Just how similar are Thai and Lao language? - The answer will surprise you!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2023
- As a Thai person, I always wondered how similar Lao and Thai language are. I've heard they are very similar and that I'll be able to understand almost everything.
In this video, during my trip to Laos, I spoke to many people from Lao to see what amount I'd be able to understand. From my experience, I was able to understand around 80% and everyone I spoke to was able to understand Thai.
I also asked the Lao people about the similarities between Lao and Isan language.
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🎵 Song in video:
/ limujii-november - บันเทิง
Laos people say 'Sa-Bai-Dee,' which is equivalent to 'Sa-Wad-Dee' in Thai. They don't use 'Sa-Bai-Dee-Bor' for greeting. Saying 'Sa-Bai-Dee-Bor' is more like asking 'How are you?' rather than just saying 'Hello,' similar to the Thai Isan language.
If you can understand Isan language, you can also understand Laos.
I always see Lao and Thai similar but, well I don’t need is an I’m a Thai people and can translate Lao
Isaan language is actually lao language, just written in thai letters
th-cam.com/video/1gEItctVVwE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2kgr-uCYiunkHWsC
ສະບາຍດີພີ່ນ້ອງ ຂ້ອຍເວົ້າພາສາລາວໄດ້=hi bro I can speak laos
Some linguists would consider the modern-day Isan dialect as a variety of Lao, which both of them are ones of the Lao-Phuthai languages, while Standard Thai is one of the Chiang Saen languages.
Thank you for this video. I am a second generation Lao-American; my mother always spoke Lao to me, but would watch Thai lakorn dramas all the time, so I was able to pick up some Thai words along the way. It is very true that Laotian people consume a lot of Thai culture/media and thus can easily understand the Thai language, whereas a Thai person might need to study a bit to pick up on all the vocabulary differences.
th-cam.com/video/MrHyi6MQQFU/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
I'm the first generation and I don't understand anything! I'm jk. I hafta really zone in. In my defense, they were learning English when I was born here. I always had to translate in English when we were out and about or trying to buy things & now it's just easier for me to understand than it is for me to speak it. Plus, I grew up in the Midwest so it's not like there was southeast culture around or anything. About 95% of my upbringing, I was definitely speaking more English. It's not that my parents didn't have lao friends, it's just that I only saw them on occasions. Get together, events, those things. & It's only my dad's side that's in the states but also far away. Scattered out everywhere. Our vacations were only in FL. Where I was born. Where his parents & brothers were. He has like 1 sis but was in Texas & I only saw once my entire life. But only bc she was traveling through. I remember thinking she had left & I went to go watch mtv, in the middle of the night, not wearing much & acting like a dork, in the living room. & I absolutely did not know she was sleeping there, oops 🤦🏻♀️😅. Maybe some in Washington, ,,Idek. But I didn't even make it half way through & me trying to brush up on anything, while actually brushing up is like 🤨 his close must be the opposite of far bc dude what? Also, my mom loved those soaps. I think. But they were always singing in em too. I can still hear their music in my head but I think my mom liked older romantic songs. Like just drawn out annoying music :/. I remember 1 of her friends sons loved those action filled fight things. Also, me just having a baby & adoring her everything that prob just sounds weird ash to other ppl is like ugh, I remember my mom singing the most inappropriate thing to me. although I'm sure she thought she was being cute. About me being cute, idk. But that song was out there. Dis bish (for the other languages, u'll understand where I'm coming from...) she'd legitimately sing he muhn Ka thoy thoy ? He muhn ka juhn juhn. Something like that. I think I know where my extra ness comes from. Not really... I haven't spoken to her in decades. She's a complete psycho! Idkwy I felt the need to share that but every day its almost like an identity crisis out here. At least it feels like it to me. Now I'm out in the country. Yeehaw.
while im Cambodian i also got some words here especially the "maen" one is "yes" or can be referred as "true" in my language anyway it's such a nice video😁😁
"Maen" is mostly only used in the affirmative sense to mean yes, as when saying "correct" or "true" while "Doi" actually means yes.
