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Isaan Dialect
Introduction
This page has the aim of teaching the visitor to Thailand a few Isaan phrases, together with a little grammar thrown in as well for good measure.
Isaan is the name given to the North-Eastern region of Thailand, covering 170,218 square kilometers, approximately one third of Thailand’s land area. In 1997, Isaan's population was 21,086,501 million people, about 35% of Thailand's total population.
All Thais learn standard Thai (Central Thai) in school. It's the language also used in the newspapers and on TV/radio and is essentially the lingua franca of Thailand. But at home Isaan people (KON ISAAN in Thai) will speak a version of Lao called Isaan dialect or North-Eastern Thai.
You may well wonder why someone visiting Thailand should bother going to the trouble to learn some Isaan dialect. Surely learning Thai is quite enough without having to learn an extra language. And another tonal one at that.
Well, as a visitor to Thailand, it is very likely that you will spend a considerable amount of time with people from Isaan. They make up roughly 1/3 of Thailand's population and are very often employed in jobs that bring them into close contact with tourists. Especially so in two of Thailand's major tourist destinations, Bangkok and Pattaya. Whether it be hotel staff, restaurant workers, taxi drivers or street vendors, you're sure to come into contact with KON ISAAN.
You may even be lucky enough to have an Issan lady as your girlfriend or wife.
In addition, as a part of your stay in Thailand, you may also consider visiting Isaan for a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Compared to other parts of Thailand the pace is much slower, and the prices are also considerably cheaper.
The Isaan people are in general an extremely friendly and good-natured people, and they respond very favourably to those who make the effort to appreciate their culture and learn their language. Just a few words of their language spoken to them by a tourist will immediately set you apart, since foreigners who speak any Isaan dialect at all are extremely rare indeed.
Relationship between Thai, Isaan dialect and Lao
The Isaan people are of Laotian descent and until the 1960s, they were still called Lao. In fact, the Isaan region and Laos had originally been a part of the Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang (founded in 1354). Following the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 the Siamese kingdom held sway in Laos and Isaan, and carried out forced population transfers from Laos to Isaan in the 18th and 19th centuries. (This is one reason why today Isaan is so heavily populated compared to Laos: 21 million in Isaan compared to 6.5 million in Laos).
In the 19th century French colonialists made incursions into Laos and were too strong for Siam (1). Franco-Siamese treaties of 1893 and 1904 ceded Lao territory to France leaving Isaan as Siam’s north-east frontier with French Indochina. Even today, you'll sometimes see Lao posters on internet message boards talking about returning Isaan to Laos, but the Isaan posters make it clear they are Thai now and are happy the way things are.
Isaan dialect (also called North-Eastern Thai) is really nothing but Lao. It is virtually 100% Lao in vocabulary and intonation; in fact there are more Lao speakers living in Thailand than in Laos.
As has been mentioned earlier, all Thais learn Central Thai in school and its the language used in books, newspapers and on the TV/radio. However at home, North-Easterners will speak Isaan. Even outside of Isaan, in Bangkok for example, when you are with a group of North-Easterners, they will invariably at some point drop their Thai and lapse into speaking Isaan with one another.
Forty or so years ago (in the 1960s) the Thai government took away all forms of their writing in an attempt to assimilate them into Central Thai culture. However, they continued to maintain their Lao dialect through speech, and it continues strong to this day, as do their distinctive customs and traditions.
The biggest difference between Lao and Isaan is that Isaan uses the standard Thai alphabet, not the slightly different Lao alphabet. The Lao alphabet is very close to the Thai alphabet (and derived from it), but it's different enough to present a fair degree of difficulty to Thai and Isaan folks when trying to read Lao material. Some Isaan folks I've asked say they can read no Lao because the alphabet's too different, others say that if given eg a Lao newspaper article, they can maybe read and understand a percentage (at most 60%) of the material with some difficulty.
Lao (and Isaan dialect) tones are also often different than Thai. The words may well be virtually the same, but the tones aren't. Something around 80% of the Thai-Lao vocabulary is identical, though the tones may confuse you. However Isaan dialect and Thai are close enough that, for native speakers, the two are mutually intelligible. They are perhaps as close as Dutch and German (maybe even a little closer).
Just a few basic rules for ISAAN dialect:
The negative in Isaan is BAW eg MAI ROO in Thai (don't know) becomes BAW HOO. Listen out for that BAW and you will be able to figure out a lot of their speech.
