Lao language
Lao is one of the Tai languages, spoken in what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. Mongol invaders and expansion in China pushed the Tai people south towards India. Their language was influenced by other languages in the region like the Mon-Khmer and the Austronesian languages. The written form of Lao originally came from the Pali language in India. The script form was brought to the region by Buddhists about two thousand years ago.