becomes ??? (ve?n).
- retention of historical Lao pronunciations survive even with Thai spelling
?????? Mekong River (maekhong/m??k?o??) pronounced as (maekhong/m??k????), compare Lao ??????.
Orthography
The Isan language no longer functions as a written language, which is the sole domain of standard Thai. Formerly, Isan was, like Lao, written in a Mon-derived script known as Tua Tham (???????) (RTGS: tua tham, IPA: ?ua t?am). This can only be found in old Buddhist manuscripts, but also continues to be the written language of the Tai Lüe. The Lao alphabet was also used until the complete integration of the Isan region into the Thai nation-state. When Isan is written down, the Thai alphabet is used, and words are spelt etymologically to their Thai counterpart where it exists, with the minor spelling changes as mentioned in the phonology section or left in their original Thai spelling. Lyrics to morlam songs are often transcribed in this method with the substitution of letters in some of the words. Romanisation of Isan is based on Thai models, as the Thai alphabet is used to write it, but there is no one universal system, but the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) is most common. Very, very old people educated before the introduction of Thai state schools may still remember using the Lao alphabet, but they would use the archaic Lao spellings which are closer to Thai.
| Lao letter | Equivalent Thai letter(s) | Comments | IPA (Isan language) initial/final |
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| ? | ? | | g/k | | ? | ? | Also replaces obsolete Thai letter ? | k?/k | | ? | ?, ? | Also replaces obsolete Thai letter ? | k?/k | | ? | ? | | ?/? | | ? | ? | | t?/t | | ? | ?, ?, ?, ? | (t??/t) or (?/t) in Thai is pronounced as (s/t) in Lao and (s/t) or (?/t) Isan. | s or ?/t | | ? | ?, ? | (t??/t) or (?/t) in Thai is pronounced as (s/t) in Lao and (s/t) or (?/t) Isan. | s or ?/t | | ? | ?, ? | Also a semi-vowel. | ?/ | | ? | ?, ? | Sometimes used for ?. | d/t | | ? | ?, ? | | ?/t | | ? | ?, ? | The Lao letter ? looks like the Thai ligature ? and is also the same shape as the Lao numeral 7. | t?/t | | ? | ?, ? | Sometimes used for ?. | t?/t | | ? | ?, ? | Lao letterforms for ? and ? are often confused when read by Thai people. | n/n | | ? | ? | | b/p | | ? | ? | | p/p | | ? | ? | | p?/ | | ? | ? | | f/ | | ? | ?, ? | | p?/p | | ? | ? | | f/p | | ? | ? | Lao letterforms for ? and ? are often confused when read by Thai people. | m/m | | ? | ? | Sometimes used for ???. | j | | ? | ? | Pronounced as l/n in informal Thai; replaced sometimes with l/n by ? and for h/ by ?. | h/ or l/n | | ? | ? | | l/n | | ? | ? | Also a semi-vowel; pronounced only as w/ in Thai. | v/, ?/ or w/ | | ? | ? | Sometimes used before ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ? to alter tone. | h/ | | ? | ? | Used as a foundation letter for vowels; also a vowel itself. | ?/? | | ? | ? | In Isan, sometimes replaces ? pronounced as h/ . | h/ |
Tones
Isan, like most Lao dialects, has six tones. The Lao dialect of Luang Phrabang and Thai both have only five.
| Isan Tones | Long vowel, or vowel plus voiced consonant | Long vowel plus unvoiced consonant | Short vowel, or short vowel plus unvoiced consonant | Mai ek | Mai tho |
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| High consonant | rising | low falling | high | mid | low falling |
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| Mid consonant | low rising | low falling | high | mid | high falling |
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| Low consonant | high | high falling | mid | mid | high falling |
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There are a further two, relatively rare tone marks: mai tri and mai chattawa; these always indicate a high and a rising tone respectively. The letter ?, which usually is h/ , is also a silent letter used before ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ? to treat them as high class consonants. The letter ?, used as a vowel, is considered a consonant upon which vowels are built when they are pronounced without consonants. It also imparts a mid class when used as a silent letter in certain words.
