The Thai language and the Lao language are classified in the same Tai-Kadai language group and have the same language structure. But the accent is different. There are some words that may have different meanings. But can be used to communicate with each other.
Thanks for sharing! I think it's important to emphasize that the Isan area speaks Lao because that area used to be part of the former Lan Xang kingdom (which consisted of modern-day Laos + northeastern Thailand), which is why the food, architecture, dress, culture, and language is nearly identical. In the Isan region, they still celebrate traditional dances and rituals from Lan Xang, and the Faculty of Fine Arts at Khon Kaen University does a great job at showcasing this!
@@freemanol I'm just an American and I gave credited to the presenter for whom did a find job with his research and presentation for free to expand one's horizon without argued based on simple technicalities in structure of framework that is not presented in formal format matters
Notice the strange comments. Maybe it's not a Thai person. Countries around Thailand Likes to come in and create problems. For example cursing Vietnamese people in Thai. Most Thai people are happy that people are interested in the Thai language.
I am from Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. I am of mixed ethnicity, including Phu Thai, Tai Nyo and Lao Luang Prabang. Living in such a culturally diverse area has given me an advantage in learning the Tai-Kadai language. There is no denying that Buddhism has had a great influence on the Thai and Lao languages, bringing Pali-Sanskrit with them. However, the Tai-Kadai speaking ethnic groups in northern Vietnam still use much of the original roots, although there may be some Vietnamese mixed in.
Almost the same, we are like brother and sister to each other, same religion, and same beliefs. But westerners always compare Thailand to Philippines which is so confusing because we are totally different.
They do that because of economic perspective. Once upon a time, both countries used to have the exact same GDP per capita. Now, even Thailand is already ahead of the Philippines in terms of economy and many other aspects. However, both countries still target the same thing: tourism. Both countries have tropical beaches.Lady Boy/ Retirement / free country etc. On the other hand, Laos is far behind Thailand snd Phillipines in every sector. People who travel to Thailand might cross over to Laos since Bangkok is the aviation hub in the region, not the other way around. They might compare the 2 country if Thailand got only Issan region which farrang wont even travel there! In fact farrang travel every regions in Thailand except the Issan.
@@lucca_leeI think you missed the point. Similar GDP, focus on tourism and etc does not determine the culture and history of Thailand. Thailand is one of the few if not the only, Asian nation to never be colonized.
I'm Laotian and yes both languages are similar. I can speak and understand both fluently. I will say though, I find that I can read in Thai better than Laos. I have some difficulty with the accent mark that changed the tone and meaning.
Nothing makes different between them and Shan also, they speak almost the same language. I'm a Chinese Shan that grew up in Thailand so, I could speak those languages very well.
Lao language is purer than Thai. Siam was well connected with the world by its maritime accessibility and has been the regional hub of immigration for centuries. Therefore, Thai culture and language is a hybrid mixture of so many different cultures and they have adopted some Khmer loan words as well.
I’m so appreciate with you…..thank for sharing your video about South East-Asian Language especially Austroasiatic Languages…l’m from East Timor🇹🇱 but right now l’m in England….🇹🇱❤️🇹🇭🇱🇦🙏🙏
Lao language is purer than Thai as the Tai Kadai language family. Siam was well connected with the world by its maritime accessibility and has been the regional hub of immigration for centuries. Therefore, Thai culture and language is a hybrid mixture of so many different cultures and they have adopted some Khmer loan words as well.
Siamese original language is Khmer+Hindi then through many centuries of integration and assimilation with northern Lao language dialects that's today's Thai language. Lao is a language that all Tais speak, and Tai and Lao share same lineage. 😮😮 In 1939, Siamese officially assumed Tai or Thai (means people) as ethnic identity; and on the hand, Laotians assumed Lao (language) as their ethnic identity. Thank you for sharing.
Lao is a language that all Tais speak ---> Please be updated. We have tons of evidence of Thai dictionary/ records that include academics words (Science, history, Law, Medicine, etc.). While Lao dictionaries before the year 2000 are only for spoken language. And you adopted academics words that Thais make an effort to translate by ourselves and never give credits to Thai and keep denying the influence of Thai media. For example, Lao dictionary in 2010 (can't remember the exact year) mentions orange = Si Mak Kiang. I wanna know if Laotians still use Si Mak Kiang nowadays or use Si Som like Thais?
An example of new English word: Innovation in Hindi (similar to Sanskrit) = Navachaar, In Thai = Nawattagram. See? If people translate new words on their, it wouldn't end up having 100% similarity.
Tai-Kadai is just a make up name. The real truth behind the word Tai doesn’t mean anything other than people or group of people. Therefore Tai can not be tribe, ethnic or race IMO.
