Language Culture_of_Laos

there on 90 distinct native languages spoken different ethnic populations of laos. lao, official language of laos, monosyllabic tone based language tai-kadai family spoken in vientiane. there 19 million lao speakers in thailand , 3 million in laos, reflection of geopolitical history. lao can further divided according regional dialects including vientiane, northern, northeastern, central , southern. northern dialects spoken in sainyabuli, bokeo, phongsali, luang nam tha, udomxai, , luang prabang. northeastern lao spoken in xiang khoang , houa phan. central lao found in khammuan , bolikhamsai. southern dialect used in champasak, salavan, savannakhet, attapeu, , sekong.

as part of tai-kadai language family spoken thai similar lao, distinctions. lao has 6 tones, whereas bangkok thai has five, standard lexicon, grammar, usage , pronunciations different. 2 languages not mutually intelligible, although lao speakers tend have easier time understanding thai because of prevalence of thai radio , media in , around laos.

other major language families include austro-asiatic languages spoken mon-khmer (lao theung) peoples, hmong-mien , burmo-tibetan (lao sung). chinese , vietnamese spoken within respective ethnic communities.

among western languages french commonly understood among older (post-colonial) generation, , still used in limited application academic , official correspondence. english being adopted language of business , tourism, , supplanting french among younger generations unofficial second language.