Grammar
Isan words are not inflected, declined, conjugated, making Isan, like Lao and Thai, an analytic language. Special particle words function in lieu of prefixes and suffixes to mark verb tense. The majority of Isan words are monosyllabic, but compound words and numerous other very common words exist that are not. Typologically, Isan is a subject verb object (SVO) language, although the subject is often dropped. Word order is an important feature of the language.
Although in formal situations, standard Thai is often used, formality is marked in Isan by polite particles attached to the end of statements, and use of formal pronouns. Compared to Thai, Isan sounds very formal as pronouns are used with greater frequency, which occurs in formal Thai, but is more direct and simple compared to Thai. The ending particles ??? (doe, d??) or ?? (de, de?) function much like ???? (khrap, k?rap), used by males, and ?? (kha, k?a?), used by females, in Thai. (Isan speakers sometimes use the Thai particles in place of or after ??? or ??.) Negative statements often end in ??? (dok, d??k), which can also be followed by the particle ??? and its variant.
- ?????????????????? (phoen het padaek doe, p??n het pa?d??k d??) He makes fish padaek.
- ????????????? (bo pen nyang dok, b?? pe?n ?a? d??k) It does not matter.
Nouns
Nouns are not marked for plurals, gender nor are they declined for cases, and do not require an indefinite nor definite article. Plurals are often indicated with the use of classifiers, words to mark the special classes that nouns belong to. For instance, ???? (ma?, ma) 'dog' has the classifier ?? (to, ?o?) which, as its meaning 'body' implies, includes all things with legs, such as people, animals, tables and chairs. 'Three dogs' would be rendered as ???? ? ?? (ma sam to, ma? sa?m ?o?), literally 'dog three classifier'.
Isan Classifiers
| Isan | Thai | Lao | Category | | ??, k?on
| ??, k?on
| ???, k?on
| People in general, except clergy and royals. | ???, k?an
| ???, k?an
| ???, k?an
| Vehicles, also used for spoons and forks in Thai. | ???, k?u?
| ???, k?u?
| ???, k?u?
| Pairs of people, animals, socks, earrings, etc. | ????, sa?bap
| ????, t??a?bap
| ?????, sa?bap
| Papers with texts, documents, newspapers, etc. | ??, ?o?
| ???, ?ua
| ??, ?o?
| Animals, shirts, letters; also tables and chairs (but not in Lao). | ??, gok
| ???, ?on
| ???, gok
| Trees. ??? (or Lao ????) is used in all three for columns, stalks, and flowers. | ?????, nu?j
| ???, f???
| ????, nu?j
| Eggs, fruits, clouds. ?? (p?on) used for fruits in Thai. |
Verbs are easily made into nouns by adding the prefixes ???? (khwam/k?wa?m) and ??? (kan/g?an) before verbs that express abstract actions and verbs that express physical actions, respectively. Adjectives and adverbs, which can function as complete predicates, only use ????.
- ??????? (khaengma/k????ma?) to horserace (v.) nominalises into ?????????? (kan khaengma/g?an k????ma?) horseracing (n.)
- ???? (jep/t?ep) to hurt (others) (.v) nominalises into ???????? (khwam jep/k?wa?m t?ep) hurt (caused by others) (n.)
- ?? (di, di?) good nominalises into ?????? (khwam di, k?wa?m di?) goodness (n.)
Pronouns
Pronouns are often dropped in informal contexts, and are often replaced with nicknames or kinship terms, depending on the relation of the speaker to the person to whom is being spoken. Pronouns can also change depending on the register of speech, with many of the more formal pronouns borrowed from formal Thai speech registers. The more formal the language, the more likely that pronouns will not be dropped and that formal pronouns would be used. Pronouns can be pluralised by adding ??? (phuak, p?uak) in front of the pronoun, e.g., ??????? (phuak khoy/p?uak k???j) is the same as ??? (hao) or ?????? (phuak hao/p?uak haw). Age and status is important in determining usage. Younger boys and girls names are often prefixed with ??? (bak, bak) and ?? (i, i?) respectively. Older males and females use ???? (ai, ?j) and ?????? (euay, ??aj) respectively instead. People who are much older may be politely addressed as aunt, uncle, mother, father, or even grandmother or grandfather depending on their age. It should be noted that Isan age-based name prefixes are often identical to or similar to vulgar, disparaging age-based name prefixes in Central Thai and should be avoided outside of Lao/Isan speaking regions in Thailand.