I study Thai for about 2 years and I can read Lao without studying it. They seem similar, but it seems like Thai is a more polite language than Lao. I'm studying Lao on my own and I like that I don't have to say Kap or krap everytime I speak. Great job at analyzing the two languages!
Very good, I enjoyed that and learnt a fair bit. I didn't know the nak rong (singer) in thai was a h in Lao nak Hong, but while it's nak rong in written thai, the r often becomes an l in spoken thai so it can said as nak long. Live in Thailand long time and haven't visited Laos for decades but I do recall it being easy to communicate in Vientiane and Luang Prabang in thai as all Lao watch thai TV and listen to thai music. My wife is from isaan but sadly I can only half understand when she speaks her phu thai dialect.
Lao is basically Isan dialect for Thai people they can partially read Laotian text however. I Thai man have no problem understanding Laotian at all and can read some Laotian letters
Everyone have their own opinion about this subject. I understand Thai without even learning it from school nor Thai TV , but from my parents. They always spoke Lao to me. I grew up in the states without having the Lao - Thai community. Our languages are similar, but quite different as well depends on your dialect and region you came from.
Same here! Don’t care much for Thai TV but they just seem to think Lao language doesn’t exist. They think we copy EVERYTHING from them including their language. 😂
Lao language is purer than Thai language when it comes to Tai Kadai language family. Siam Thailand was well connected with the world by its maritime accessibility and has been the regional hub of immigration for centuries. Therefore, Thai culture and language is a hybrid mixture of so many different cultures.
Lao language is currently influenced by Thai language a lot due to receiving media from Thailand. Dramas, songs, books, and new vocabulary used in Lao language are all in Thai language.
Thank you for the comparation between those two languages in a easiest way, this is help a lots for international people who are interested in the languages, traditional and culture. However, i have a comment to the tone you have put in the app. it seems the tone is from the south of Laos and Lao-Isan. i think, it would be great if you use Lao Vientiane tone because we are using as a central tone (In education system). Importantly, when Vientiane people speak in every places of Laos, everyone will understand easily. in contrast way, if Lao language from some part of the north, or south. it would be a bit difficult to some people who doesn't know lao language.
Well done!! Enjoyable video!! Randomly came across this & watched the whole thing. I don't plan on learning these at the moment but still very interesting.
Hey dude I’m Thai and I have a question is it true that only Thai think we are brothers like. Because some said Laos doesn’t think the same way (just neighbor) instead you guys are close to Cambodia and Vietnam even more.
The map shown in 1.53 is not correct. Northern Thailand provinces are provinces beyond Phitsnulok such as Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan which are shown in your map. So a half of areas of Northern Thailand in your map is supposed to be relabelled to Central.
According to the language usage patterns in the Books of Chueng and Lititpralaw, the Thai and Lao languages had shared to same origin, before they separated into different languages around 1,000 years ago.
I love learning Thai and can't wait to learn Lao! I have more fun speaking Thai than any other language, and imo it has the most beautiful writing system. It is nice hearing Laos' name pronounced properly in this video, I must complain that many people pronounce Laos' name as "Lao" which it is not (in English)! There used to be three kingdoms of Lao people therefore the current country is named "Laos". If you're obsessed with trying to feel cultured then call it the "Lao country", not just "Lao"
Lao & Thai almost the same language because Lao & Thai look back history Lao & Thai is the same culture ancient customs and traditions that adjacent to the cultures
ໜ້າສົນໃຈຫຼາຍຂອບໃຈຫຼາຍໆ. Very interesting video. I've lived in Lao 11 and a half years now and learnt as I went. I now can understand the vast majority of Thai too but my speaking isnt great.
Sawadee ja! Fun fact: Thai/Kra Dai people are in fact not Asian (which is a geographical term not a “race”), but originally Austronesian (Filipinos, Indonesians, Taiwanese indigenous people, Imerina of Madagascar, Micronesians and Polynesians) whose homeland was in Taiwan. But for whatever reason they migrated to the mainland where due to heavily Sino Tibetan influence, they changed their whole language heavily inspired and based on Hinduism and Buddhism aka Khmer. We known this due to similar cultural practices now extinct, pottery and DNA… Southern China was never Han Chinese to begin with, but Austronesian. Even the Viet was Austronesian prior to Han Chinese conquest and colonization! Khu I have both Thai and Lao friends, and they understand each other. It’s basically Norwegian VS Swedish. Related peoples, cultures and languages.
I live in Thailand but had to travel to Lao often for work. What I noticed is that those Lao that live along the Mekhong River and are able to watch Thai TV programs listen to a lot of central dialect Thai being spoken. They may understand Thai but are hesitant to speak it as they're conscious that their pronunciation may be off. Lao people that often go to Nong Khai to trade in Thailand are more confident with their spoken central dialect Thai.
