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Short study list - Lao/Issan dialect??


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My Thai is starting to get respectable, and I think it's time to introduce some Lao into my studies. Anyone have a good list of Lao/Issan words to start out with?

P.S. - anyone know what "wow" or "vow" (sounds in-between the two) in Lao means??

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Do you mean 'bow'? It just is another word for 'mai', no. If you want to say it the Isaani way say 'bo'. As in 'bo dai" (instead of mai dai - 'cannot') or 'bo loo lueang' (instead of 'mai loo lueang' - haven't got a clue)etc.

Just by using that one Isaan/Lao word a lot of people will think you can speak the lingo already! cool.gif" border="0

[ May 21, 2001: Message edited by: Scum_Baggio ]

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My knowlege of Lao could fill the world's smallest language book, but I'll share the little I know.

Seap - tasty (like arroy)(really sounds like saap - maybe thats the spelling)

ili or lie lie - much, very much (like mahk mahk)(lao - seap ili - arroy mahk)

Sombaidii boh? - how are you? (like sabai dii, mai?)

sadaidii - hello (like sawatdii)

Thats it. Worked for a Vientiene, Lao couple for about six months.

Pardon my spelling, I have no clue about transliteration. Oh and don't ask me about tone, I say everything with pretty much the same inflection. Well there are somethings I can "poot chart."

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quote:

Originally posted by Scum_Baggio:

Do you mean 'bow'? It just is another word for 'mai', no. ]

No, I know that one - it was my first Lao word smile.gif" border="0 This is a different word, and fairly common, as I hear it in conversation quite a bit. It almost sounds like "wah" as in "wall" or "vaw" as in Stevie Ray Vaughn. Too bad there are so few books on Lao, and none on Issan's dialect.

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I maybe wrong on this, but I think that is a filler word like OK or uhm in English. In Thai leuh and nah are used a lot. Lueh can mean really, as in "jing lueh", and nah is used like right(?) and often precedes krup or ka, as in "nah krup."

Again, I may be wrong but this how I remember it being used.

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To Brink15:

It's certainly not a filler word. After a question, you often get 'bow' (with a long drawn out 'ow')as the answer. It's more colloquial and less polite than saying 'mai-shai khrap/khaa'.

Someone may ask you 'pai kin khao rue bow?' (instead of 'pai kin khao, mai?' Literally it translates as 'Shall we go eat or not?' And your answer may be 'bow'. cool.gif" border="0

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>P.S. - anyone know what "wow" or "vow"

>(sounds in-between the two) in Lao means??

Wow - to speak. Wow Lao = Speak Lao.

Similar to /phood"/ in Thai or /Oo"/ in Kham Muang (Northern Thai)

Wow Lao bo dai = I can't speak Lao (but as you're using Lao words this becomes quite funny.

In the North you'd get the same effect by saying /Oo" muang bo jaang"/

Cheers,

Chanchao

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SB,

I wasn't refering to Boh or Bow, as in boh dai, when I mentioned the filler word. That one I'm very familiar with. If you had read my 2nd to last post and had looked to the third line down, I had sombaidii boh. That was a reference to the Lao use of "boh" instead of the Thai "mai." Probably the difference in how I hear it pronounced could be the fact that the speakers were Vientiene Lao not khun Issan.

The filler I've heard used does not have a "b" sound at the begining, more like a "w".

I'm still not sure what it is as its been a few years, but it ain't boh.

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quote:

Originally posted by Chanchao:

Wow - to speak. Wow Lao = Speak Lao.


That must be it - it makes perfect sense in the context I've heard it before. Thanks! I've got to find a book on beginning Lao this week when I'm in Bangkok.

[ May 23, 2001: Message edited by: PakWaan ]

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