| Pronoun | Thai Royal/IPA | Thai Equivalent | Meaning |
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| ???? | khoy/k???j | ??? | I/me (informal, general) | | ??????? | khanoy/k?a?n??j | ?? (m.), ????? (f.) | I/me (formal) | | ??? | hao/haw | ??? | we/us | | ???? | chao/t?aw | ??? | you (general) | | ???? | than/t?a?n | ???? | you (very formal) | | ??? | khao/k?ao | ??? | he/him/she/her (formal, general) | | ?????? | khachao/k?a?t?aw | ?????? | they | | ????? | phoen/p??n | ??? | he/him/she/her (very formal) | | ??? | man/man | ??? | it (very rude if used on a person) |
Adjectives and Adverbs
There is no general distinction between adjectives and adverbs, and words of this category serve both functions and can even modify each other. Duplication is used to indicate greater intensity. Only one word can be duplicated per phrase. Adjectives always come after the noun they modify; adverbs may come before or after the verb depending on the word. There is usually no copula to link a noun to an adjective.
- ????????? (dek num, dek num) A young child.
- ????????? ? (dek num num, dek num num) A very young child.
- ??????????????? (dek num thi vai, dek num t?i? vaj) A child who becomes young quickly.
- ??????????????? ? (dek num thi vai vai, dek num t?i? vaj vaj) A child who becomes young quickly.
Comparatives take the form "A X ???? B" (kwa, gwa?), A is more X than B. The superlative is expressed as "A X ?????? (thisut, t?i?sut), A is most X.
- ??????????????????? (dek num kwa phukae, dek num gwa? p?u?g??) The child is younger than an old person.
- ??????????????? (dek num thisut, dek num t?i?sut) The child is youngest.
Because adjectives or adverbs can be used as predicates, the particles that modify verbs are also used.
- ??????????? (dek si num, dek si? num) The child will be young.
- ????????????? (dek num laew, dek num l??w) The child was young.
Verbs
Verbs are not declined for voice, number, or tense. To indicate tenses, particles can be used, but it is also very common just to use words that indicate the time frame, such as ???????? (phung ni, p?u? ni?) today or ??????????? (meu wan ni, m?? van ni?) yesterday.
Negation: Negation is indicated by placing ?? (bo, b??) before the word being negated.
- ????????????????? (i nong kin mak len, i?n??? gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister eats tomatoes.
- ??????????????????? (bao bo kin mak len, i?n??? b?? gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister does not eat tomatoes.
Future tense: Future tense is indicated by placing the particles ?? (cha, t?a?) or ?? (si, si?) before the verb.
- ??????????????????? (i nong cha kin mak len, i?n??? t?a? gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister will eat tomatoes.
- ??????????????????? (i nong see kin mak len, i?n??? si? gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister will eat tomotoes.
Past tense: Past tense is indicated by either placing ??? (dai, daj) before the verb or ???? (laew, l??w) after the verb or even using both in tandem for emphasis. ???? is the more common one, and can be used to indicate completed actions or current actions of the immediate past. ??? is often used with negative statements and never for present action.
- ???????????????????? (i nong dai kin mak len, i?n??? daj gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister ate tomatoes.
- ????????????????????? (i nong kin mak len laew, i?n??? gin ma?k l?n l??w) Younger sister (just) ate tomatoes.
- ???????????????????????? (i nong dai kin mak len laew, i?n??? daj gin ma?k l?n l??w) Younger sister (definitely) ate tomatoes.
Present progressive: To indicate an on-going action, ????? (kamlang, gamla?) can be used before the verb or ???? (yu, ju?) after the verb. These can also be combined for emphasis. In Isan and Lao, ??? (phuam, p?uam) is often used instead of ?????.
- ?????????????????????? (i nong kamlang kin mak len, i?n??? gamla? gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister is eating tomatoes.