Great content, thankyou ! Just a minor correction, not all Lao citizens can speak Lao, only the Lao Leum who represent 50% of the population speak Lao..there are many other may other ethnic groups that mostly speak their own dialect. From m my personal experience when visiting villages in the North of Laos, most Khmu people can speak Lao properly but I met many Hmong that couldn't speak Lao at all..some of them took the wrong bus because of the language barrier. Conclusion, there's less than 7 million Lao speakers in Laos!
🙏 thanks you sir’s for sharing I was born in north of Thailand I have no ideas I do speaking Laos and thai I wanted I’m thai or Laos Because I live westerners. All my. Life” 🙏 thanks you’
They are the same people, it just too many kings for this people which ends up two countries. A large group of population will always have a slightly different dialects. Great video!
I would appreciate it if you made a video telling us your opinion about a common global language like Esperanto to use as an auxiliary language for global communications
So close on the Thai-Lao split. When Thailand ceded modern day Lao to the French, they only ceded the territory not the population. Much of the population moved south and west across the Mekong. Like, Thailand kept most of the people. Fast forward to today and the Thai side of the river is basically fully developed (continuous string of cities / towns / villages) while the Lao side is mostly wilderness.
Correction 3:50 both Thai and Laos script are developed from Pallava's script from southern India not Khmer's script. 11:48 both thai and lao use the same word มนุษย์ต่างดาว we don't use เอเลี่ยน normally.
The R sound is a Khmer accent or adaptation, the more original sound is the H sound, such as in Northen and northeastern Thailand, which all other Tai groups use. Lao is the more original sound whereas Thai is a mix of Lao and Khmer. . If you study the linguist Dr David K Wyatt, he traces the different Thai dialects, for instance the dialect that was spoken in Sukothai is a dialect that comes from Luangprabang where as the dialect that was spoken during Ayutthaya is a dialect that came from Xiengkhouang Northen Laos. The ayutthaya dialect slowly transformed to modern Thai language. And if you visit regions like the Shan state, Lue state(China), Northwest Vietnam, even in northern Thailand you will see they sound very familiar or indistinguishable to Lao language. Perhaps these groups spoke so similar and Thai/Siamese diverged more significantly, Ayuthaya chronicles blankly referred to all those groups as just being all Lao.
The Thai language borrows Sanskrit and Pali words. But Khmer people claim that the Thai language borrows Khmer words from them. Claimed to be the original Pali and Sanskrit language.
@@Somnaru-it1ou Pali and Sanskrit is only 15% of Thai language and most has to do with religious aspects, around 30% of Thai language comes straight from Khmer.
@@PaRaSiTaL..69.. 15%! Of Thai is Sanskrit or Pali, and is mostly for religious reasons, 30% of Thai comes straight from Khmer language, the other 55% is related to Lao or Tai language, no one borrows from Thai language, bc nothing is original to borrow from. A lot is just miss pronounced Tai/Lao words. Many are Lao/Tai words with a Khmer pronunciation.
Laos and Thailand have similar cultural and historical backgrounds, so the languages of the two countries are similar in many ways, especially spoken language. However, Thai people can understand Lao language less than the extent to which Laotians can understand Thai. This is perhaps thanks to the economic and family relationships of the two Peoples, as well as the influence of Thai media; for example, most Lao people can have access to Thai TV channels, radios, social media, etc. Since my children were born, they've been watching Thai dramas and other TV programs, so they can automatically listen and speak Thai fluently, but my children can't write in Thai, but they can read it 😀
Not to correct but to tell you a bit more. Well, E-sarn (North-Eastern) dialect are closely related to Lao language. to plan to do something วางแผนจะ... to show someone's intention to do something ตั้งใจว่าจะ..., ตั้งใจจะ..., ประสงค์ที่จะ... มนุษย์ต่างดาว is another Thai word for "an alien" = เอเลี่ยน, aliens = เอเลี่ยนส์ ข่าว = news โด่งดัง = famous, it doesn't mean "truely" or "really"
Thai and Laos is similar, some Thai like me can understand and able to speak Laos more than 90%, and mostly Northeastern of Thailand have similar language only different in some vocabulary. just like Mandarin and Cantonese.
Mandarin and cantonese are very different languages . Cant be used as analogy of Lao and Thai. Probably Teochew Hokkien Taiwanese would be a better analogy or Cantonese with Kwongsai.
