31 Facts About Isan language

Isan is officially classified as a dialect of the Thai language by the Thai government; although Thai is a closely related Southwestern Tai language, it actually falls within the Chiang Saen languages.

Lao language has a long presence in Isan, arriving with migrants fleeing southern China sometime starting the 8th or 10th centuries that followed the river valleys into Southeast Asia.

The region of what is Laos and Isan language was nominally united under the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang .

The Isan language was officially banned from being referred to as the Lao Isan language in official Thai documents at the turn of the 20th century.

The Tai Noi script was banned, thus making Isan a spoken language, although an ad hoc system of using Thai script and spelling of cognate words is used in informal communication.

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Isan language is a more agricultural area and one of the poorest, least developed regions of Thailand, with many Isan language people having little education often leaving for Bangkok or other cities and even abroad for work, often employed as laborers, domestics, cooks, taxi drivers, construction and other menial jobs.

Outside of official and academic Thai contexts, Isan is usually classified as a particular sub-grouping of the Lao language such as by native speakers, Laotian Lao and many linguists, it is classified as a separate language in light of its unique history and Thai-language influence, such as its classification in Glottolog and Ethnologue.

However, due to the distinct culture and language, and the need to disassociate the people and region from Laos, the term Isan came into being for the region of Isan as well as its ethnic Lao people and their Lao speech although it originally only referred to districts which now comprise the southern portion of Northeastern Thailand.

Homeland of the Isan language is mainly the twenty provinces of Northeastern Thailand, known as Phak Isan, 'Isan region' or just Isan.

The Lao Isan language was able to thrive in the region due to its historical settlement pattern, which included the vast depopulation of the left bank of the Mekong to the right bank and its geographical isolation from the rest of what is Thailand.

Suppression of the Isan language came with the 'Thai cultural mandates' and other reforms that aimed to elevate Central Thai culture and language, reverence to the monarchy and the symbols of state and complete integration into Thailand, known as 'Thaification'.

In tandem with its removal from education and official contexts, the Thai Isan language made a greater appearance in people's lives with the extension of the railroad to Ubon and Khon Kaen and with it the telegraph, radio and a larger number of Thai civil servants, teachers and government officials in the region that did not learn the local Isan language.

Language shift to Thai and the increased influence of the Thai Isan language really came to the fore in the 1960s due to several factors.

Academics at Isan universities began exploring the local language, history, culture and other folklore, publishing works that helped bring serious attention to preserving the Lao features of the language and landscape, albeit under an Isan banner.

Many linguists and scholars of the Isan language believe that Thai relexification cannot be halted unless the script is returned, but this has little public or government support.

Evidence for the use of the written Isan language is hard to find, but well-worn murals of very old temples often have small bits of writing in the old script.

The Lao written language has unified the dialects to some extent as well, as though the differences between dialects are sharper in Laos than Isan, one common writing system unites them.

Acknowledgment of the unique history of the Isan language and the fact it is derived from a closely related albeit separate language is lacking, with the official and public position being that the language is a dialect of Thai.

The traditional avoidance of the language in the formal sphere re-enforces the superiority of Thai, which the Isan people have internalized to the point many do not have high opinions of their first language.

Since the late 1930s, Isan language has been a bilingual area, with most people using Isan language at home and in the village, but due to diglossia, switching to Thai for school, work and formal situations.

Similarly, when Isan language usage has two variants, generally a common one not understood in Thai and another that is usually a cognate, younger speakers tend to use the cognates with greater frequency, pushing their speech to Thai as older speakers will use them in variance.

The lack of official usage, official support for its maintenance and lack of Isan language prestige hinder attempts to revitalize or strengthen the Isan language against the advance of Thai.

Development of 'Isan' identity and a resurgence in attention to the language has brought increased attention and study of the language.

Isan language, using its current method of writing according to Thai etymological spelling, preserves the spelling to imply the former sound of borrowed loan words even if the pronunciation has been assimilated.

Vowel structure of Isan language is the same as the central and southern Lao dialects of Laos.

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The majority of Isan language words are monosyllabic, but compound words and numerous other very common words exist that are not.

Topologically, Isan is a subject–verb–object language, although the subject is often dropped.

Nouns in Isan language are not marked for plurality, gender or case and do not require an indefinite or definite article.

Isan language traditionally uses the Lao-style pronouns, although in formal contexts, the Thai pronouns are sometimes substituted as speakers adjust to the socially mandated use of Standard Thai in very formal events.

Isan language is clearly differentiated from Thai by its Lao intonation and vocabulary.

Isan language can be broken up into at least fourteen varieties, based on small differentiations in tonal quality and distribution as well as small lexical items, but these can be grouped into the same five dialectal regions of Laos.