Editing Isan language (section)

====Finals====
Isan shares with both Lao and Thai a restrictive set of permissible consonant sounds at the end of a syllable or word. Isan, using its current method of writing according to Thai etymological spelling, preserves the spelling to imply the former sound of borrowed loan words even if the pronunciation has been assimilated. Due to spelling reforms in Laos, the letters that can end a word were restricted to a special set of letters, but older writers and those in the Lao diaspora occasionally use some of the more etymological spellings.

In pronunciation, all [[plosive consonant|plosive sounds]] (besides the [[glottal stop]] /ʔ/) are [[unreleased stop|unreleased]], as a result, there is no voicing of final consonants or any release of air. The finals {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} are thus actually pronounced {{IPA|[p̚]}}, {{IPA|[t̚]}}, and {{IPA|[k̚]}}, respectively.

Of the consonant letters, excluding the disused ฃ and ฅ, six (ฉ ผ ฝ ห อ ฮ) cannot be used as a final and the other 36 are grouped as following.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Isan final consonants with Lao script for comparison
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! style="font-weight:normal;" | 
! colspan="2" | Labial
! colspan="2" | Alveolar
! Palatal
! colspan="2" | Velar
! Glottal
|-
! rowspan="3" | Nasal
| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|m}}<br />
| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|n}}<br />
| rowspan="6" | 
| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|ŋ}}
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | 
|-
| colspan="2" | ม
| colspan="2" | ญ, ณ, น, ร, ล, ฬ
| colspan="2" | ง
|-
| colspan="2" | ມ
| ນ{{ref|only|1}}
| ຣ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ລ{{ref|oldish|2}}
| colspan="2" | ງ
|-
! rowspan="3" | Plosive
| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|p}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|t}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPAslink|k}}
| {{IPAslink|ʔ}}
|-
| colspan="2" | บ, ป, พ, ฟ, ภ
| colspan="2" | จ, ช, ซ, ฌ, ฎ, ฏ, ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ด, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ, ษ, ส
| colspan="2" | ก, ข, ค, ฆ
| rowspan="2" | *{{ref|glottal stop|3}}
|-
| ບ{{ref|only|1}}
| ປ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ພ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ຟ{{ref|oldish|2}}
| ດ{{ref|only|1}}
| ຈ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ສ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ຊ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ຕ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ຖ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ທ{{ref|oldish|2}}
| ກ{{ref|only|1}}
| ຂ{{ref|oldish|2}}, ຄ{{ref|oldish|2}}
|-
! rowspan="3" | Approximant
| colspan="2" | /w/{{ref|vowel|4}}
| rowspan="3" colspan="2" | 
| /j/{{ref|vowel|4}}
| rowspan="3" colspan="3" | 
|- style="text-align:left;"
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ว
| style="text-align:center;" | ย
|- style="text-align:left;"
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ວ
| style="text-align:center;" | ຍ
|}
*{{note|only|1}} Where alternative spellings once existed, only these consonants can end words in modern Lao.
*{{note|oldish|2}} Used in pre-1970s Lao spelling as word-final letters.
*{{note|glottal stop|3}} Glottal stop is unwritten but is pronounced at the end of short vowels that occur at the end of a consonant.
*{{note|vowel|4}} These occur only as parts of diphthongs or triphthongs and are usually included as parts of vowels.