Home
Languagevs


Vietnamese vs Lao


Lao
Lao vs Vietnamese


Countries

Countries
Vietnam  
Laos  

Total No. Of Countries
1  
14
1  
14

National Language
Vietnam  
Laos, Northeastern Thailand  

Second Language
Australia, East Asia, North America, Southeast Asia, Western Europe  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Czech Republic  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Regulated By
-  
-  

Interesting Facts
  • The vocabulary of Vietnamese language is influenced by Chinese Language.
  • The only language in East Asia that uses the Latin alphabet is Vietnamese.
  
  • There is no space left between words, only between phrases or sentences in Lao language.
  • The Lao alphabets has been reformed many times over the past 50 years.
  

Similar To
Chinese Language  
Thai Language  

Derived From
Chinese Language  
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Vietnamese-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
37  
19
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
12  
9
28  
20

How Many Consonants
21  
11
27  
17

Scripts
Latin  
Thai and Lao Braille  

Writing Direction
-  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
6  
5

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
Xin chào  
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)  

Thank You
Cam on  
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)  

How Are You?
Bạn khỏe không?  
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)  

Good Night
Chúc ngủ ngon  
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)  

Good Evening
Chào buổi tối  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)  

Good Afternoon
Chào buổi trưa  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)  

Good Morning
Chào buổi sáng  
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)  

Please
xin vui lòng  
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)  

Sorry
Xin lỗi  
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)  

Bye
Tạm biệt  
Sôhk dii der  

I Love You
tôi yêu bạn  
ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)  

Excuse Me
Xin loi  
ຂໍ​ໂທດ (kho othd)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Northern Vietnamese  
Vientiane Lao  

Where They Speak
Dong Bac, Haiphong, Hanoi, Red River Delta, Tay Bac  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
76,000,000.00  
11
3,000,000.00  
99+

Dialect 2
North-central Vietnamese  
Northern Lao  

Where They Speak
Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
76,000,000.00  
9
3,000,000.00  
99+

Dialect 3
Mid-Central Vietnamese  
Central Lao  

Where They Speak
Hue, Quang Tri, Thua Thien  
Laos  

How Many People Speak
76,000,000.00  
8
3,000,000.00  
99+

Total No. Of Dialects
5  
5
6  
6

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
91.00 million  
16
25.00 million  
40

Speaking Population
1.14 %  
17
0.22 %  
99+

Native Speakers
75.00 million  
14
25.00 million  
32

Second Language Speakers
16.00 million  
33
3.00 million  
99+

Native Name
tiếng việt (㗂越)  
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)  

Alternative Names
Annamese, Ching, Gin, Jing, Kinh, Viet  
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao  

French Name
vietnamien  
lao  

German Name
Vietnamesisch  
Laotisch  

Pronunciation
[tĭəŋ vìəˀt] (Northern) [tǐəŋ jìək] (Southern)  
pʰáːsǎː láːw  

Ethnicity
Vietnamese (Kinh) people  
Lao people  

History

Origin
c. 1440  
1283 CE  

Language Family
Austroasiatic Family  
Tai-Kadai Family  

Subgroup
-  
Tai  

Branch
-  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Pre-Vietnamese, Proto-Vietnamese, Archaic Vietnamese, Ancient Vietnamese, Middle Vietnamese, Modern Vietnamese  
No Early forms  

Standard Forms
Standard Vietnamese  
Lao  

Language Position
14  
13
43  
40

Signed Forms
Vietnamese sign languages  
Lao Sign Language  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
vi  
lo  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
vie  
lao  

ISO 639 2/B
vie  
lao  

ISO 639 3
vie  
lao  

ISO 639 6
vie  
lao  

Glottocode
viet1252  
laoo1244  

Linguasphere
46-EBA  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Verb-Object  
Subject-Verb-Object  

Language Morphological Typology
Analytic, Isolating  
Isolating  

Countries >>
<< All

Vietnamese and Lao Language History

Comparison of Vietnamese vs Lao language history gives us differences between origin of Vietnamese and Lao language. History of Vietnamese language states that this language originated in c. 1440 whereas history of Lao language states that this language originated in 1283 CE. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Vietnamese and Lao Language History.

Compare Most Difficult Languages

Vietnamese and Lao Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Vietnamese and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Vietnamese and Lao language. Vietnamese word for "Hello" is Xin chào or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Vietnamese Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Vietnamese vs Lao Difficulty

The Vietnamese vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Vietnamese Alphabets and Lao Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Vietnamese and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Vietnamese and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Vietnamese is 44 weeks while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.

Most Difficult Languages

Most Difficult Languages

» More Most Difficult Languages

Compare Most Difficult Languages

» More Compare Most Difficult Languages