172 km away
The Tai language of Thailand's Northeast region. Closer to Lao than to Central Thai; spoken by the largest non-Central-Thai population in the country.
Lao
A Tai-Kadai language and the official language of Laos. Closely related to Thai Isan; written in a script derived from the same source as Thai but distinct in several letters and vowel signs.
Shareable facts
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Lao?
Lao is a dialect of the Lao language.
Where is Lao spoken?
Lao is primarily spoken in Laos.
Which region is Lao associated with?
Lao is part of the Southeast Asia region on DialectAtlas.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →229 km away
A Khmuic (Austroasiatic) language of formerly nomadic hunter-gatherers in the highlands of Nan and Phrae provinces, northern Thailand, and adjacent Laos. Roughly 100–300 speakers; its numeral system allows only one and two to modify nouns, and it lacks the register contrasts typical of related languages.
392 km away
The Tai language of Thailand's Northern region around Chiang Mai. Carries its own historical script and a literary tradition tied to the former Lanna kingdom.
481 km away
The Northern Vietnamese variety of Hanoi. The basis of the national standard and of most Vietnamese taught abroad.
520 km away
The Bangkok-area variety that forms the basis of the modern Thai standard. The reference variety in education, broadcasting, and most Thai instruction abroad.
553 km away
An Austroasiatic language of Lower Burma and adjacent Thailand. Once the dominant cultural language of mainland Southeast Asia, displaced over centuries by Burmese and Thai expansion.