Do u know the difference speaking thai..Laos.. Khmer

[youreavinalaff]

5 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

My girlfriend and ex wife are both  from Sisaket province, and both understand a little Laos and Khmer. 

They don't speak fluently in either?

 

As a general rule, those brought up in an Isaan Lao speaking village will speak Thai and Isaan Laos well. They won't understand Khmer. 

 

Those in areas where the dialect varies from village to village, such as some areas of Buriram, Surin and Sissaket, may have a few words of Khmer they maybe picked up from friends at school, but not much.

 

Those brought up in a Khmer village will also understand Isaan Laos because, despite what Norsurin says, it's closeness to Thai.

 

Go into central and northern Isaan, you'll not hear any Khmer. Some in those areas aren't even aware of it's existence.

 

One must also think about the respect for heritage. Some don't want to speak the dialect of others through loyalty to their own heritage. 

 

Go to one of the many concerts held by Newin in Buriram. I've never been to one that doesn't involve fighting between Khmer and Isaan Laos lads.

 

I would hazard a guess, your ex and girlfriend were brought up in a Khmer speaking environment but a village where useage by the younger generations is declining. Hence, you say they know a little of both Khmer and Isaan Laos 

 

Let's not forget Gui and Thai Korat. Two other Isaan dialects to throw into the mix.

[youreavinalaff]

8 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

All Thais, at least all those who went to school can speak "central Thai"

That's about right. Decreasing in numbers as you go back generations. My wife's grandparents were good Thai speakers. They would have been born circa 1930. Their parents were not Thai speakers. No school, no interaction with officialfom, no TV, no radio. No ID cards.

[youreavinalaff]

10 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

And it differs depending on where in Thailand they come from Khmer Surin is a bit  different than Khmer Buriram for example, Both differ widely from True official Khmer 

Indeed. 

 

Hell bai and kleat bai, being examples.

 

You also make a valid and often missed point about Khmer. It's as much a dialect understood by very few in Thailand as it is in Cambodia. 

[fredwiggy]

6 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

They don't speak fluently in either?

 

As a general rule, those brought up in an Isaan Lao speaking village will speak Thai and Isaan Laos well. They won't understand Khmer. 

 

Those in areas where the dialect varies from village to village, such as some areas of Buriram, Surin and Sissaket, may have a few words of Khmer they maybe picked up from friends at school, but not much.

 

Those brought up in a Khmer village will also understand Isaan Laos because, despite what Norsurin says, it's closeness to Thai.

 

Go into central and northern Isaan, you'll not hear any Khmer. Some in those areas aren't even aware of it's existence.

 

One must also think about the respect for heritage. Some don't want to speak the dialect of others through loyalty to their own heritage. 

 

Go to one of the many concerts held by Newin in Buriram. I've never been to one that doesn't involve fighting between Khmer and Isaan Laos.

 

I would hazard a guess, your ex and girlfriend were brought up in a Khmer speaking environment but a village where useage by the youbger generations is declining. Hence, you say they know a little of both Khmer and Isaan Laos 

 

Let's not forget Gui and Thai Korat. Two other Isaan dialects to throw into the mix.

They speak Thai, and a blend of the others. I don't speak much Thai, so I only go by what they've told me as far as using words I know aren't Thai. I live near Cambodia so my ex has that influence, along with Isaan . My girlfriend has relations that have an Cambodian influence, so she has that also. It's mostly Thai-Laos from what they tell me. 

[Bday Prang]

3 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

That's about right. Decreasing in numbers as you go back generations. My wife's grandparents were good Thai speakers. They would have been born circa 1930. Their parents were not Thai speakers. No school, no interaction with officialfom, no TV, no radio. No ID cards.

my mother in law is 80 or so (shes not sure)   she speak with her friends and others exclusively in Khmer but can also speak, read and write  Thai when she has to, My father in law was the same but he could read and speak and write official Khmer too, learnt in the temple apparently.  My mrs and her siblings all  speak Thai and khmer but none of them passed it on to their kids 

So the in laws can only speak Thai to their grandkids,  as they were never taught surin khmer by their parents, I think back in the day the Thai government discouraged people from speaking khmer now its all the rage apparently

Its interesting listening to people in the village talking to each other switching seamlessly from Thai to Khmer, a lot of local radio Djs do the same

I also note that my mrs is quite reluctant to speak khmer to her mother or anybody else  if she is on the phone and likely to be overheard by none khmer speakers who she doesn;t know 

[Bday Prang]

22 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

They don't speak fluently in either?

 

As a general rule, those brought up in an Isaan Lao speaking village will speak Thai and Isaan Laos well. They won't understand Khmer. 

 

Those in areas where the dialect varies from village to village, such as some areas of Buriram, Surin and Sissaket, may have a few words of Khmer they maybe picked up from friends at school, but not much.

 

Those brought up in a Khmer village will also understand Isaan Laos because, despite what Norsurin says, it's closeness to Thai.

 

Go into central and northern Isaan, you'll not hear any Khmer. Some in those areas aren't even aware of it's existence.

 

One must also think about the respect for heritage. Some don't want to speak the dialect of others through loyalty to their own heritage. 

 

Go to one of the many concerts held by Newin in Buriram. I've never been to one that doesn't involve fighting between Khmer and Isaan Laos.

 

I would hazard a guess, your ex and girlfriend were brought up in a Khmer speaking environment but a village where useage by the youbger generations is declining. Hence, you say they know a little of both Khmer and Isaan Laos 

 

Let's not forget Gui and Thai Korat. Two other Isaan dialects to throw into the mix.

I'd forgotten about the Korat "dialect"   In our village we have 3 different tongues spoken  Khmer, Lao and to a lesser degree "Suai" which apparently is an ancient language originally spoken by the elephant herders. They all speak Thai too as far as I am aware

 

To be honest if one attends a music concert anywhere in Thailand these days one should expect frequent fights between Thai youths its almost obligatory but I'm not sure if they care much about what language is spoken. They would all fight their own shadows when drunk or methed up

[youreavinalaff]

35 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

my mother in law is 80 or so (shes not sure)   she speak with her friends and others exclusively in Khmer but can also speak, read and write  Thai when she has to, My father in law was the same but he could read and speak and write official Khmer too, learnt in the temple apparently.  My mrs and her siblings all  speak Thai and khmer but none of them passed it on to their kids 

So the in laws can only speak Thai to their grandkids,  as they were never taught surin khmer by their parents, I think back in the day the Thai government discouraged people from speaking khmer now its all the rage apparently

Its interesting listening to people in the village talking to each other switching seamlessly from Thai to Khmer, a lot of local radio Djs do the same

I also note that my mrs is quite reluctant to speak khmer to her mother or anybody else  if she is on the phone and likely to be overheard by none khmer speakers who she doesn;t know 

I agree. Sadly, in some places, Khmer is dying out. Not so much through not being taught, most pick it up by the immersion method, but because some parents chose not to speak it to the next generations. Our daughter is 23. She can speak and understand Khmer as it's still widely spoken in our village and my wife and her family predominately speak Khmer to each other . However, unlike my wife and in-laws, our daughter rarely speaks it with her friends or family members of a similar age. 

 

In our area there is a mix of Khmer and Isaan Laos speaking villages. The fights are down to heritage. Not so much now but 20 years ago there'd be issues that weren't fuelled by alcohol or drugs. Some put it down to the fact Khmer speakers can understand Isaan Lao but it's not the case the other way round. Paranoia would set in amongst the Isaan Laos speakers when they hear a conversation they don't understand.