Lao people I need your help

[PhoneO_5]

Intersting...thanks guys.
Well crap, I guess I've been saying it wrong. I wonder why my parents never corrected me. :huh:

I only say "hoaw" when referring to myself.
I use "loaw" for mutiples, like "Pork loaw".


So what does "Koaw" mean? I thought it was the word for they/them but I'm not sure anymore.

Okay, another question. When you meet a really old family member, some very high up in the rankings like great grandparents, how are you suppose to address them and approach them? I went to visit a relative in Florida once and she was really old, I think she was like a great aunt or something (she remembered me from when I was a child) and my dad told me to "tuck tai" (I think that's the word he used) her and I was like what? :blink: I mean seriously, my dad expected me to do something I wasn't even taught.
You know what I did? I just mimicked what I saw in lakorns. Apparently it was the right thing to do because they were pleased.

It's hard to determine how you're pronouncing these words when it's all written in english. But, i think I get what you're trying to say. I think you've been saying "loaw" the thai way...in which you got "Puak Loaw" (us, we). In laos it's supposed to be "Hoaw/Puak Hoaw". From the english spelling i can be reading loaw as (hard liquor)

Koaw does mean they/them/him/her/he/she.

Tuck tai means to go and greet a person. I usually want to avoid that because I'm shy. But just saying, "savaidee" is a great start.

When I refer to myself in Laos, I usually say my name instead of "koy" or "ka noy". That's just the way I've been talking from a toddler. I think my family uses "koy" more often than "hoaw". I use "hoaw" to refer to "hoaw si by sai?"/"where are we going?" rather than using it to refer to myself.

i can speak laos very well, but i hate the dialect/accent I have. My parents are from savannakhet, but they have a different tone and I take after my mom's and my fam's dad all lives here so when i talk, i get all embarassed when I'm talking outside of talking to them. My friends, whose mom is from Vientiene thinks that me and my sister has an accent, and I think that she's the one with the accent. But, I think she thinks that because she's used to the northern language and then her dad's from Champasak, so she's used to his tone too.

I remember going to laos a couple years ago and we were in Vientiene and my uncle had different boys living with him and working for him and going to school and stuff. There's this guy from Luang Prabang, and I thought I was used to hearing people talk like this, but I was laying there and he came over and asked me a question and I was like, "uh, what did you just say?" I finally understood him, but I was definitely not used to his accent at that time.

 

[Liberty]

Yeah, someone else had told me that "we/us" in Thai is "rao" and that's how I've been saying it. I spelled it with an "L" because I can't roll my Rs.

I can understand Thai and Lao just fine, it's the speaking part I'm not too great at so I stick to English.

 

[KEdoubleNY]

There is the word 'loaw' in Lao language ... not sure how u spell it but its a 'L' sound

'Loaw' = he/she

'Loaw si pai sai' = where is she going? or where is he going?


btw, Phone ... when you said ... Hoaw si pai sai? ... It doesn't mean .. 'Where are we going?
It mean ... Where Am I going?

'Hoaw' mean I

if you want to say 'where are we goin' ... you have to add .. 'puak' (not sure on the spelling) .... 'Puak Hoaw Si Pai Sai?

 

[lady0fdarkness]

I'm interested in learning Lao vocabularies. I hear them in music and officials when they speak. I think it's quite nice!

 

[noungning]

wow interesting.

i also only use "haow" with my parents or some that i would respect as my parents [i.e. bf's mom]

all else, i just refer to myself with my name, haha and i sound like a kid when i think about it... because i don't refer to myself as koy, which should be the way to speak, but i'm just so used to refering to myself as my name... but when i talk to someone my age or something, i try and remember to refer to myself as koy. or if someone younger, refer to myself as euy.

yeah as mentioned... "laow" can be used for proper him/her "pork (i know pork, but yea, it sounds like that) laow" is them/they/those people, "pork haow" for we

"ka noy", "haow" refering to myself [proper] while talking to elders or those you should show some respect towards, "koy" [improper] can be used in place of haow to those that aren't as close to you, someone your own age or "goo" [improper & rude] can be used with those familiar with or to show disrespect

"jao" is u [proper] or "meung" [improper/rude]

to greet - tuck tai - best thing is just to do a pray gesture and say sabaidee.

