Lao script

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lao
Type Abugida
Spoken languages Lao and others
Time period c. 1350–present
Parent systems Proto-Canaanite alphabet
 → Phoenician alphabet
  → Aramaic alphabet
   → Brāhmī
    → Pallava
     → Khmer
      → Thai
       → Lao
Unicode range U+0E80–U+0EFF
ISO 15924 Laoo
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.
The Brahmic script and its descendants

Brāhmī

The Lao script is used mainly to write the Lao language.

The minority languages of Laos are also written in the Lao script, and officially it is the only script to write them in Laos, but many speakers of Hmong prefer the Latin alphabet.

The Lao script is very similar to the Thai alphabet, but Lao's spelling system is simpler and more phonetic, partially due to a spelling reform carried out in the 1960s.

Contents

[edit] Consonants

The table below shows the Lao consonant letters with their phonetic value in the International Phonetic Alphabet, and 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 IPA BGN/PCGN ALA/LC Unicode
ກ k k k/k k
ຂ kʰ kh kh/k kh
ຄ kʰ kh kh/k kh
ງ ŋ ng ng/ng ng
ຈ ʧ ch ch/t c
ສ s s s/t s
ຊ s x s/t s
ຍ ɲ gn/y ny/— ny
ດ d d/t d/t d
ຕ t t t/t t
ຖ tʰ th th/t th
ທ tʰ th th/t th
ນ n n n/n n
ບ b b/p b/p b
ປ p p p/p p
ຜ pʰ ph ph/p ph
ຝ f f f/p f
ພ pʰ ph ph/p ph
ຟ f f f/p f
ມ m m m/m m
ຢ j y y y
ຣ l r r l
ລ l l l l
ວ w v/o v w
ຫ h h h h
ອ — — o
ຮ h h h h

[edit] Vowel nuclei

The table below shows the Lao vowel nuclei, combined with the consonant ກ. (provisional version)

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 ເກັຍະ/ເກັຽະ*/ກັຽກ iə ia ia ເກັຍ/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 ǫ ກໍ/ກອກ ɔː o ǭ
ເກິະ/ເກິກ ɤ eu œ ເກີ/ ເກີກ ɤː eu œ̄
ໄກ/ໃກ/ກັຍ* ai ai ai ai/ay ກາຍ/ກາຽ* ai āi
ເກົາ au ao ao
ກໍາ am am am am

* indicates variations no longer used in the reformed spelling

[edit] Lao in Unicode

The Unicode range for Lao is U+0E80–U+0EFF. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.

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                                

[edit] External links

[edit] See also