Indonesian language in modern Indonesian, 1,000 Arabic loans, some of Persian and Hebrew origin, some 125 words of Portuguese, some of Spanish and Italian origin, and 10,000 loanwords from Dutch. The vast majority of Indonesian words, however, come from the root lexical stock of Austronesian (including Old Malay). The study of Indonesian etymology and loan words reveals both its historical and social contexts. Examples are the early Sanskrit borrowings from the 7th century during the trading era, the borrowings from Arabic and Persian during the time of the establishment of Islam in particular, and those from Dutch during the colonial period. Linguistic
Lao people Lao people The Lao people or Laotians are a Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, who speak the eponymous language of the Tai–Kadai group, originating from present-day southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Laos, making up 53.2% of the total population. The majority of Lao people adhere to Theravada Buddhism. They are closely related to other Tai peoples, especially (or synonymous) with the Isan people, who are also speakers of Lao language, but native to neighboring Thailand. Historically, Laotian people were regarded as ethnic Thai and viewed themselves as such until the War of Succession and