Hi Grace, I really loved your video. I was born in Thaïland (Nongkhai) from Lao Parents but raised in France and I could perfectly understand and speak both Lao and Thaï language 🙂
Nice! Thank you
th-cam.com/video/wom_uHUGZss/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Be4aiC6NwAhwVrqO
Oh! The Lao word for 'work' is so similar to a word that we use in Vietnamese! (việc) Although Lao 'het viak' sounds like hết việc which ironically means to 'lose work'.
Another great video. Thanks so much Grace
I am somewhat amazed as a Farang who is moderately fluent in Thai and a little capable in Pasaa Nuea, I understood a very large amount of this! Really enjoy your videos!
Thank you!
Very interesting video, thanks for sharing.
Sabaidee: Hello
Sabaidee bo: How are you
VERY INTERESTING
🙏 THANK YOU
I was just in Vientiane, as a Thai speaker I was able to pick up the language in less than two weeks. Mind you, only spoken language not written.
ສະບາຍດີ Bo Great video! Cool to learn Lao after becoming better at Thai
English speaker here. It's nice to hear that there are connections to be drawn between Thai and Lao that make it easier to learn, given that you already can speak Thai. I found it the same way when I learned Spanish--as an English speaker--many years ago. (My Spanish is super rusty and unused. Don't test me. :)) The grammar is a bit quirky, but memorizing vocabulary is in many cases super easy because of similarities either directly to the words, or to some English synonym of the word.
Learning Thai now (living in Bangkok), and those 'easy to draw connections' with vocabulary words are extremely rare to non-existent from English to Thai (grrr). I'd like to learn some Lao/Isaan some time, but that's a project for a lot further down the road. Still working my way through Maanii at this point. :)
Great video! , I’m Laotian and I can speak Thai fluently, however I can not write Thai 😅
But if you can write Lao, then you could quickly learn to write Thai.
Thai and Lao languages are 95% similar, the same as you go to SamNeua province the accent and some words are different. Same if you go to the South of Thailand the accent of the people and some words are different from Thai Bangkok. This is no difference no surprise.!!
Great video
Thank you
Hey! Grace i am from South Korea. Lao language sounds fun🎉🎉🎉
Much easier than thai I tell you that
I am a English speaker that have been coming to visit Thailand for 17 years and I can speak and understand a fair amount of Thai language When i first met my Wife and we were a new couple I took her to Laos with me To the Capital Vientiane she had never been there Before. I was Very surprised She could undertsand Laos peoples language My Wife told me She could right away understand about 80% of what they say .
I'm mixed French Lao thai yes I confirm language is very similar but writing is a big challenge as my parents were lazy to learn me and train me lol, nice video !
Then don't be lazy like your parents. Learn and train yourself. lol
@handsomeman-pm9vy lol don't worry for me ฉันต่อสู้
@@financierechris9566
I am black American and I can read and write Thai, speak Spanish and now learning
Chinese. Phom cheur jai khun su dai.
ยู่ที่เชียงใหม่สองปีแล้ว มีเพื่อนอีสานมากกว่าเพื่อนไทย Most of them are from Surin. So I find myself using แซ่บหลายๆ more often in Chiang Mai. 🙏🏼
You should add LAO language as your 12th language! A Western polyglot would add Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and Romanian as it is an awesome easier way to get build the amount of languages they can speak. Love your channel Grace. I think you are amazing and soon would love you to be my teacher with helping me perfect my Thai.ขอบคถณมากๆน้องเกรซ
Thank you!
Growing up in Bangkok and I would visit my grandpararents in Nong Khai and Mukdahan, it was so normal that it never occurred to me how well I understand Isan. Looking at this video I understood everything in Lao. I guess I've always been a polyglot?
haha
Interesting video. very informative. i am a Dutchman so i speak Dutch. And i can Understand Afrikaans (language derived from Dutch spoken in South Africa) so i can understand them pretty much for at laats 90% if they speak slowly ofc and not use street language haha. is this kinda the same as Thais and Laotian language?
