Questions tagged [lao]

A Tai-Kadai language spoken in Laos.

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What is the etymological relationship between French "feu", Lao "ເຝີ" (feu), and Vietnamese "phở"?

In both Lao cuisine and Vietnamese cuisine there exists a noodle dish with a similar name. Lao ເຝີ (feu) and Vietnamese phở. Each Wikipedia article discusses the possibility of the dish/word being ...
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Is there a theory challenging the "strict" distinction between Thai and Vietnamese?

I understand Thai and Lao and all their dialects, and Vietnamese and all its dialects to be of totally different language evolutionary families (Tai Kra-Dai and Astroasiatic). I can speak and read ...
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5 votes
1 answer
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What's the origin of the Lao (ຈິງໂຈ້) and Thai (จิงโจ้) words for "kangaroo"?

I just found out that the Lao word for "kangaroo" doesn't appear to be a direct loan from English. Both words are pronounced more or less as "ching choh". In fact it doesn't seem to be from French, ...
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4 votes
2 answers
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Do the Thai and Lao negative particles, "ไม่" (mai) and "ບໍ່" (bo) have reflexes in the other language?

In my continuing interest in this pair of closely related languages I have noticed each uses an unrleated word for the negative particle meaning "no", "not", etc. Thai: ไม่ (mai) Lao: ບໍ່ (bo) Does ...
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4 votes
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Why is the Lao word for tea "ຊາ" (saa) and not "ຈາ" (chaa)?

In just about every language, the word for "tea" can be traced to one of two variants of the same word. Te, from the Amoy tê of Fujian Province and Taiwan. Cha, from the Cantonese chàh of Guangzhou (...
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2 answers
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Do the Thai masculine & feminine "polite particles" have counterparts in Lao?

In Thai there are particles which can be used at the end of many sentences to make them more polite. Different particles are used by male and female speakers: "ครับ" (kráp) : male "ค่ะ" (kâ) : female ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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4 votes
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Seeking details of Lao orthographic reforms

The Lao script was originally used as an abugida (consonants have implied vowels) for the Lao language, just as most of the writing systems related to it. The Lao script is now used as an alphabet ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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Word and/or syllable frequency data for Lao

I've returned my language focus to Lao now that my travels through Asia have finished and I'm back home. There are not as many or as high quality resources available for Lao as for many other ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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On Lao triphthongs / tones / orthography

Information on the Lao language is a bit patchy, especially when you start getting a little deeper and find gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions in and between sources on the Internet. Lao vowel ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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3 votes
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Seeking Lao minimal pairs for /ɯ/ vs /ɤ/ vs /ɯː/ vs /ɤː/

In learning Lao one of the tricky things For a native English speaker is the two vowels that we don't have in English and sound very similar to us. This is compounded by the fact that both exist in ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
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Etymological reason behind Lao's many seeming variants for "stairs"?

I'm in Laos studying Lao on my own and came across the fact that different sources have slightly different words for "stairs" and the SEAlang Lao dictionary has even more: ກະໃດ - 15 Google results ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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Modern Thai writing system and modern Khmer writing system and the sharing of Non-Sanskrit symbols

I understand that both old and modern Khmer and old and modern Thai, effected one another and share lots of words or "roots" of words. For example Modern Thai words derived from Old Khmer ឆ្លាតor ...
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2 votes
1 answer
508 views

What's the difference between the Lao vowel letters "ໄ" and "ໃ"?

Lao is said to now be a language with phonetic spelling since the reform/standardization of the 1970s. During this process some consonants were made obsolete (they're still not in Unicode) because ...
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2 votes
1 answer
313 views

Lao orthography: ວ as part of consonant cluster or part of diphtong and placement of tone marks

Lao is a little underdocumented compared to other languages, both in terms of actual linguistics and in terms of prescriptive norms. There is a semivowel letter, ວ, which has a few roles: Consonant /...
hippietrail's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Searching for the rules of tone sandhi in Lao

Most tonal languages have tone sandhi, which consists of rules whereby the standard/default/dictionary tones of words/syllables change due to which tones occur in adjacent words/syllables. But I am ...
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2 votes
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Are the two Lao (and Isan) words for "to be", "ເປັນ" (pen) and "ແມ່ນ" (maen), etymologically related?

I've just learned that Lao has two words for "to be", that are mostly interchangeable: ເປັນ (pen) ແມ່ນ (maen) They both begin with a labial, have an "e-like" vowel, and end "n". I think it's pretty ...
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1 vote
1 answer
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Origin of ratchasap/ราชาศัพท์ phenomenon in Thai and/or Tai-kadai languages

I am attempting to trace the origin of "rachasap" (Thai: ราชาศัพท์; Lao: ລາດຊະຊັບ). What is "rachasap"? Rachasap is an entire body of words that are used with deity, royalty, or ...
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1 vote
0 answers
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Does Lao (or Thai) have any "verbalizer" morphemes?

I know of at least two morphemes in lao which are nominalizers that can convert lexical verbs or adjectives into nouns: ການ and ຄວາມ. What I'm wondering is whether there are any counterparts which ...
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1 vote
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Can someone confirm the Lao language tones in the greeting "sabaidi" [closed]

In Thai สบายดี is sà-bāɪ-dīː(sà with a low tone, bāɪ and dī with mid tones). In Lao ສະບາຍດີ is sá-bàɪ-dìː (sá with a high tone, bàɪ and dìː with low tones). Okay, I need confirmation on the tones in ...
user2617's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
161 views

Does Vietnamese mười reflects the Thai/Lao/Khmer uu sound?

When I was in Vietnam I tried to pronounce the word mười (10) with the Thai/Lao/Khmer uu sound: Thai: ◌ู Lao: Khmer (ou): ូ Khmer (uə): ួ I recognized that sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn'...
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0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Looking for comparison of Lao (or Thai) and Zhuang languages

I'm soon crossing the Lao/China border and after gaining some familiarity with Lao in my capacity as an "armchair linguist on the road" I'm very interested in experiencing some Zhuang language before ...
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