Hi sir; I understand you compare two languages Thai and Lao they are partner language, can you find out do Khmer have lonely language or have partner like Thai and Lao and where does the Khmer language come from at the first time? I am very happy to learn from you, I am Khmer, but currently in u s a, please share, I would like to learn the histories around the world, but explain in English or Khmer please, waiting for your share all the time 🙏🙏🙏👍👍thank s .
Don't want to be friends with Khmer. Cambodian people claim Vietnamese food Nem Nueng and claim Lao musical instruments Even though Laos has already registered the copyright. Go perform abroad But can't play, lip sync, sound is Thai xylophone sound
Yes, I agreed with you....Thai & Lao are same culture & communications but Loa perfer to make friends with Communist Countries such Vietnam & Cambodia....it may concern tha pass history that Loa & Cambodia are based on Siam or Thai as Boss
I speak central Thai and I understand 90%+ of everything in Laos TV. That's even much more than I can understand people speaking northern Thai (Kham Mueang) or Isan (north eastern Thai) because Lao is closer to central Thai than those are.
It is more correct that Laos was once part of Thailand than that Isan was once Laos. Thailand lost Laos, Cambodia and Shan State during the colonial period to France and England.
@@ແຄ່ຜູ້ສົ່ງທາງI’m Thai. Yes, its not that Laos is once Thailand. At that time we didn’t even got the concept of a country border yet. It just pure “bigger bullies got some gift from the lesser one”. So it just another kingdom that are under Siam at that time. But they, including Lan Chang that is Laos was still operated as a Kingdom of their own. All of this got screwed up when westerner want to draw a border and we all didn’t have it yet. So Siam just drew the border to all the kingdom under Siam as a Thai. And then lose them out without thinking much because it’s not Siam Kingdom in the first place.
Laos and Thailand are just neighboring countries. Many Lao people have hatred for Thailand. Now many Thai people have changed their good feelings towards Laos to indifference.
Nahh, Laos is like the highest rank of Thai neighbor. Myanmar probably comes close. Khmer is more of a hatred than these two, but usually just an internet trolling and meme’ing.
Alien in English Thai + Lao are called the same. manout-tang-daw Not related to Khmer language It's funny, study Lao, Thai and then understand Khmer? Thai people understand Lao, read and write, but do not understand Khmer.
The word "Alien" is an English term that is legally coined to refer to a person from another country. The term "Alien", which is used to refer to humans from space or other planets, has recently been used by the United States in American films about aliens.
@@kimyeol4505 Thai and Lao people cannot understand Khmer without learning Khmer. The Thai language has some words that are borrowed from Khmer, but that doesn't make Thai people understand Khmer at all. Thai people cannot understand even a little bit of what Khmer people say without learning Khmer first.
If you're not Thai citizen it is good to be aware that most Thai don't know much or interested about Laos or Cambodia except we have border next to that countries. You can ask a Thai what are Laos food or Cambodian food peoples will have no clue. The bitter facts is that the last things a Thai person like to hear is being compared to Laos in all aspect. We are have similar mentality to Indonesians and Malaysians or even the Philippines. We feel connected to the Japanese and Hongkong people the most and we share the similarities in the love of western music, food, economics developments with Indonesians Philippines and Malaysians. We love Vietnam food and there are many Vietnamese descendants in Thailand.
Language translators use 24:02 more Thai vocabulary Until it's almost the same word Actually, they're not the same. But because Laos uses Thai media such as watching Thai television channels Listen to Thai radio Therefore, they have developed language to use almost all Thai words, such as the word saw [Hen in Thai] in Lao is Por / the word bag [Krapao, Tung in Thai] in Lao is Tai or sob / basket [Takra in Thai] in Lao is katho / dangerous curve [Kong un ta rai] in Lao is kong bon pen ta yan / walk [Dern in Thai] in Lao is yang / run [wing in Thai] in Lao is lan / speak [Pud in Thai] Lao is wow. / will [Ja in thai]Lao is si [not ja ] These are just a few examples.
I am a Thai person who is interested in history. The truth is that the Thai language is just another version of the Lao language. Compared to English, Lao language is British English, and Thai language is American English. The Lao people, who are a very large population group in the north migrated southward. The people in the south spoke Khmer and Mon. Later, the Lao language absorbed the Khmer and Mon languages. The people in the central and southern regions of Thailand adopted the Lao language. And they later called it the Thai language.
But Thai people don't understand Khmer. Why? Do you understand Khmer people when they speak? You can try asking every Thai person if you are curious. Do they understand Khmer? I really can't understand Khmer. And Thai people and Khmer people do not understand each other at all. Khmer people do not speak Thai clearly. Just like foreigners say in general. and must learn about the Thai language But Lao people speak Thai clearly within 3 seconds, like they're 100% Thai. The pronunciation of every word is clear. It's funny. Please explain to me.
