Isan language Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Isan (or Isaan or Esarn) is the language of the Isan region of Thailand. It is a tonal language of the Tai family, and is closely related to Lao, but has also been much influenced by Thai. Phonology and the rules for determining tones vary in each dialect, but are generally similar to Lao. The vocabulary is largely the same as in Lao, except for the use of Thai loan words and neologisms. It was previously written using the Tua Tham script also used in Laos and northern Thailand, but since the introduction of Thai language schooling in the 1920s it has been written in the Thai script.
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2 Tones 3 Vocabulary 4 External links 5 Further reading |
Isan has no r sound; where this sound occurs in Thai, it is replaced in Isan by an l or a h. When writing Isan in the Thai script, ร is normally used to represent an l, while อ indicates an h.
The other main differences from Thai are: the pronunciation of ช as s rather than ch; the common palatalisation of ย; and the absence of consonant clusters (where a consonant cluster occurs in Thai, the equivalent word in Isan retains only the first consonant).
There are a further two, relatively rare tone marks: mai tri (อ๊) and mai chattawa (อ๋); these always indicate a high and a rising tone respectively.
The letters ห (high class) and อ (mid class) are often used as silent letters to produce the correct tone. In polysyllabic words, an initial high class consonant with an implicit vowel renders the following syllable also high class.
Isan contains many words not used (or more rarely used) in Thai. Some of the most common of these are:
This is an Article on Isan language. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Isan language Phonology
Vocabulary
External links
Further reading