Even though the Lao alphabet has what clearly looks like a Thai 'R', Isaan (and Lao) has no 'R' sound. Two thirds of the time it's pronounced as an 'L' and the other one third as an 'H'.
eg ROT (car) in Thai becomes LOT in Isaan and NAK RIAN (student) becomes NAK HIAN.
Isaan has no CH sound as in Thai - the CH becomes an S sound eg CHOK DEE (good luck) in Thai becomes SOK DEE in Isaan; CHAHT THAI (Thai nationality) becomes SAHT THAI.
Consonant clusters are often simplified eg PLA in Thai (fish) becomes PA in Isaan.
Finally, it should be noted that within N.E. Thailand there are in fact several different dialects of Isaan. e.g. Korat has its own dialect which is understood with difficulty by people outside of the area.
Accordingly, I have just included a few basic Isaan phrases with a little grammar thrown in for good measure. I have found these phrases to be generally understood by the majority of North-Easterners I have had contact with.
I hope you will find some of them useful in your travels to Thailand.
Isaan
English
Thai
KHOI ข่อย
I (Pronoun) used by male or female
PHOM ผม (male);
CHAN ฉัน / DICHAN ดิฉัน (female)
PERN (respectful) เพิ่น
or sometimes KHAO เขา
He/She
KHAO เขา
JAO เจ้า
You
KHUN คุณ
KHA-JAO คะเจ้า
They
KHAO เขา
HAO เฮา
We
RAO เรา
BAW บ๊อ (High tone; sometimes mid tone)
Question word placed
at the end of a sentence
equivalent to MAI in Thai.
MAI ไหม
PHOO-BAO ผู้บ่าว
Man
PHOO-CHAI ผู้ชาย
PHOO-SAO ผู้สาว
Woman
PHOO-YING ผู้หญิง
SABAI DEE สบายดี
Hello (the standard greeting in Isaan)
SAWAT DEE สวัสดี
SABAI DEE BAW สบายดีบ๊อ
or
SAMBAI DEE BAW ซำบายดีบ๊อ
(less common)
How are you?
Can reply: SABAI DEE -
I'm fine
SABAI DEE MAI สบายดีไหม
BAW บ่อ (Low tone) Sometimes written as just บ่
No, not (used to form the negative)
eg BAW HOO บ่อฮู้ - don't know;
PERN BAW MA เพิ่นบ่อมา
he didn't come
MAI ไม่
JEP BAW เจ็บบ๊อ
Does it hurt?
JEP MAI เจ็บไหม
WAO LAO DAI BAW วาวลาวได้บ๊อ
Can you speak Lao (Isaan)?
In Isaan they don't PHOOT LAO as in Thai but WAO วาว or PAHK ปาก LAO.
You can reply WAO LAO DAI NIT NOI - I can speak a little Lao.
KHUN PHOOT LAO DAI MAI
คุณพูดลาวได้ไหม
JAO AH-YOO THAO DAI
เจ้าอายุเท่าใด
How old are you?
KHUN AH-YOO TAO-RAI
คุณอายุเท่าไร
EE-YANG อีหยัง
What?
ARAI อะไร
PEN NYANG เป็นหยัง
(NYANG is rising tone)
Why; what's the matter?
PEN ARAI
เป็นอะไร
BAW PEN NYANG
บ่อเป็นหยัง
Nothing's the matter; it's all right; it's ok
MAI PEN RAI
ไม่เป็นไร
JAO SEU NYANG
เจ้าซื่อหยัง
What's your name?
Isaan dialect has no CH-sound as in Thai - the CH becomes an S-sound eg CHOK DEE (good luck) in Thai becomes SOK DEE in Isaan; CHAHT THAI (Thai nationality) becomes SAHT THAI
KHUN CHEU ARAI
คุณชื่ออะไร
PAI SAI ไปไส
Where are you going?
PAI NAI ไปไหน
PAI SAI MA ไปไสมา
Where have you been?
PAI NAI MA ไปไหนมา
SI PAI SAI ซิไปไส
Where will you go, where are you going?
JA PAI NAI จะไปไหน
SI PAI SAI NAW MEU NEE สิไปไสน้อมื่อนี่
Where are you going today?
JA PAI NAI วันนี้จะไปไหน
DTAE แต่
(Sometimes JAHK จาก, same as Thai).
From
eg JAO MA DTAE SAI
เจ้ามาแต่ไส
- Where do you come from?
KHOI MA JAHK MEXICO
ข่อยมาจากเม็กซิโก
- I come from Mexico.
จาก
eg KHUN MA JAHK NAI
คุณมาจากไหน - Where do you come from?
