Editing Isan language (section)

==Writing systems==

===Tai Noi script===
{{Further|Tai Noi script}}
[[File:Tai_Noi_consonants.png|thumb|left|The consonants of the old Tai Noi alphabet. Letter shapes have been preserved, with few changes, in the modern Lao alphabet.]]
The original writing system used for Isan was the ''Akson Thai Noi'' ({{langx|tts|อักษรไทน้อย}} {{IPA|/ʔǎk.sɔ̆ːn tʰâj nɔ̏ːj/}}, cf. {{langx|lo|ອັກສອນໄທນ້ອຽ}} BGN/PCGN ''Akson Tai Noy''), 'Little Tai alphabet' or ''To Lao'' ({{langx|tts|โตลาว}} {{IPA|/tòː láːw/}}, cf. {{langx|lo|ໂຕລາວ}}), which in contemporary Isan and Lao would be ''Tua Lao'' ({{langx|tts|ตัวลาว}} {{IPA|/tùa lâːw/}} and {{langx|lo|ຕົວລາວ}}, respectively, or 'Lao letters.' In Laos, the script is referred to in academic settings as the ''Akson Lao Deum'' ({{langx|lo|ອັກສອນລາວເດີມ}} {{IPA|/ʔák sɔ̆ːn láːw d̀ɤ̀ːm/}}, cf. {{langx|tts|อักษรลาวเดิม}} RTGS ''Akson Lao Doem'') or 'Original Lao script.' The contemporary Lao script is a direct descendant and has preserved the basic letter shapes. The similarity between the modern Thai alphabet and the old and new Lao alphabets is because both scripts derived from a common ancestral Tai script of what is now northern Thailand which was an adaptation of the [[Khmer script]], rounded by the influence of the [[Mon script]], all of which are descendants of the [[Pallava script]] of southern India.<ref name="ronn"/>

===Thai alphabet===
{{Further|Thai alphabet}}
[[File:Morlamvcd.jpg|thumb|right|Screenshot of a karaoke VCD from [[mor lam|molam]] singer, [[Jintara Poonlarp|Chintara Phunlap]]. In the Lao script, the lyrics seen would appear as '{{lang|lo|ໜີໄປບວດໃຫ້ມັນແລ້ວສາບໍ້}}'.]]
The ban on the ''Tai Noi'' script in the 1930s led to the adoption of writing in Thai with the [[Thai script]]. Very quickly, the Isan people adopted an ''ad hoc'' system of using the Thai script to record the spoken Isan language, using etymological spelling for cognate words but spelling Lao words not found in Thai, and with no known Khmer or Indic etymology, similarly to as they would be in the Lao script. This system remains in informal use today, often seen in letters, text messages, social media posts, lyrics to songs in the Isan language, transcription of Isan dialogue and personal notes.

===Tai Tham===
{{Further|Tai Tham alphabet}}
[[File:Sign of Wat Sri Ubon Rattanaram, Ubon Ratchathani.jpg|thumb|left|200px|An example of the [[Tai Tham alphabet]] formerly used in Laos and Isan for religious literature.]]
The ''[[Tai Tham script|Tai Tham]]'' script ({{langx|tts|อักษรไทธรรม}} {{IPA|/ʔǎk.sɔ̌ːn tʰâj tʰâm/}} RTGS ''akson Thai Tham'', cf. {{langx|lo|ອັກສອນໄທທັມ}}) were also historically known simply as ''tua tham'' ({{langx|tts|ตัวธรรม}} {{IPA|/tùa tʰâm/}}, cf. {{langx|lo|ຕົວທຳ/ຕົວທັມ}} BGN/PCGN ''toua tham'') or '[[dharma]] letters'. The script is the same as used to write [[Northern Thai language|Tai Lanna]] (Kham Mueang), [[Tai Lue language|Tai Lue]], [[Khün language|Tai Khoen]] and shares similarities with the [[Burmese alphabet]], all of which are ultimately derived from the [[Old Mon script]]. ''Tai Tham'' was introduced during the reign of [[Setthathirath]] who although a prince of Lan Xang, was first crowned king of Lan Na. The dynastic union allowed easy movement of monks from Lan Xang that came to copy the temple libraries to bring back home.<ref name="McDaniel">McDaniel, J. (2005). [http://www.laomanuscripts.net/downloads/literaryheritageoflaos29_mcdaniel_en.pdf Notes on the lao influence on northern thai buddhist literature]. ''The literary heritage of Laos: Preservation, dissemination, and research perspectives.'' Vientiane, Laos: Lao National Archives.</ref>

As the name suggests, its use in Lao was restricted to religious literature, either used to transcribe Pali, or religious treatises written in Lao intended solely for the clergy. Religious instructional materials and prayer books dedicated to the laity were written in ''Tai Noi'' instead. As a result, only a few people outside the temples were literate in the script. In Isan, evidence of the script includes two stone inscriptions, such as the one housed at ''Wat Tham [[Suwannakhuha District|Suwannakhuha]]'' in [[Nong Bua Lamphu Province|Nong Bua Lamphu]], dated to 1564, and another from ''Wat Mahaphon'' in [[Maha Sarakham Province|Maha Sarakham]] from the same period.<ref name="Dharma">ธวัช ปุณโณทก (Punnothek, T.) อักษรโบราณอีสาน: อักขรวิทยาอักษรตัวธรรมและไทยน้อย. กรุงเทพฯ: สยามเพรส แมเนจเม้นท์, ๒๕๔๐, ๕๔</ref> Most of the script is recorded on palm-leaf manuscripts, many of which were destroyed during the 'Thaification' purges of the 1930s; contemporaneously this period of Thai nationalization also ended its use as the primary written language in [[Northern Thailand]].<ref name="McDaniel"/>

===Khom script===
{{further|Khom Thai script}}
[[File:Bhuddha Sutra in Thai-Khmer Font.JPG|thumb|right|A sutra in the Khom script. This Khmer script was used to write Buddhist, Brahmanic and ritual texts.]] 
The Khom script ({{langx|tts|อักษรขอม}} {{IPA|/ʔǎk.sɔ̌ːn kʰɔ̆ːm/}} ''akson Khom'', cf. Lao ອັກສອນຂອມ, ''Aksone Khom'') was not generally used to write the ancient Lao language of Isan, but was often used to write Pali texts, or Brahmanic rituals often introduced via the Khmer culture. ''[[Khom]]'' is the ancient Tai word for the [[Khmer people]], who once populated and ruled much of the area before Tai migration and the assimilation of the local people to Tai languages. It was generally not used to write the Lao language ''per se'', but was often found in temple inscriptions, used in texts that preserve Brahmanic mantras and ceremonies, local mantras adopted for use in Tai animistic religion and other things usually concerned with Buddhism, Brahmanism or black magic, such as [[yantra]]s and ''[[yantra tattooing|sakyan]]'' tattoos.