Alternate Names: Khmer Lue, Thailand Khmer
Dialects: Buriram, Sisaket, Surin. Different from Central Khmer ,. Dialects mutually intelligible. Many local varieties.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 1,400,000 (2006 Mahidol University), decreasing. Very few monolingual.
Language Use: Vigorous in towns; replaced by Isan [tts] and Thai in cities. A few Chinese shopkeepers speak it. Education, media, religious services, commerce. Positive attitudes. Also use Isan (a dialect of Northeastern Thai [tts]). Also use Central Khmer [khm], Thai [tha]. Used as L2 by Kuy [kdt].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. 1,000 can read Northern Khmer, 100 can write it. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. 1,000 can read Northern Khmer, 100 can write it. Bible: 2003.
Typology: SVO; prepositions; genitives, modifiers, relatives after noun heads; 1 prefix; CV, CVC, CCV; nontonal.
Writing System: Thai
Nation of Origin: Thailand
Other Comments: Buddhist, Christian.