Isan in the context of "Isan language"

Khmer (/kəˈmɛər/ kə-MAIR; ខ្មែរ, UNGEGN: Khmêr [kʰmae]) is an Austroasiatic language spoken natively by the Khmer people and is an official language and national language of Cambodia. The language is also widely spoken by Khmer people in Eastern Thailand and Isan, Thailand, as well as in the Southeastern and Mekong Delta regions of Vietnam.

Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali especially in the royal and religious registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism, due to Old Khmer being the language of the historical empires of Chenla and Angkor.

Central Thailand (Central Plain) (historically also known as Siam or Dvaravati) is one of the regions of Thailand, covering the broad alluvial plain of the Chao Phraya River. It is separated from northeast Thailand (Isan) by the Phetchabun mountain range. The Tenasserim Hills separate it from Myanmar to the west. In the north it is bounded by the Phi Pan Nam Range, one of the hilly systems of northern Thailand. The area was the heartland of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (at times referred to as Siam) and is still the dominant area of Thailand since it contains the world's most primate city, Bangkok.

Sakon Nakhon (Thai: สกลนคร, pronounced [sā.kōn ná(ʔ).kʰɔ̄ːn]) is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Thailand within the Isan region, and capital city of Sakon Nakhon Province as well as Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, with a population of approximately 76,000. Sakon Nakhon covers the whole tambon of That Choeng Chum and parts of tambons Ngio Don, Huai Yang, Dong Mafai, That Na Weng and Hang Hong. Sakon Nakhon is 651 km (405 mi) north-east of Bangkok by road.

Lao (ພາສາລາວ, [pʰáː.sǎː láːw]), sometimes referred to as Laotian, is the official language of Laos and a significant language in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Spoken by over 3 million people in Laos and 3.7 million in all countries, it serves as a vital link in the cultural and social fabric of these areas. It is written in the Lao script, an abugida that evolved from ancient Tai scripts.

Lao is a tonal language, where the pitch or tone of a word can alter its meaning, and is analytic, forming sentences through the combination of individual words without inflection. These features, common in Kra-Dai languages, also bear similarities to Sino-Tibetan languages like Chinese or Austroasiatic languages like Vietnamese. Lao's mutual intelligibility with Thai and Isan, fellow Southwestern Tai languages, allows for effective intercommunication among their speakers, despite differences in script and regional variations.

Northern Khmer people (Khmer: ជនជាតិខ្មែរខាងជើង; Thai: เขมรเหนือ) or colloquially as Thais of Khmer origin (Thai: ชาวไทยเชื้อสายเขมร); mostly referred to as Khmer Surin (Khmer: ខ្មែរសុរិន្ទ Thai: เขมรสุรินทร์) is the designation used to refer to ethnic Khmers native to the Isan region of Northeast Thailand.

Old Khmer is the oldest attested stage of the Khmer language, an Austroasiatic language historically and presently spoken across Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, and parts of Thailand and Laos. It is recorded in inscriptions dating from the early 7th century until the first few decades of the 15th century. Such inscriptions, spanning nearly a millennium and numbering well over a thousand, present one of the most extensive sources of documentation in Southeast Asia.

Old Khmer was written in an early variant of the Khmer script derived from Pallava, a southern variant of Brahmi, and in turn became the basis of the scripts used for Thai and Lao. Along with Brahmi and Indian influence on Cambodia, Old Khmer saw an influx of Sanskrit loanwords in the domains of religion, philosophy, and to a lesser extent, politics. Despite this, Old Khmer retained a prototypical Austroasiatic typology in phonology, syntax, and morphology, being sesquisyllabic, analytic, having a rich system of derivational affixes.

Udon Thani (Thai: อุดรธานี, pronounced [ʔù.dɔ̄ːn tʰāː.nīː]) is a city in Isan (Northeast Thailand), the capital of Udon Thani Province and the sixth largest city in Thailand. The city municipality (thesaban nakhon / city proper) had a population of 130,531 people as of 2019, while Udon Thani's urban area, Mueang Udon Thani, has a population of approximately 400,000. Udon Thani is one of four major cities in Isan, the others being Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, and Khon Kaen. Together they are known as the "big four of Isan".

Eastern Thailand is a region of Thailand, bordering Cambodia in the east, Northeastern Thailand in the north, and Central Thailand in the west.

The Lao Wiang (Thai: ลาวเวียง, pronounced [lāːw wīaŋ]), sometimes also referred to as Lao Wieng, are a Tai sub-ethnic group of the Isan region. Approximately 50,000 self-identified Lao Wiang live in villages throughout Thailand, especially in the provinces of Prachinburi, Udon Thani, Nakhon Pathom, Chai Nat, Lopburi, Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Suphan Buri, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, and Roi Et with a significant number residing in Bangkok.