PHOM MA JAHK MEXICO ผมมาจากเม็กซิโก
- I come from Mexico.
MAEN BAW แมนบ๊อ
Is that right, is that correct?
CHAI MAI? ใช่ไหม
BAW MAEN บ่อแมน
Not so, not true
MAI CHAI ไม่ใช่
MAEN LAEW แมนแล้ว
That's right, that's correct
CHAI LAEW ใช่แล้ว
IH-LEE อิหลี
Really
JING จริง
SAEP แซ่บ/NUA นัว
Delicious, in a spicey wayIf someone asks you to dinner, assure them the food is SAEP LAI LAI or SAEP IH-LEE.
นัว - Delicious, in an umami-type way
AROI อร่อย
SAEP LAI LAI แซ่บหลายๆ
Very delicious
AROI MAHK อร่อยมาก
SAEP IH-LEE แซ่บอิหลี
Really delicious
AROI MAHK อร่อยมาก
KHAWP JAI LAI LAI ขอบใจหลายๆ
Thank you very much.
In Thai, KHAWP JAI is only used to children/inferiors/intimates.
KHAWP KHUN MAHK ขอบคุณมาก
KHEE DTUA ขี้ตั๊ว
Lie, to lie (not tell the truth)
GO-HOK โกหก
SEE-DA สีดา
BAK-SEE-DA บักสีดา or
MAHK-SEE-DA หมากสีดา
Guava fruit; Foreigner (white, Western)
KON ISAAN may call Westerners
BAK-SEE-DA บักสีดา - not derogatory -
BAK is ISAAN for mister;
SEE-DA สีดา, BAK-SEE-DA and MAHK-SEE-DA are Isaan for the Guava fruit.
HET WEE-UK เฮ็ดเหวียก
(Sometimes HET NGAHN เฮ็ดงาน)
To work
THAM NGAAN ทำงาน
SAO เซา
To stop; Stop!
YOOT หยุด
SEE-OH เสี่ยว
Friend, pal
PEU-AN เพื่อน
MUAN BAW มวนบ๊อ
Is it fun?
MUAN LAI - a lot of fun (in Thai: SANOOK MAHK).
SANOOK MAI สนุกไหม
NGAAM งาม
Beautiful
SUAY สวย
NA-HAK น่าฮัก ; sometimes TA-HAK ตาฮัก
Cute, lovely
NA-HAK น่ารัก
MAK มัก
To like
CHAWP ชอบ
MAK BAW มักบ๊อ
Do you like it?
CHAWP MAI ชอบไหม
HAK ฮัก
To love
RAK รัก
SANG ซัง
To hate
GLEE-UT เกลียด
KHOI HAK JAO ข่อยฮักเจ้า
I love you
POM/CHAN RAK KHUN
ผม/ฉันรักคุณ
KHOI KHIT HAWT JAO ข่อยคิดฮอดเจ้า
(In speech, usually just shortened to KHIT HAWT JAO).
I miss you
KHIT HAWT LAI LAI - I miss you a lot
POM/CHAN KHIT TEUNG KHUN
ผม/ฉันคิดถึงคุณ
KHAO NGAI ข้าวงาย
Breakfast
AH-HAHN CHAO
อาหารเช้า
KHAO SUAY ข้าวสวย
Lunch
AH-HAHN GLANG WAN
อาหารกลางวัน
KHAO LAENG ข้าวแลง
Dinner
AH-HAHN YEN
อาหารเย็น
PA DAEK ปาแดก
Fermented fish; a delicacy in Isaan.
PLA RA ปลาร้า
MAHK NAT หมากนัด
Pineapple.
SAPHAROT สับปะรด
DER เด้อ
DER is a polite particle tacked onto the end of a sentence, roughly equivalent to NA KHRAP นะครับ or NA KHA นะคะ.
eg KHAWP JAI LAI LAI DER
- many thanks
SAEP IH-LEE DER
- really delicious
MAO BAW KHAP DER
- don't drink and drive.
NA KHRAP นะครับ/NA KHA นะคะ
DAWK ดอก
DAWK is a particle tacked on to the end of sentences. It adds politeness and makes things sound softer and more friendly.
The equivalent in Central Thai is RAWK.
eg BAW PEN NYANG DAWK
บ่อเป็นหยังดอก
- That's all right/It doesn't matter/Don't mention it.
RAWK หรอก;
MAI PEN RAI RAWK
ไม่เป็นไรหรอก
- That's all right/It doesn't matter/Don't mention it.
