Romanization of Lao
There are several different Lao romanization systems, which are transcriptions of the Lao alphabet into the Latin alphabet.
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[edit] History
One standard system was devised in the first half of the 20th century when Laos was a French protectorate. There are two important factors that govern the way Lao — as opposed to Thai or Isan — was transcribed in that system. The first is that the Lao script does not include mute characters. This standard was put into place via a royal edict, which took the form of a letter from the king to the Comité Littéraire. The idea was both to make it easier for non-ethnic Laotians to read and write Lao, and to differentiate Lao from Thai, which does include mute characters. The second factor is that the French system for transcribing sounds was used, hence "ou", for example, instead of "oo" or "u" for an /u/ sound. If not for these two factors, Lao and Thai romanization would appear very similar.
The French transcription system is reflected by the BGN and PCGN standards. (See below.)
[edit] Tables
[edit] Consonants
The table below shows the Lao consonant letters and their transcriptions according to the US Board on Geographic Names and the British Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (BGN/PCGN), the US Library of Congress (ALA/LC) and the transcriptions used in the Unicode names of the letters.
| Character | Initial position | Final position | Unicode | Official | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | BGN/PCGN | LC | RTSG | IPA | BGN/PCGN | LC | RTSG | |||
| ກ | /k/ | k | /k/ | k | k | g | ||||
| ຂ | /kʰ/ | kh | /k/ | k | k | k | ||||
| ຄ | /kʰ/ | kh | /k/ | k | k | k | ||||
| ງ | /ŋ/ | ng | /ŋ/ | ng | ng | ng | ||||
| ຈ | /t͡ʃ/ | ch | /t/ | t | c | j | ||||
| ສ | /s/ | s | /t/ | t | s | s | ||||
| ຊ | /s/ | x | s | /t/ | t | s | s | |||
| ຍ | /ɲ/ | gn | ny | j | – | – | ny | y | ||
| ດ | /d/ | d | /t/ | t | d | d | ||||
| ຕ | /t/ | t | /t/ | t | t | t | ||||
| ຖ | /tʰ/ | th | /t/ | t | th | t | ||||
| ທ | /tʰ/ | th | /t/ | t | th | t | ||||
| ນ | /n/ | n | /n/ | ne | n | n | n | |||
| ບ | /b/ | b | /p/ | p | b | b | ||||
| ປ | /p/ | p | /p/ | p | p | p | ||||
| ຜ | /pʰ/ | ph | – | – | ph | p | ||||
| ຝ | /f/ | f | /p/ | p | f | f | ||||
| ພ | /pʰ/ | ph | /p/ | p | ph | p | ||||
| ຟ | /f/ | f | /p/ | p | f | f | ||||
| ມ | /m/ | m | /m/ | m | m | m | ||||
| ຢ | /j/ | y | – | – | y | y | ||||
| ຣ* | /r/,/l/ | r | /n/ | ne | n | r | r | |||
| ລ | /l/ | l | /n/ | ne | n | l | l | |||
| ວ | /ʋ/,/w/ | v | v,w | – | – | w | w | |||
| ຫ | /h/ | h | – | – | h | h | ||||
| ອ | /ʔ/ | – | – | – | o | – | ||||
| ຮ | /h/ | h | – | – | h | h | ||||
* Officially removed by the Ministry of Education in the 1970s (replaced with ລ), but still used by many[1]
[edit] Vowel nuclei
The table below shows the Lao vowel nuclei, combined with the consonant ກ.
| IPA | BGN | LC | Unicode | IPA | BGN | LC | Unicode | IPA | BGN | LC | Unicode | IPA | BGN | LC | Unicode | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ກະ/ກັກ | /a/ | a | a | a | ກາ | /aː/ | a | ā | aa | ||||||||||
| ກິ | /i/ | i | i | i | ກີ | /iː/ | i | ī | ii | ເກັຽະ/ກັຽກ | /iə/ | ia | ia | ເກັຽ/ກຽກ | ia | īa | |||
| ກຶ | /ɯ/ | u | ư | y | ກື | /ɯː/ | u | ư̄ | yy | ເກຶອະ/ເກຶອກ | /ɯə/ | ua | ưa | ເກືອ | ua | ư̄a | |||
| ກຸ | /u/ | ou | u | u | ກູ | /uː/ | ou | ū | uu | ກົວະ/ກັວກ | /uə/ | oua | ua | ກົວ/ ກວກ | oua | ūa | |||
| ເກະ/ເກັກ | /e/ | é | e | ເກ | /eː/ | é | ē | e | |||||||||||
| ແກະ/ແກັກ | /ɛ/ | è | æ | ແກ | /ɛː/ | è | ǣ | ei | |||||||||||
| ໂກະ/ກົກ | /o/ | ô | o | ໂກ | /oː/ | ô | ō | o | |||||||||||
| ເກາະ/ກັອກ | /ɔ/ | o | o̜ | ກໍ/ກອກ | /ɔː/ | o | ō̜ | ||||||||||||
| ເກິະ/ເກິກ | /ɤ/ | eu | œ | ເກີ/ ເກືກ | /ɤː/ | eu | œ̄ | ||||||||||||
| ໄກ/ໃກ/ກັຍ | /ai/ | ai | ai | ai/ay | ກາຍ/ກາຽ | /ai/ | āi | ||||||||||||
| ເກົາ | /au/ | ao | ao | ||||||||||||||||
| ກໍາ | /am/ | am | am | am |
[edit] References
- ^ Simmala & Becker, p. 248
[edit] External links
- Simmala, Buasawan and Benjawan Poomsan Becker (2003), Lao for Beginners. Paiboon Publishing. ISBN 1-887521-28-3
- Report on the current status of United Nations romanization systems for geographical names - Lao (PDF; this document refers to the Lao Commission Nationale de Toponymie. There is no Lao romanization system officially adopted by the UN.)
- Library of Congress romanization table for Lao (PDF)
- Unicode code chart for Lao
- ANSI Z39.35-1979, System for the Romanization of Lao, Khmer, and Pali; ISBN 0-88738-968-6.
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