Lao Nyo language


Lao Nyo or Nyo is a Southwestern Tai language spoken mostly in Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia, as well as in Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaew Province, Thailand. There are between 10,000 and 15,000 speakers of Lao Nyo in Cambodia. Lao Nyo is classified as a dialect of Lao rather than Nyo, based on linguistic data from Aun Loung Svay Chas village in Cambodia.

Name

The name Nyo likely came about as an exonym that was later adopted as an endonym; the Lao Nyo did not actually originate from the ethnic Nyo of Isan and Laos. This exonym may have been used due to the Lao Nyo's geographical origins or their language.

Classification

Nyo is a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Tha Uthen District, Nakhon Phanom Province and Kantharawichai District, Maha Sarakham Province of Thailand, as well as Khamkeut District, Bolikhamxay Province of Laos. However, Trongdee shows that Lao Nyo of Banteay Meanchey is not Nyo or Yo, although some Lao Nyo tones are more similar to Nyo tones than to Lao tones.

Locations

The following Lao Nyo villages have been documented in Cambodia.
In Sa Kaew Province, Thailand, the Lao Nyo are found in the following subdistricts of Aranyaprathet District.
  • Klong Nam Sai
  • Mueang Phai
  • Phan Suek
  • Tha Kham
  • Aranyaprathet