There are over 80 distinct native languages spoken by the different ethnic populations of Laos. Lao, the official language of Laos, is a monosyllabic tone based language from theTai-Kadai family as spoken in Vientiane. There are 19 million Lao speakers in Thailand and 3 million in Laos, a reflection of geopolitical history. Lao can be further divided according to regional dialects including Vientiane, northern, northeastern, central and southern. Northern dialects are spoken in Sainyabuli, Bokeo, Phongsali, Luang Nam Tha,Udomxai, and Luang Prabang. Northeastern Lao is spoken mainly in Xiang Khoang and Houa Phan. Central Lao is found in Khammuan and Bolikhamsai. The Southern dialect is used in Champasak, Salavan, Savannakhet, Attapeu, and Sekong.
As part of the Tai-Kadai language family spoken Thai is similar to Lao, with some distinctions. Lao has six tones, whereas Bangkok Thai has five, the standard lexicon, grammar, usage and pronunciations are also different. The two languages are not mutually intelligible, although Lao speakers tend to have an easier time understanding Thai because of the prevalence of Thai radio and media in and around Laos.
Other major Language families include Austro-Asiatic languages spoken by the Mon-Khmer (Lao Theung) peoples, Hmong-Mien and Burmo-Tibetan (Lao Sung). Chinese andVietnamese is spoken within their respective ethnic communities.
Among Western languages French is commonly understood among the older (post-colonial) generation, and is still used in limited application for academic and official correspondence. English is quickly being adopted as the language of business and tourism, and is supplanting French among younger generations as the unofficial second language.
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