ย่าง & แล่น ยังมีใช้ในภาษาไทยภาคอื่นตามปกติครับ อีสานหรือปักษ์ใต้ก็ใช้
ทำงาน = เฮ็ดเวียก - คำว่าเวียกมาจากภาษาเวียดนาม Viec หมายถึงงาน
ขอบคุณค่ะ ดีจังได้เรียนรู้เยอะเลย 🤠🤠
I speak both. I learn alot of thai because of movies and thai boran
well done
Remember coming across your videos during the pandemic and thought how cool it was to see a Thai person become a polyglot learning such different languages than the norm for Thai people. Always fun to listen to the Lao Luang Prabang accent as it's quite different than Lao Vientiane. Also, noticed you having the same problem I had trying to learn Lao back in the states in that if I spoke any Thai with Lao speaker than they'd immediately start speaking a mishmash of butchered Thai and Lao making it super difficult to get Lao down so when I got to Lao I spoke nothing, but Lao and only mentioned knowing Thai. ຮຽນບໍ່ຍາກດອກແຕ່ກໍ່ຕ້ອງບໍ່ເວົ້ວໄທນຳຂະເຈົ້າເລີຍເດີ້
Lao bro said he doesn’t know much Isaan. Then also said Isaan and Lao share “some” similar words. The two are basically the same language. As a Lao speaker, I often have difficulty telling the difference.
I can tell the difference easily between a Lao native vs Isan Thai
Is it similar to the Malay and Indonesian (Bahasa) relationship? There are many words that mean different things, or for the same things we use different words, and there are also words that don't exist on both sides.
It is similar but in my opinion Malay and Indonesian are closer
Central Thai are more influenced by the Mon-Khmer culture. I'm not sure if you are referring to just Upper Isan with the country of Lao or the whole Thailand is similar to Lao?
ขออนุญาตเจ้าของช่องค่าาา เผื่อจะเป็นประโยชน์ ภาษาอีสานกับภาษาลาว ความจริงแล้วคือภาษาเดียวกัน เริ่มมีความต่างกันตั้งแต่แยกประเทศค่ะ ถ้าตามประวัติศาสตร์ ลาวกับอีสาน คืออาณาจักรล้านช้าง ประเทศเดียวกันในอดีต ทุกวันนี้ภาษาลาวถิ่นอีสานจะใช้คำไทยภาคกลางมาปะปนเป็นส่วนใหญ่ คำลาวเก่าๆ บางคำไม่ใช้กันแล้ว แต่คนแก่ที่บ้านยังใช้คำเก่าๆ อยู่ เช่นคำว่า ป่องเอี้ยม แปลว่า หน้าต่าง เด็กยุคใหม่จะไม่เข้าใจคำนี้ (บางคนอาจรู้จักถ้าหมู่บ้านนั้นใช้คำเก่าอยู่) หรือคำว่า เจ้า โดย แปลว่า ครับ ค่ะ ฝั่งอีสานไม่ใช้แล้ว มาใช้ครับค่ะเหมือนภาษาไทย สำเนียงภาษาอีสานจึงวิวัฒนาการให้มีความคล้ายภาษาไทย จะมีแค่ไม่กี่จังหวัดที่พูดสำเนียงเดียวกันกับฝั่งลาวและยังคงรูปแบบเดิม มีเปลี่ยนบ้างเล็กน้อย เช่น เมืองท่าแขก-นครพนม / เมืองไกสอนพมวิหาน--มุกดาหาร / ปากเซ-หว้านใหญ่ (มุกดาหาร) / ปากเซ-อุบลฯ เป็นต้น
ปล.คนในพื้นที่ค่ะ
ขอบคุณมากสำหรับข้อมูลที่ดีมากเลยค่ะ
Is Lao your next language?
