Editing Isan language (section)

==Dialects==
{{Further|Lao language#Dialects}}
[[File:Phasa_Lao_thin_Isan.jpg|thumb|right|Geographic distribution of Lao dialects within Northeastern Thailand.]]
Although Isan is treated separately from the Lao language of Laos due to its use of the Thai script, political sensitivity and the influence of the Thai language, dialectal [[isoglosses]] crisscross the Mekong River, mirroring the downstream migration of the Lao people as well as the settlement of Isan from the east to west, as people were forced to the right bank. Isan can be broken up into at least fourteen varieties, based on small differentiations in tonal quality and distribution as well as small lexical items, but these can be grouped into the same five dialectal regions of Laos. As a result of the movements, Isan varieties are often more similar to the Lao varieties spoken on the opposite banks of the Mekong than to other Isan people up- or downstream although Western Lao, formed from the merger of peoples from different Lao regions, does not occur in Laos and is only found in Isan.<ref name="DraperJ2004"/><ref name="dialectal">เรืองเดช ปันเขื่อนขัติย์. ภาษาถิ่นตระกูลไทย. กทม. สถาบันวิจัยภาษาและวัฒนธรรมเพื่อการพัฒนาชนบทมหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล. 2531.</ref>

Isan may have had historical leveling processes. The settlement of the region's interior areas led to dialect mixing and the development of transitional areas. The Vientiane dialect also likely had a major role in bringing Isan varieties closer. The provinces of Loei, Nong Khai and Bueang Kan border areas of Laos where Vientiane Lao is spoken, and together with Nong Bua Lamphu and much of Udon Thani, were long settled by Lao speakers of these dialects from the time of [[Lan Xang]] as well as the [[Kingdom of Vientiane]]. The destruction of [[Vientiane]] and the forced movement of almost the entire population of the city and surrounding region after the [[Lao rebellion (1826–1828)|Lao rebellion]] greatly increased the population of Isan, with these Lao people settled across the region.<ref>Compton, C. J. (2009) ''Contemporary Lao Studies: Research on Development, Language and Culture, and Traditional Medicine''. Compton, C. J., Hartmann, J. F. Sysamouth, V. (eds.). (pp. 160-188). San Francisco, CA: Center for Lao Cultural Studies.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-----bgcolor="#eeeeee"
|+ Lao Dialects
||'''Dialect'''||'''Lao Provinces'''||'''Thai Provinces'''
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Vientiane Lao
| [[Vientiane]], [[Vientiane Prefecture]], [[Bolikhamsai Province|Bolikhamxay]] and southern [[Xaisomboun Province|Xaisômboun]]
| [[Nong Khai Province|Nong Khai]], [[Nong Bua Lamphu Province|Nong Bua Lamphu]], [[Chaiyaphum Province|Chaiyaphum]], [[Udon Thani Province|Udon Thani]], portions of [[Yasothorn Province|Yasothon]], [[Bueng Kan Province|Bueng Kan]], [[Loei Province|Loei]] and [[Khon Kaen Province|Khon Kaen]] (Khon Chaen)
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Northern Lao<br>Louang Phrabang Lao
| [[Luang Prabang Province|Louang Phrabang]], [[Sainyabuli Province|Xaignbouli]], [[Oudomxay Province|Oudômxay]], [[Phongsaly Province|Phôngsali]], [[Bokeo Province|Bokèo]] and [[Luang Namtha Province|Louang Namtha]], portions of [[Houaphanh Province|Houaphan]]
| [[Loei Province|Loei]], portions of [[Udon Thani Province|Udon Thani]], [[Khon Kaen]](Khon Chaen), also [[Phitsanulok Province|Phitsanulok]], [[Phetchabun Province|Phetchabun]] and [[Uttaradit Province|Uttaradit]] (outside Isan)
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Northeastern Lao<br>Phuan (Phouan) Lao
| [[Xiangkhouang Province|Xiangkhouang]], portions of [[Houaphanh Province|Houaphan]] and [[Xaisomboun Province|Xaisômboun]]
| Scattered in isolated villages of [[Chaiyaphum Province|Chaiyaphum]], [[Sakon Nakhon Province|Sakon Nakhon]], [[Udon Thani Province|Udon Thani]], [[Bueng Kan Province|Bueng Kan]], [[Nong Khai Province|Nong Khai]] and [[Loei Province|Loei]]{{efn|Northeastern Lao is sometimes considered a separate language, as it is traditionally spoken by Phuan tribal members, a closely related but distinct [[Tai peoples|Tai]] group. Also spoken in a few small and scattered Tai Phuan villages in [[Sukhothai Province|Sukhothai]], [[Uttaradit Province|Uttaradit]], and [[Phrae Province|Phrae]].}}
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
|Central Lao ({{lang|tts|ลาวกลาง}}, {{lang|lo|ລາວກາງ}})
| [[Khammouane Province|Khammouan]] and portions of [[Bolikhamsai Province|Bolikhamxay]] and [[Savannakhet Province|Savannakhét]]
| [[Mukdahan Province|Mukdahan]], [[Sakon Nakhon Province|Sakon Nakhon]], [[Nakhon Phanom Province|Nakhon Phanom]], [[Mukdahan Province|Mukdahan]]; portions of [[Nong Khai Province|Nong Khai]] and [[Bueng Kan Province|Bueng Kan]]
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Southern Lao
|[[Champasak Province|Champasak]], [[Salavan Province|Saravan]], [[Sekong Province|Xékong]], [[Attapeu Province|Attapeu]], portions of [[Savannakhet Province|Savannakhét]]
| [[Ubon Ratchathani Province|Ubon Ratchathani]] (Ubon Ratsathani), [[Amnat Charoen Province|Amnat Charoen]], portions of [[Si Sa Ket Province|Si Sa Ket]], [[Surin Province|Surin]], [[Nakhon Ratchasima Province|Nakhon Ratchasima]] (Nakhon Ratsasima), and [[Yasothorn Province|Yasothon]]{{efn|Southern Lao gives way to [[Northern Khmer dialect|Northern Khmer]] in Sisaket, Surin, and Buriram, and to [[Khorat Thai]] and, to some extent, Northern Khmer in Nakhon Ratchasima.}}
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
| Western Lao
| * Not found in Laos
| [[Kalasin Province|Kalasin]], [[Roi Et Province|Roi Et]] (Hoi Et), [[Maha Sarakham Province|Maha Sarakham]], portions of [[Khon Kaen Province|Khon Kaen]] (Khon Chaen), [[Chaiyaphum]] (Saiyaphum) and [[Nakhon Ratchasima]] (Nakhon Ratsasima)
|----- bgcolor="#ffffff"
|}