Lao

Lao alphabet   Lao

Origin

After the unification of the Lao principalities (meuang) in the
14th century, the Lan Xang monarchs commissioned their scholars to
create a new script to write the Lao language. The scholars probably
modelled the alphabet on the the Old Khmer script, which was itself
based on Mon scripts.

Notable features

  • Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet / abugida
  • Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines
  • Syllables are based around consonants. Vowels are indicated with
    diacritics which can appear above, below or around the consonant letters. When
    they occur on their own or at the beginning of a word, vowels are attached to the
    glottal stop symbol (the final letter in the third row of consonants).
  • Lao is a tonal language with 6 tones. The tone of a syllable is
    determined by a combination of the class of consonant, the type of syllable
    (open or closed), the tone marker and the length of the vowel
    (see below).
  • For some consonants there are multiple letters. Originally they
    represented separate sounds, but over the years the distinction between
    those sounds was lost and the letters were used instead to indicate tones.
    Various offical reforms of the Lao script have reduced the number of duplicate
    consonants.
  • There are no spaces between words, instead spaces in a Lao text
    indicate the end of a clause or sentence.
  • Written Lao is based on the dialect of the Lao capital, Vientiene.
  • There is no official Latin transliteration system for Lao. In Laos,
    French-based systems are used and there is considerable variation in
    spelling, particularly of vowels. In Thailand, the Royal Thai General
    Transcription is used.

Used to write

Lao, a Tai-Kadai language spoken by approximately 15 million people in
Laos and Thailand. It is closely related to Thai and
speakers of Lao are able to understand spoken Thai without too many
difficulties. Thai speakers find it more difficult to understand Lao
due to lack of exposure to the language. The language family is also known
as Kradai, Kra-Dai, Daic or Kadai.

Also used to write: Tai Dam, Lave, Eastern Bru, Western Bru, Mong Njua,
Iu Mien, Jeh, Kuy, Kataang, Lü, Khmu, Western Katu, Lamet, Hmong Daw,
Ngeq, Pacoh, Phunoi, Upper Ta’oih and Lower Ta’oih

Source: http://scriptsource.org/scr/Laoo

Lao alphabet

Consonants

Consonants are divided into three classes which help to determine the tone of a syllable (indicated
by the numbers below). The sounds represented by some consonants change when they are used at the
end of a syllable (indicated by the letters on the right of the slash below). The consonants can
all be used at the beginning of a syllable but only some can be used at the end of a syllable.

Lao Consonants

The consonants in the final row are compounds and conjuncts used as alternatives to the basic consonants.

Vowel diacritics (with k)

Lao vowel diacritics

Numerals

Lao Numerals

Tone indication

  Open syllables Closed syllables *
  unmarked tone marker tone marker short vowel long vowel
Class 1 low mid high falling high low falling
Class 2 low rising mid low falling high low falling
Class 3 high mid high falling mid high falling
  • Categoria dell'articolo:Lingue
  • Tempo di lettura:4 minuti di lettura