Lao alphabet

Lao
Type	Abugida
Languages	Lao and others
Time period	c. 1350–present
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Pallava Khmer Lao
ISO 15924	Laoo, 356
Direction	Left-to-right
Unicode alias	Lao
Unicode range	U+0E80–U+0EFF
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.

The Lao alphabet, Aksone Lao (Lao: ອັກສອນລາວ [ʔáksɔ̌ːn láːw]), is the main script used to write the Lao language and other minority languages in Laos. It is ultimately of Indic origin, the alphabet includes 27 consonants (ພະຍັນຊະນະ [pʰāɲánsānā]), 7 consonantal ligatures (ພະຍັນຊະນະປະສົມ [pʰāɲánsānā pá sǒm]), 33 vowels (ສຣະ [sárā]) (some based on combinations of symbols), and 4 tone marks (ວັນນະຍຸດ [ván nā ɲūt]). According to Article LXXV of Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Lao alphabet is the official script to the official language, but is also used to transcribe minority languages in the country, but some minority language speakers continue to use their traditional writing systems while the Hmong have adopted the Roman Alphabet. An older version of the script was also used by the multi-ethnic Thai Isan, when they were under the rule of the Lao kingdom, until its use was banned and supplemented with the Thai alphabet in 1871, although the region remained distant culturally and politically until further government campaigns and integration into the Thai state (Thaification) were imposed in the 20th century.

Lao is traditionally written from left to right. Traditionally considered an abugida script, where certain 'implied' vowels are unwritten, recent spelling reforms make this definition somewhat problematic, as all vowel sounds today are marked with diacritics. Vowels can be written above, below, in front of, or behind consonants, with some vowel combinations written before, over and after. Spaces and punctuations were traditionally not used, but a space would function in place of a comma or period. Since the letters have no majuscule or minuscule differentiations, rules regarding capitalisation are moot.

History

The Lao script was slowly standardised in the Mekong River valley after the various Tai principalities of the region were merged under the rule of the Kingdom of Lan Xang in the 14th century. This script, known as Tai Noy, has changed little since its inception and continued in use in the Lao-speaking regions of modern-day Laos and Isan, while the Thai alphabet continued to evolve, but similarity of the scripts can still be seen. This script was ultimately influenced by earlier writing systems in use by the Mon and the Khmer.

Traditionally, only secular literature was written with the Lao alphabet. Religious literature was often written in Tai Tham, a Mon-based script that is still used for the Tai Khün, Tai Lue, and formerly for Kham Mueang. Mystical, magical, and some religious literature was written in a modified version of the Khmer alphabet.

Consonants

The 27 consonants of the Lao alphabet are divided into three tone classes—high (ສູງ [sǔːŋ]), middle (ກາງ [kaːŋ]), low (ຕ່ຳ tām)—which determine the tonal pronunciation of the word in conjunction with the four tone marks and distinctions between short and long vowels, but aside from tone, there are 21 distinct consonant sounds that occur in the Lao language. Each letter has an acrophonical name that either begins with or features the word prominently and is used to teach the letter and serves to distinguish them from other, homophonous consonants. The letter ອ is a special null consonant used as an anchor for vowels, which cannot stand alone, as well as serves as a vowel in its own right.

Consonant Chart

The table below shows the Lao consonant, its name, its pronunciation according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as well as various romanisation schemes, such as the French-based systems in use by both the US Board of Geographic Names and the British Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (BGN/PCGN), the English-based system in use by the US Library of Congress (LC), Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTSG) used in Thailand, and finally its Unicode name. A slash indicates the pronunciation at the beginning juxtaposed with its pronunciation at the end of a syllable.

