Tai Pao, known in Vietnamese sources as Tai Hang Tong (''Hàng Tổng''), is a Tai language of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. In Laos, it is spoken in Khamkeut District, Pakkading District, and Viengthong District of Bolikhamxai Province. Two

dialects A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...

of Tai Hang Tong are distinguished: Tai Pao and Tai Yo.

Lai Pao script

The Tai Hang Tong in

Tương Dương ''Tương'' (, vi-hantu, 醬) is the name applied to a variety of condiments, a kind of fermented bean paste made from soybean and commonly used in Cuisine of Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisine. Originally, the term refers to a Edible salt, salty p ...

, Nghệ An Province preserve a unique script called Lai Pao or Lai Paw. Since 2006, the preservation of Lai Pao script was made possible by conservation works of

Michel Ferlus Michel Ferlus (; 1935 – 10 March 2024) was a French linguistics, linguist who specialized in the historical phonology of languages of Southeast Asia. In addition to phonological systems, he also studied writing systems, in particular the evoluti ...

References

Tai languages Languages of Vietnam {{tk-lang-stub