It’s so similar to Thai that I won’t continue studying it. But I’ll continue learning more and more every time I visit
อันนี้ลาวหลวงพระบาง มีศัพท์และสำเนียงที่ไม่ค่อยเหมือนลาวกลุ่มอื่น สำเนียงนี้ฝั่งไทยมีคนพูดน้อย ส่วนมากพบในจังหวัดเลย และบางส่วนของภาคเหนือ ถ้าเป็นลาวกลางตั้งแต่เวียงจันทน์ไปจนถึงลาวภาคใต้จะคล้ายกับสำเนียงในภาคอีสานมากกว่าครับ สำหรับคนไทยที่อยากฝึกภาษาลาวจริงๆ แนะนำแบบเวียงจันทน์ (คล้ายหนองคาย) หรือแบบจำปาศักดิ์ (คล้ายอุบลฯ) เลือกอย่างใดอย่างหนึ่งไปก่อนเพื่อให้ได้สำเนียงที่แน่นอน
ตอนนี้ผมรู้แล้วว่าสามารถเดินทางในประเทศลาวและสื่อสารด้วยภาษาไทยได้อย่างง่ายดาย แต่ตั้งแต่ดูวิดีโอนี้สนใจที่จะเรียนภาษาลาวบ้างมากขึ้น
Issan language is very similar to Lao even the food
Thai and Lao is similar lang. - sa bai dee(Lao Hello) sawatdee krap/Ka(Thai Hello) about the script in Thai the is sharp in Lao is round
สวสดีครับ ผมเป็นคนญี่ปุ่นที่ชอบเมืองไทยครับ คลิปนี้สนุกดีมากๆนะครับ ผมก็เคยไปเที่ยวลาว ไปไหนพูดไทยไม่มีปัญหา ผมก็เข้าใจคนลาวพูดอะไรแม้ว่าผมไม่เคยเรียนลาว ตกใจมากครับ
แต่จริงๆแล้ว ງ ไม่ใช่ ว ครับ คือเป็น ง ครับ ວ เป็น ว ครับ
In addition, Lao language has influences from Vietnam. ວຽກ(เวียก) "work" itself is came from Vietnamese word "việc"
Oh I didn’t know it came from Vietnamese. Interesting
Thanks for the comment
Sounds like Thai and Lao are as close as Spanish and Portuguese.....How do Thai and Lao do cursive handwriting with the little circles and little ups and downs?? How do both relate to Khmer and Vietnamese?
Yeah good comparison. There is no cursive, just different fonts
I’m not sure how they relate to the other languages
@@polyglotgrace How do Thai and Lao get written in handwriting with all those little curls and ups and downs?
Its easy, Thai language use the R, sound Ch sound in the languages.. like u said Love... Thai said ruk with the R, LAOS said HUK with H sounds.. like boat Thai daid Rhue with H LAO said HUE with H.. or like Chieng Maj LAOS said Xieng Mhai..
I miss Luang Prabang 🥹🥹🥹 Wanna visit again
ผมคนอีสานฟักภาษาลาวได้100%
In Lao we have the word "Dern" (ເດີ່ນ) it refers to space such as ເດີ່ນບິນ (Airport), ເດີ່ນຈອດລົດ (Parking space), ເດີ່ນບານ (space for playing football or basketball).
we also use another word for working as "hed garn" (ເຮັດການ). This and "hed viek" (ເຮັດວຽກ) can be used interchangeably
I'm from Indonesia, Laos sounds like Thai
ไม่❌️
บ่✅️
(อุกอั่ง)
Isan part of Thailand used to be laos after the French pulled out they divided the country right in the middle of Mekong river
ຂອບໃຈ=Thanks ຂອບໃຈຫຼາຍໆ=Thank you very much ຂອບໃຈຢ່າງມາກມາຍ=Thanks a lots
ເຮືອນ=house, ບາ້ນ=home ແລະ ໝູ່ບາ້ນ=village
Loog khon gop (like frog) not gok
Sabaidee bor is more Lao Isan not Lao. I can understand Thai 100% because I know Lao. A lot of people in Laos know how to read and write in Thai.