Letter	Name		Initial position				Final position				Unicode	Tone Class
			IPA	BGN/PCGN	LC	RTSG	IPA	BGN/PCGN	LC	RTSG
ກ	ກ ໄກ່	kāi, chicken	/k/	k			/k/	k			KO	Middle
ຂ	ຂ ໄຂ່	kʰāi, egg	/kʰ/	kh			/k/	k			KHO SUNG	High
ຄ	ຄ ຄວາຍ	kʷʰáːj, water buffalo	/kʰ/	kh			/k/	k			KHO TAM	Low
ງ	ງ ງົວ or ງູ	ŋúə, ox or ŋúː, snake	/ŋ/	ng			/ŋ/	ng			NGO	Low
ຈ	ຈ ຈອກ	tɕɔ̏ːk, glass	/tɕ/	ch			/t/	t			CO	Middle
ສ	ສ ເສືອ	sɯˇːə, tiger	/s/	s			/t/	t			SO SUNG	High
ຊ	ຊ ຊ້າງ	sâːŋ, elephant	/s/	x	s		/t/	t			SO TAM	Low
ຍ	ຍ ຍຸງ	ɲúŋ, mosquito	/ɲ/	gn	ny	y	–	–			NYO	Low
ດ	ດ ເດັກ	dék, child	/d/	d			/t/	t			DO	Middle
ຕ	ຕ ຕາ	tàː, eye	/t/	t			/t/	t			TO	Middle
ຖ	ຖ ຖົງ	tʰǒŋ, stocking	/tʰ/	th			/t/	t			THO SUNG	High
ທ	ທ ທຸງ	tʰúŋ, flag	/tʰ/	th			/t/	t			THO TAM	Low
ນ	ນ ນົກ	nōk, bird	/n/	n			/n/	ne	n		NO	Low
ບ	ບ ແບ້	bɛ̑ː, goat	/b/	b			/p/	p			BO	Middle
ປ	ປ ປາ	paː, fish	/p/	p			/p/	p			PO	Middle
ຜ	ຜ ເຜິ້ງ	pʰɤ ̏ŋ, bee	/pʰ/	ph			–	–			PHO SUNG	High
ຝ	ຝ ຝົນ	fǒn, rain	/f/	f			/p/	p			FO TAM	High
ພ	ພ ພູ	pʰúː, mountain	/pʰ/	ph			/p/	p			PHO TAM	Low
ຟ	ຟ ໄຟ	fáj, fire	/f/	f			/p/	p			FO SUNG	Low
ມ	ມ ແມວ	mɛ́ːw, cat	/m/	m			/m/	m			MO	Low
ຢ	ຢ ຢາ	jaː, medicine	/j/	y			–	–			YO	Middle
ຣ	ຣ ຣົຖ or ຣະຄັງ	rōt, car or rākʰáŋ, bell	/r/,/l/	r			n	ne	n		LO LING	Low
ລ	ລ ລີງ	líːŋ, monkey	/l/	l			/n/	ne	n		LO LOOT	Low
ວ	ວ ວີ	víː, fan	/ʋ/,/w/	v	v,w		–	–			WO	Low
ຫ	ຫ ຫ່ານ	hāːn, goose	/h/	h			–	–			HO SUNG	High
ອ	ອ ໂອ	ʔòː, bowl	/ʔ/	–			–	–			O	Middle
ຮ	ຮ ເຮືອນ	hɯ´ːən, house	/h/	h			–	–			HO TAM	Low

Note that the Unicode names for the characters ຝ (FO TAM) and ຟ (FO SUNG) are reversed. The same is true for ຣ (LO LING) and ລ (LO LOOT). This error was introduced into the Unicode standard and cannot be fixed, as character names are immutable.

Consonantal Digraphs and Ligatures

Lao also uses digraphs based on combinations of silent ຫ ຫ່ານ with certain other consonants, some of which also have special ligature forms that are optionally used. Because of the first silent component is of the 'high' tone class, all the digraphs and ligatures are also of the high tone class. The older versions of the script also included special forms for combinations of ພ (pʰ) + ຍ (ɲ), ສ (s) + ນ (n), and ມ (m) + ລ (l). In addition, consonant clusters that had the second component of ຣ (r) or ລ (l) were written with a special form ຼ underneath the consonant. Since these were not pronounced in Lao, they were removed during various spelling reforms and this symbol only appears in the ligature ຫຼ.

Letter	Initial position				Unicode	Tone Class
	IPA	BGN/PCGN	LC	RTSG
ຫງ	/ŋ/	ng			ng	High
ຫຍ	/ɲ/	gn	j	ny	ny	High
ໜ or ຫນ	/n/	n			n	High
ໝ or ຫມ	/m/	m			m	High
ຫຼ or ຫຣ	/r/,/l/	r			r	High
ຫຼ or ຫລ	/l/	l			l	High
ຫວ	/ʋ/,/w/	v	v,w		w	High

Phonetic

Lao characters in initial position (several letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation).

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Alveolo- palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		[m] ມ		[n] ນ		[ɲ] ຍ	[ŋ] ງ
Plosive	voiced	[b] ບ		[d] ດ
	voiceless	[p] ປ		[t] ຕ			[k] ກ	[ʔ] ອ
	aspirated	[pʰ] ຜ, ພ		[tʰ] ຖ,ທ			[kʰ] ຂ, ຄ
Fricative			[f] ຝ, ຟ	[s] ສ, ຊ				[h] ຫ, ຮ
Affricate					[tɕ] ຈ
Approximant			[ʋ] ວ*			[j] ຢ		[w] ວ*
Lateral approximant				[l] ຣ, ລ

^* Depends on the dialects.

Lao characters in final position.

	Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Alveolo- palatal	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	[m] ມ		[n] ນ, ຣ, ລ			[ŋ] ງ
Plosive	[p] ບ, ປ, ພ, ຝ, ຟ		[t] ຈ, ສ, ຊ, ດ, ຕ, ຖ, ທ			[k] ກ, ຂ, ຄ
Approximant		[ʋ] ວ*			[j] ຢ		[w] ວ*

^* Depends on the dialects.