 

[Athena]

Intersting...thanks guys.
Well crap, I guess I've been saying it wrong. I wonder why my parents never corrected me. :huh:

I only say "hoaw" when referring to myself.
I use "loaw" for mutiples, like "Pork loaw".

Don't even get me started on saying yes, I just say "K" to everything and everyone, unless it's in a professional setting, then I say "yes".
As for the ka noy thing, I've only ever heard two families use that term. I don't think I was ever taught that.
It's probably why I avoid speaking to adults outside of family or stick to English. Family is just easier, I just say "baa" or "loong" (sorry if I'm spelling it wrong).
I use "jaow" when talking to my parents and grandparents. I don't know if it's appropriate but no one's every corrected me and every one seems to like me just fine, so I don't think I'm being rude, hopefully not anyway.
My aunts and uncles all speak English to me, so other than my parents and grandparents I don't really have a whole lot of Laotian interactions.




Your comment makes me laugh. My sister is the same with you. She says, "they ain't family no need to speak Laotian to them". In our household we use "doi". But never "ka noy". Just as long as you know who you are addressing.

 

[Liberty]

Your comment makes me laugh. My sister is the same with you. She says, "they ain't family no need to speak Laotian to them". In our household we use "doi". But never "ka noy". Just as long as you know who you are addressing.

It's not that I don't want to, I do but it's just safer if I stick to English. ^_^ I'd rather they think I can't speak Lao than say the wrong thing and insult them. It hasn't been an issue though because I don't really interact with other Laotian elders outside of family or close family friends (which are more like family to us). We tend to keep to family, rarely do we interact with other Laotians. It's a trust issue I think, you know how gossipy Asian folks can be.

 

[PhoneO_5]

There is the word 'loaw' in Lao language ... not sure how u spell it but its a 'L' sound

'Loaw' = he/she

'Loaw si pai sai' = where is she going? or where is he going?
btw, Phone ... when you said ... Hoaw si pai sai? ... It doesn't mean .. 'Where are we going?
It mean ... Where Am I going?

'Hoaw' mean I

if you want to say 'where are we goin' ... you have to add .. 'puak' (not sure on the spelling) .... 'Puak Hoaw Si Pai Sai?

yeah, i meant to put "puak" out in front, but i didn't go back to read what i wrote.

 

[KEdoubleNY]

I think Lao teens and kids in America tend to speak English to their friends, siblings and now parents ... that some are forgetting their own language ... SAD SAD SAD if you ask me

 

[Liberty]

I think Lao teens and kids in America tend to speak English to their friends, siblings and now parents ... that some are forgetting their own language ... SAD SAD SAD if you ask me

Some aren't even taught the language.
It's not just teens though. Most of my aunts and uncles were born in Laos or Thailand, only one was born in the states and they all speak English to each other. They speak Laotian to my grandparents but other than that, it's mostly English in our home. Nothing wrong with it, we maybe Laotian but we're also Americans, as long as you know your heritage and enough Laotian to speak to other elders.

 

[lady0fdarkness]

Some aren't even taught the language.
It's not just teens though. Most of my aunts and uncles were born in Laos or Thailand, only one was born in the states and they all speak English to each other. They speak Laotian to my grandparents but other than that, it's mostly English in our home. Nothing wrong with it, we maybe Laotian but also American, as long as you know your heritage and enough Laotian to speak other elders.

I've got to agree with you on that, girl!

There's a difference between being a Lao American and forgetting where you come from. For me, I have to admit, I barely speak Lao. I speak English to my sisters and brother and sometimes even to my Mother. I try to speak as much english to her as possible, so she can get used to the language, because she lives in America and afterall, she is surrounded by english speakers. But that doesn't mean I have abandoned my culture. I speak Lao fluently and I speak it to elders or when I want to. And I know the Lao culture like the back of my hand.

But there are those who denies being Lao or even loathes it! Those are the ones that are sad.