Thai has kmer in it
Do thai have any similar with cambodia
yes, it has some. some vocabs as far as I know
Yes alot because the real Siamese (Central-Thai) are in fact a Mon-Khmer people. The Chakri dynasty still speaks the Old Ayutthaya language and it sounds nothing like Lao or Tai 😂
Thanks for the information my friend
@@user-cj9gz4em8j If you want to know more about the real Siam history before the Tai influence and arrivals there are many sources and books to read about it if you are interested. Many of the Tai-Lao people believe that Thailand belongs to them just because the culture and demographics (Tai population) lean more towards them. The reality is far from truth because it was the indigenous people of Siam like the Mon and Khmer civilizations were the ones responsible for almost the whole development of what is today's Thailand. The Chinese-thai in Bangkok are the economic driver of the country. While the Mon-Khmer people are the political and royal administrators of the country.
@@user-cj9gz4em8j My uncle is one of the top politician/educational/religious leader in Thailand. He commands respect from almost all of the Politicians and Business community there. He knows the Thai royal family quite well especially your majesty King Bhumibol.
I'm 🇮🇩, i think 🇱🇦language is easier. Or probably Lao is the simple version of Thai.
Lao is not the simple version of thai. It is its own language, not the subversion of another language. Both Lao and thai (thai formerly known as siamese) descend from the Taikradai from south China, that's why there are some similarities between the two languages.
I had to take some course and I don't remember learning about that at all. I know China has influence on the Japanese. I know Japan had some rule. But I def have not heard that. Not saying that isn't true. I just never heard that. Also, I had to take alotta courses that kinda seemed like they tied in together. Some "bs" courses too, the "electives" tis y I forgot
Our language is very telling about our origin and culture. To know for sure of who we're is to have our DNA examined. Today's Thai language (Bangkok) is a mixed of languages, I would guess at least 50% Lao, and the the remaining are Khmer's, Hindi, and others; examples, the words, yes, no, hello are in Hindi or Khmer and the words, walk "dern" is Khmer. Basically, if Thai language words aren't the same with Lao words, then those words maybe in Khmer, Hindi, or other languages. Lao language has many borrowed words from Chinese, and Khmer as well. For instance, the words, yes sir, and no in Lao language are Chinese words.😮 Actually, for Lao people, Lao is a language that all Tais (Lue, Puan, Deng, Dam, Kao, etc.) Speak. The youngman in the video is speaking in Tai Lue Lao dialect. Thai or Tai means ethnic, tribe, people in Lao. 😮😮
Koi dai pasa Laos noi nin.
That's all I can speak is Lao. Alot ! Not alittle. I have no understanding of Thai unless it the same sound & meaning of the Lao word
Thai Lao is like American and British English.
I’d say it’s more one way. Laos mostly understand all Thai but not the other way around
No it is not. It's like saying Lao is a broken language of Thai.. which is not true. This is not a good way to explain how similar the language are. Many people like to look down on Lao language saying it is the "ghetto" version of thai.
@@polyglotgrace I guess Laos kids are smarter.they understand all Thai .
I'm already used to the thai language, that it seems easier than Lao
I disagree ! Too much rolling with the tongue 👅 for that thai language. Lao language is so much easier & better. Simple
Thailand and Laos use to be the same country a long time ago. They split up between the Mekong river. Eventually the separation developed its own dialect.
Not really the same country. Laos used to be the kingdom of Lanxang up until the 18th century where it broke into 3 kingdoms. They unfortunately passed under siamese ruling, but the Lao population always remained Lao. There's always been a distinction between Lao and siamese people. Lao people finally regained their independance in the 20th century, but without recovering all the territories of Lanxang. And with the independance they chose the 'Laos' name instead of 'Lanxang'. Laos finally refered to the main ethnic group of the country (even if you'll find a lot of ethnic groups)
@@bounna1557Not the same country...And it's not a country yet...And each own subregion and state..have there own govern.. Like Lanna , Lanxange, Sukotai are separate states before it becomes a country ..I just know that during that time.. Languages was written and sent during war.. Vientian to Ayutthaya or Bangkok to Luang Prabang...but the ? Is what language did they use during those time period that They can read and understand each other.among the elites...
Thai and Lao =Tai ethnicity
Lao & Thai is like Spanish & Portugese
Lao people can understand Thai but when speaking it is very difficult