Vowels

There are only a handful of basic symbols, but they can be combined with other vowel forms and semi-vowels like to create the full repertoire of diphthongs and triphthongs used in the language. Vowels cannot stand alone or begin a syllable, so the null consonant, ອ, which can function as a vowel in its own right, is used as a base. The names of the vowels are just as easy as saying sala (ສຣະ, [sáʔrāʔ]) before the vowel sign. Some vowels have unique names, and these are ໃອ (ໄມ້ມ້ວນ, mâj muân, rolled stem), ໄອ (ໄມ້ມາຽ, mâj máːj, unwound stem), ອົ (ໄມ້ກົງ, mâj kòŋ, straight stem), ອັ (ໄມ້ກັນ, mâj kàn, ear stem), ອຽ (ວິຣາມ, vī ráːm), and ອໍ (ນິກຄະຫິດ, nīk kʰā hǐt).

Short vowels							Long vowels
Letter	IPA	BGN/PCGN	LC	RTSG	Unicode		Letter	IPA	BGN/PCGN	LC	RTSG	Unicode
◌ະ, ັ◌	/a/	a			a		◌າ	/aː/	a	ā	a	aa
ິ	/i/	i			i		ີ	/iː/	i	ī	i	ii
ຶ	/ɯ/	u	ư	ue	y		ື	/ɯː/	u	ư̄	ue	yy
ຸ	/u/	ou	u	u	u		ູ	/uː/	ou	ū	u	uu
ເ◌ະ, ເັ	/e/	é	e	e			ເ◌	/eː/	é	ē	e	e
ແ◌ະ, ແັ	/ɛ/	è	æ	ae			ແ◌	/ɛː/	è	ǣ	ae	ei
ໂ◌ະ, ົ◌	/o/	ô	o	o			ໂ◌	/oː/	ô	ō	o	o
ເ◌າະ, ັອ◌	/ɔ/	o	ǫ	o			ໍ, ◌ອ◌	/ɔː/	o	ǭ	o
ເິ, ເິ◌	/ɤ/	eu	œ	oe			ເີ, ເີ◌	/ɤː/	eu	œ̄	oe
ເັຽະ, ັຽ◌	/iə/	ia					ເັຽ, ◌ຽ◌	/iːə/	ia	īa	ia
ເຶອ, ເຶອ◌	/ɯə/	ua	ưa	uea			ເືອ	/ɯːə/	ua	ư̄a	uea
ົວະ, ັວ◌	/uə/	oua	ua	ua			ົວ, ◌ວ	/uːə/	oua	ūa	ua
ໄ◌, ໃ◌, ັຽ, ັຍ	/ai/	ai			ai or ay		◌າຍ, ◌າຽ	/aːi/	ay	āi	ai
ເົາ	/ao/	ao
ຳ	/am/	am

Numerals

Hindu-Arabic numerals	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	20
Lao numerals	໐	໑	໒	໓	໔	໕	໖	໗	໘	໙	໑໐	໒໐
Lao names	ສູນ	ນຶ່ງ	ສອງ	ສາມ	ສີ່	ຫ້າ	ຫົກ	ເຈັດ	ແປດ	ເກົ້າ	ສິບ	ຊາວ
Transliteration	sun	nung	song	sam	si	ha	hok	chet	paet	kao	sip	xao

Lao compatible software

Lao has been available for Linux for many years.

Lao was not officially released for Windows until Windows Vista. Although user generated fonts are freely available online, viewing them required the user to download the fonts; place them into the "Windows", "Fonts", folder; and then open an Internet Explorer window. The user would then navigate to the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options" option, "General" tab. They would need to click on the "Fonts" option and then select the font that they downloaded.

Unicode

Lao script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for Lao is U+0E80–U+0EFF. The first 10 characters of the row U+0EDx are the Lao numerals 0 through 9. Throughout the chart, grey areas indicate non-assigned code points. Although there are many unassigned code points, the ones that are assigned for Lao characters match the relative positions of the corresponding Thai characters.

Lao Unicode.org chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+0E8x

ກ

ຂ

ຄ

ງ

ຈ

ຊ

ຍ

U+0E9x

ດ

ຕ

ຖ

ທ

ນ

ບ

ປ

ຜ

ຝ

ພ

ຟ

U+0EAx

ມ

ຢ

ຣ

ລ

ວ

ສ

ຫ

ອ

ຮ

ຯ

U+0EBx

ະ

ັ

າ

ຳ

ິ

ີ

ຶ

ື

ຸ

ູ

ົ

ຼ

ຽ

U+0ECx

ເ

ແ

ໂ

ໃ

ໄ

ໆ

່

້

໊

໋

໌

ໍ

U+0EDx

໐

໑

໒

໓

໔

໕

໖

໗

໘

໙

ໜ

ໝ

U+0EEx

U+0EFx

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 6.0

See also

• Romanization of Lao
• Brahmic family

References

• Simmala, Buasawan and Benjawan Poomsan Becker (2003), Lao for Beginners. Paiboon Publishing. ISBN 1-887521-28-3

External links

• Omniglot - Lao alphabet
• The Lao Alphabet at SEAsite
• Laos - language situation by N. J. Enfield
• Numerals in many different writing systems, which includes Lao numerals; retrieved 2008-11-12
• The Unicode Standard 5.0 Code ChartsPDF (90.4 KB) Lao Range: 0E80 - 0EFF, from the Unicode Consortium
• Free Lao script for Windows and Mac OS X