Lao script
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lao | |
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| Type | Abugida |
|---|---|
| Spoken languages | Lao and others |
| Time period | c. 1350–present |
| Parent systems | |
| Unicode range | U+0E80–U+0EFF |
| ISO 15924 | Laoo |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | |
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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 derived from the Khmer script, which explains the similarities between the Lao script and the Thai script. However, since the spelling reform carried out in the 1960s, the modern Lao script is more concise and more phonetic than the previous Lao script and the Thai script.
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 | r | r | r | r |
| ລ | l | l | l | l |
| ວ | w | v/o | v | w |
| ຫ | h | h | h | h |
| ອ* | — | — | o | |
| ຮ | h | h | h | h |
* A zero consonant, but also used for vowels.
[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 | ເກີະ/ 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) |
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| 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
- 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
[edit] See also
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