- ????????????????????? (i nong kin yu mak len, i?n??? gin ju? ma?k l?n) Younger sister is eating tomatoes.
- ???????????????????? (i nong phuam kin mak len, i?n??? p?uam gin ma?k l?n) Younger sister is eating tomatoes.
The verb 'to be' can be expressed in many ways. In use as a copula, it is often dropped between nouns and adjectives. Compare English She is pretty and Isan ?????? (literally lady pretty). There are two copulas used in Isan, as in Lao, one for things relating to people, ???? (pen, pe?n), and one for objects and animals, ???? (maen, m??n).
- ??????????? (Nok pen mo, Nok pe?n m??) Nok is a doctor.
- ???????????????? (an nee maen sam lo, an ni? m??n sa?m l??) This is a pedicab.
Questions and Answers
Unlike English, which indicates questions by a rising tone, or Spanish, which changes the order of the sentences to achieve the same result, Isan uses question tag words. The use of question words makes use of the question mark redundant in Isan.
General yes/no questions end in ?? (same as ??, 'no, not').
- ???????? (sabai di bo, sa?baj di? b??) Are you well?
Other question words
- ????? (changdai, t?a?daj) or ???? (nyang, ?a?) ????????? (het changdai, he?t t?a?d?j) What are you doing?
- ?? (phai, p??j) ?????????? (phai khai khai kai, p??jk??jk??jg?j) Who sells chicken eggs?
- ?????? (thamalai, t?ama?laj) Why? ????????????? (bo ma thamalai?, baj m??a? t?ama?l?j) Why did he go to the city?
- ?? (sai, saj) Where? ????????????? (hong nam yu sai, h???nam ju? s?j) Where is the toilet?
- ????? (andai, andaj) Which? ??????????????? (chao kin andai, t?aw gin and?j) Which one did you eat?
- ??? (chak, t?ak) How many? ????????? (ayu chak pi, a?ju t?ak pi?) How old are you?
- ????? (thodai, t???d?j) How much? ?????????????? (khwai ?ua bot thodai, k?w?j bot t???d?j) How much is that buffalo over there?
- ?????? (maen bo, m??n b??) Right?, Is it? ????????????? (Tao vai maen bo, ?aw vai m??n b??) Turtles are fast, right?
- ?????? (laew bo, l??w b??) Yet?, Already? ????????????????? (khao kap laew bo, k?aw gap ba?n l??w b??) Did he go home already?
- ?????? (loe bo, l?? b??) Or not? ????????????????? (chao hio khao loe bo, t?aw hiw k?aw l?? b??) Are you hungry or not?
- ???? (loe, l??) Eh? (informal) ??????????? (chao mak leu, t?aw mak l??) Like it, eh?
Answers to questions usually just involve repetition of the verb and any nouns for clarification.
- Question: ???????? (sabai di bo, sa?baj di? b??) Are you well?
- Response: ?????? (sabai di, sa?baj di?) I am well or ?????? (bo sabai, b?? sa?baj) I am not well.
Words asked with a negative can be confusing and should be avoided. The response, even though without the negation, will still be negated due to the nature of the question.
- Question: ???????? (bo sabai bo, b?? sa?baj b??) Are you not well?
- Response: ???? (sabai, sa?baj) I am not well or ?????? (bo sabai, b?? sa?baj ) I am well.
Vocabulary
Thai, Lao, and Isan share the greater part of their vocabulary and are all mutually intelligible to some degree, but Lao and Isan are clearly close if not identical and is mutually intelligible with almost no difficulty. The same cannot be said for the Thai language, as many common words are distinct but shared between Isan and Lao. As most Isan people are bilingual, and due to exposure in media and education, code-switching is a common feature, and adoption of Thai pronunciations for cognates, neologisms, and loanwords is affecting the language. Many cognate words in Lao, Thai, and Isan are from Pali, Khmer, and indigenous Mon-Khmer languages, and to a lesser extant, Chinese.
