Tai-Kadai · ISO 639-3 tts
Northeastern Thai Language ภาษาอีสาน
Northeastern Thai is a Tai-Kadai language spoken by about 17 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Thai script.
Where Northeastern Thai is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Northeastern Thai
Language family
- Tai-Kadai
- Kam-Tai
- Daic-Beic
- Daic
- Central-Southwestern Tai
- Wenma-Southwestern Tai
- Sapa-Southwestern Tai
- Southwestern Tai
- Southwestern Thai PH
- Lao-Thai
- Sakon Nakhon
- Northeastern Thai
Writing system
Thai script
Related languages
About the Northeastern Thai language
Northeastern Thai (ภาษาอีสาน) is spoken by about 17 million people, which makes it the 76th most spoken language in the world — just behind Madurese (17 million) and ahead of Central Atlas Tamazight (17 million). It belongs to the Tai-Kadai language family and, more precisely, to the Sakon Nakhon group within the Daic-Beic branch.
Where is Northeastern Thai spoken?
Northeastern Thai is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Thailand (17 million).
Northeastern Thai is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Northeastern Thai is written in the Thai script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Thai, Southern Thai, Lao, Northern Thai, Shan, Tai Dam and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 tts.
Frequently asked questions about Northeastern Thai
How many people speak Northeastern Thai?
Where is Northeastern Thai spoken?
What language family does Northeastern Thai belong to?
What is Northeastern Thai called in Northeastern Thai?
Is Northeastern Thai an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.