Phuan or Northeastern Lao is a Tai language spoken in Laos,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and Cambodia.

Distribution

The Phuan (, ''Phouan'', ) are a tribal Tai people originally inhabiting Xiangkhouang and parts of

Houaphan Houaphanh province ( Laotian: ຫົວພັນ ; Romanization of Lao: ''Houaphan'') is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua. Houaphanh province covers an area of . The province is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east, and ...

provinces of Laos. As a result of slave raids and forced population transfers, there are small, scattered villages of Phuan in Sakon and Udon Thani provinces and another area around Bueang Kan, Nong Khai and Loei provinces in

. Despite the small numbers and isolation, the Siamese kept the Phuan apart from the Lao, and in from other Thai people in Northern and Central

were small communities of Phuan also exist, forcing them to live apart and dress in black clothing. The Phuan in turn practised

endogamous Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...

marriage habits and steadfastness to their language and culture. It is distinct enough that Thais and Isan people generally consider it distinct, although Phuan is considered a Lao

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that ...

in Laos. As a Tai language of northern

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, it shares many similarities with Tai Dam and Tai Lan Na. In contrast to other minority languages of Isan, it is not losing ground to the Thai or

Isan Northeast Thailand or Isan ( Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provi ...

.Paul, L. M., Simons, G. F. and Fennig, C. D. (eds.). 2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com In Thailand, Phuan is spoken in Chachoengsao,

Chaiyaphum Chaiyaphum ( th, ชัยภูมิ, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeastern Thailand, capital of Chaiyaphum Province. it had a population of 58,350, and covers the full '' tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Chaiyaphum District. Chaiy ...

, Lopburi, Nakhon Nayok, Phetchabun,

Phichit Phichit ( th, พิจิตร, เมือง) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, capital of Phichit Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of Mueang Phichit district, an area of 12.017 km². As of 2005 it ...

, Prachinburi, and Saraburi provinces; it is also spoken in an isolated area of Bueng Kan Province, and in one village south of

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

(''Ethnologue''). There are approximately 5,000 Phuan in Mongkol Borei District of Banteay Meanchey Province in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, as well in Battambang Province.

Phonology

Similar to Northern Lao, Phuan has maintained the Proto-Southwestern Tai distinction of Proto-Tai */aɰ/ and */aj/, but the outcome is /əː/ and /aj/, respectively, similar to the Northern Lao dialects of Houaphan which has a significant Phuan presence. Similar to the Phuthai (, ''Phou Tai'', ), final /k/ has been replaced by the glottal stop /ʔ/. What mainly distinguishes Phuan from all other Lao dialects are the vowel transformations that distinguish cognates, such as Lao /uːə/ appearing as Phuan /oː/ and Lao /ɨːə/ appearing as Phuan /iə/. This and a very distinct vocabulary make Phuan mutually intelligible but with difficulty to other Isan or Lao speakers and even harder to understand for native speakers of Central Thai.Akharawatthanakun, P. (2010). 'Phonological variation in Phuan' in ''MANUSYA Journal of Humanities Regular''. Bangkok, Thailand: Chulalongkon University. pp. 50–87.

Consonants

Phuan has the following consonant inventory: Phuan features two consonant clusters, and .

Vowels

Phuan has the following vowel inventory: Two diphthongs are found: and .

Comparison with Lao, Isan and Thai

Vocabulary

Tones

Outside of Xiangkhouang and other native areas in Laos, the scattered Phuan settlements in Thailand have been greatly influenced by the tones of the local languages, however even though most maintain six, those in Louang Phrabang or Central Thailand only have five and when spoken as a second language by tribal peoples of various languages, they may use seven. However all Phuan dialects share distinct tonal split, with syllables beginning with low-clas consonants and marked with the ''mai ek'' (''may ék'') tone mark pronounced differently than similar situations with other class consonants. This is also done in some varieties of Western Lao. Most other Lao dialects have the same tone when marked with the ''mai ek'' tone mark.