Comparing Isan, Thai, and Lao
| Isan | Thai | Lao | English | Isan | Thai | Lao | English | | ??, b??
| ???, m?j
| ???, b??
| no, not
| ?????, t???d?j
| ??????, t?awr?j
| ?????, t???d?j
| how much | ????, het
| ??, t??m
| , het
| to do, make
| ????, vaw
| ???, p?u?t
| ?????, vaw
| to speak | ?????, hian
| ?????, rian
| ???, hian
| to learn
| ????, p?un
| ????, no?n
| ????, p?un
| yonder | ???????, ma?km?j
| ?????, p?onm?j
| , ma?km?j
| fruit
| ???????, nam k???*
| ???????, nam k???
| ???????, nam g??n
| ice | ???, p?o?t
| ??????, g?np?j
| ???, p?o?t
| too much
| ?????, ?n
| ?????, ri?ak
| ?????, ?n
| to call | ????????, n??jn??
| ????????, nitn??j
| ????????, n??jn??
| a little
| ?????, h??an*
| ????, ba?n
| ?????, h??an
| house, home | ????, lut
| ??, lot
| ????, lut
| to lower
| ???????, s?j ua
| ???????, s?j gr??k
| ???????, s?j ua
| sausage | ?????, ?j ?im
| ???????, ?j sa? gri?m
| , ga? l??m
| ice cream
| ?????, paw
| ?????, plaw
| ???, la?
| plain (adj.) | ????, ?a??
| ????, d?n
| ????, ?a??
| to walk
| ?????, lu?k g??k
| ???????, lu?k k?on ?o?
| ??????, lu?k g??k
| older child | ????????, ma?k le?n
| ?????????, ma?k???atet
| ???????, ma?k le?n
| tomato
| ???????, p??? t?aw
| ?????, p??? ?a?
| ????????, p??? t?aw
| father-in-law | ????, ?j*
| ??????, p?i? t???j
| ????, ?j
| older brother
| ???, saw
| ????, yut
| ????, saw
| to stop | ???????, d??k jampa?
| ?????????, d??k lant?om
| ???????, d??k jampa?
| frangipani blossom
| ??????, ha??a?k
| ???????, m?j b??j
| ??????, ha??a?k
| rarely | ????, l?j
| ???, ma?k
| ????, l?j
| much, many
| ?????, b??
| ??, du?
| , b??
| to watch | ?????, so?k di?
| ?????, t??o?k di?
| ?????, so?k di?
| good luck
| ???, s??p
| ?????, a?r??j
| ???, s??p
| delicious | ????, muan
| ????, sa?nuk
| ???, muan
| fun
| ?????, i?li?
| ????, t?i?
| ??????, i?li?
| really | ???, mak
| ???, t????p
| ???, mak
| to like
| ???, ???*
| ???, t?a?k
| , ???
| from |
- ??????? (nam g??n) (cf. Lao ???????) is nearly obsolete in Isan, replaced by Thai ???????.
- ????? (and Lao ?????) is etymologically related to formal Thai ?????; ???? is also used in Isan and Lao.
- ?????? (p?i? s?j) (and Lao ??????) is etymologically related to Thai ?????? and also used in Isan and Lao.
- ??? (and Lao ???) also used in Isan and Lao.
The primary difference between Lao and Isan are subtle differences in tone and numerous unique phrases. Some unique Isan words and phrases include:
- ????? to be well (sambai, samb?j), a unique Isan variant of the more common ???? (sabai, sa?b?j).
- ?????? tomato (khoekhoe, k???k???) a unique Isan variant for ????????.
- ??? fruit (bak, bak) is another unique Isan variant of ???? (??????? vs. ????????, papaya).
- ??? kaffir lime (hut, hut) is a unique Isan word.
Although many words are shared between the three languages, differences can cause misunderstandings. For example, the Isan pronunciation of ????, or water buffalo, with a short vowel sounds similar to Standard Thai ???, a slang word for penis. The word ????????? (bak sio), which in Isan means friend, is used in Central Thai as a pejorative. Even Isan name prefixes, such as ?? for girls is used pejoratively in front of women's names in Central Thai. Besides pejoratives, many words in Isan sound like other words, although context helps minimise this confusion. Since most formal and academic words are shared, it is the domain of normal conversation that will exclude Thai comprehension of a conversation between an Isan person and a Lao person.
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