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The Lao alphabet is used mainly to write the Lao language.
The minority languages of Laos are also written in the Lao alphabet, and officially it is the only alphabet to write them in Laos, but many speakers of Hmong prefer the latin alphabet.
Consonants
The table below shows the Lao consonant letters with their phonetic value in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), 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 | pʰ | 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 |
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 | 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 | |||||||||||
| ໄກະ/ກົກ | o | ô | o | ໄກ | oː | ô | ō | o | |||||||||||
| ເກາະ/ກັອກ | ɔ | o | ǫ | ກໍ/ກອກ | ɔː | o | ǭ | ||||||||||||
| ເກິະ/ເກິກ | ɤ | eu | œ | ເກີ/ ເກືກ | ɤː | eu | œ̄ | ||||||||||||
| ເກົາ | au | ao | ao | ||||||||||||||||
| ກໍາ | am | am | am | am |
Lao in Unicode
The Unicode range for Lao is U+0E80 ... U+0EFF.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |||
| E80 | | ກ | ຂ | | ຄ | | ຆ | ງ | ຈ | ຉ | ຊ | | ຌ | ຍ | ຎ | ຏ | |
| E90 | ຐ | ຑ | ຒ | ຓ | ດ | ຕ | ຖ | ທ | ຘ | ນ | ບ | ປ | ຜ | ຝ | ພ | ຟ | |
| EA0 | ຠ | ມ | ຢ | ຣ | | ລ | | ວ | ຨ | ຩ | ສ | ຫ | ຬ | ອ | ຮ | ຯ | |
| EB0 | ະ | ັ | າ | ຳ | ິ | ີ | ຶ | ື | ຸ | ູ | ຺ | ົ | ຼ | ຽ | | | |
| EC0 | ເ | ແ | ໂ | ໃ | ໄ | | ໆ | | ່ | ້ | ໊ | ໋ | ໌ | ໍ | ໎ | | |
| ED0 | ໐ | ໑ | ໒ | ໓ | ໔ | ໕ | ໖ | ໗ | ໘ | ໙ | | | ໜ | ໝ | ໞ | ໟ | |
| EE0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| EF0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
External links
- Omniglot - Lao alphabet
- The Lao Alphabet at SEAsite
- Laos - language situation by N. J. Enfield
See also
"Lao alphabet"