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==Consonants== The twenty-seven consonants of the Lao alphabet are divided into three tone classes—high (ສູງ {{IPA|lo|sǔːŋ|}}), middle (ກາງ {{IPA|lo|kàːŋ|}}), and low (ຕ່ຳ {{IPA|lo|tām|}})—which determine the tonal pronunciation of the word in conjunction with the four tone marks and distinctions between short and long vowels. Aside from tone, there are twenty-one distinct consonant sounds that occur in the Lao language. Each letter has an [[acrophony|acrophonical]] name that either begins with or features the letter prominently, and is used to teach the letter and serves to distinguish them from other, homophonous consonants. The letter ອ is a special null consonant used as a mandatory anchor for vowels, which cannot stand alone, and also to serve as a vowel in its own right. The letter ຣ (r) is a relatively new re-addition to the Lao alphabet. It was dropped as part of a language reform because most speakers pronounced it as "l", and had an ambiguous status for several decades. A 1999 dictionary does not include it when listing the full alphabet but does use it to spell many country names.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kangpajanpeng |first1=Kiao |last2= Vilaipan |first2=Vilaisat |last3= Vongnaty|first3= Kunlapan|date=1999|title= English-Lao, Lao-English Dictionary|trans-title=ວັດຈະນານຸກົມ ອັງກິດລາວ ລາວອັງກິດ |language=lo |publisher=Vientiane }}</ref> A comprehensive dictionary published by a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Information and Culture did not include it.<ref>{{cite book |last=Konnyvong |first=Syviengkhek |date=2005 |title=Dictionary of the Lao Language |trans-title=ວັດຈະນານຸກົມພາສາລາວ |language=lo |location=Vientiane}}.</ref> However, as the Lao vocabulary began to incorporate more foreign names (such as Europe, Australia, and America) it filled a need and is now taught in schools.<ref name="DoES">{{cite book |date= 2007|title= Lao Language, level 1|trans-title= ພາສາລາວ|language=lo |location=Vientiane |publisher=Ministry of Education and Sports}}</ref> The letter ຣ can also be found in Unit 14 (ບົດທີ 14 ຮ ຫ ຣ) of a textbook published by the government.<ref>ກະຊວງສຶກສາທິການ ແລະ ກິລາ (Ministry of Education and Sports), & ສະຖາບັນຄົ້ນຄວ້າວິທະຍາສາດການສຶກສາ (Research Institute for Educational Sciences). (2019). ແບບຮຽນ ພາສາລາວ ຊັ້ນປະຖົມສຶກສາ ປີທິ1 ເຫຼັ້ມ1. Retrieved 12 May 2020 from http://www.moes.edu.la/dge/primary-textbooks-grade-1.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301004605/http://www.moes.edu.la/dge/primary-textbooks-grade-1.php |date=1 March 2021 }}</ref> It is generally used as the first consonant of a syllable, or to follow a leading consonant, rarely as a final consonant. ===Consonant chart=== The table below shows the Lao consonant, its name, its pronunciation according to the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA), as well as various romanization schemes, such as the French-based systems in use by both the US ''Board of Geographic Names'' and the British ''Permanent Committee on Geographical Names'' (BGN/PCGN), the English-based system in use by the US [[Library of Congress]] (LC), [[Royal Thai General System of Transcription]] (RTGS) used in Thailand, and finally its [[Unicode]] name. A slash indicates the pronunciation at the beginning juxtaposed with its pronunciation at the end of a syllable. {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan=2|Letter!!colspan=2 rowspan=2|Name!!colspan=4|Initial position!!colspan=4|Final position !rowspan=2|Unicode!!rowspan=2|Tone Class |- !IPA!!BGN/PCGN!!LC!!RTGS !IPA!!BGN/PCGN!!LC!!RTGS |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ກ</span> |align=left|<big>ໄກ່</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[kāj]}}, ''chicken'' |{{IPA|/k/}}||colspan=3|k |{{IPA|/k/}}||colspan=3|k |KO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຂ</span> |align=left|<big>ໄຂ່</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[kʰāj]}}, ''egg'' |{{IPA|/kʰ/}}, {{IPA|/x/}}||colspan=3|kh |–||colspan=3|– |KHO SUNG||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຄ</span> |align=left|<big>ຄວາຍ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[kʰwáːj]}}, ''water buffalo'' |{{IPA|/kʰ/}}, {{IPA|/x/}}||colspan=3|kh |–||colspan=3|– |KHO TAM||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ງ</span> |align=left|<big>ງົວ</big>'' or''<big> ງູ </big>||align=left|{{IPA|[ŋúa]}}, ''ox'' or {{IPA|[ŋúː]}}, ''snake'' |{{IPA|/ŋ/}} ||colspan=3|ng |{{IPA|/ŋ/}} ||colspan=3|ng |NGO||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຈ</span> |align=left|<big>ຈອກ</big>'' or ''<big>ຈົວ </big>||align=left|{{IPA|[tɕɔ̏ːk]}}, ''glass'' or {{IPA|[tɕùa]}} ''Buddhist novice'' |{{IPA|/tɕ/}}||colspan=3|ch |–||colspan=3|– |CO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ສ</span> |align=left|<big>ເສືອ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[sɯ̌a]}}, ''tiger'' |{{IPA|/s/}}||colspan=3|s |–||colspan=3|– |SO SUNG||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຊ</span> |align=left|<big>ຊ້າງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[sâːŋ]}}, ''elephant'' |{{IPA|/s/}}||x||colspan=2|s |–||colspan=3|– |SO TAM||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຍ</span> |align=left|<big>ຍຸງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[ɲúŋ]}}, ''mosquito'' |{{IPA|/ɲ/}} ||gn||ny||y |{{IPA|/j/}}||y||colspan=2|i |NYO||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ດ</span> |align=left|<big>ເດັກ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[dék]}}, ''child'' |{{IPA|/d/}}||colspan=3|d |{{IPA|/t/}}||colspan=3|t |DO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຕ</span> |align=left|<big>ຕາ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[tàː]}}, ''eye'' |{{IPA|/t/}}||colspan=3|t |–||colspan=3|– |TO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຖ</span> |align=left|<big>ຖົງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[tʰǒŋ]}}, ''stocking'', ''bag'' |{{IPA|/tʰ/}}||colspan=3|th |–||colspan=3|– |THO SUNG||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ທ</span> |align=left|<big>ທຸງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[tʰúŋ]}}, ''flag'' |{{IPA|/tʰ/}}||colspan=3|th |–||colspan=3|– |THO TAM||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ນ</span> |align=left|<big>ນົກ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[nòk]}}, ''bird'' |{{IPA|/n/}}||colspan=3|n |{{IPA|/n/}}||ne||colspan=2|n |NO||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ບ</span> |align=left|<big>ແບ້</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[bɛ̑ː]}}, ''goat'' |{{IPA|/b/}}||colspan=3|b |{{IPA|/p/}}||colspan=3|p |BO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ປ</span> |align=left|<big>ປາ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[pàː]}}, ''fish'' |{{IPA|/p/}}||colspan=3|p |–||colspan=3|– |PO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຜ</span> |align=left|<big>ເຜິ້ງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[pʰɤ̏ŋ]}}, ''bee'' |{{IPA|/pʰ/}}||colspan=3|ph |– ||colspan=3|– |PHO SUNG||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຝ</span> |align=left|<big>ຝົນ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[fǒn]}}, ''rain'' |{{IPA|/f/}}||colspan=3|f |–||colspan=3|– |FO TAM{{efn|name=alphabetic-ຝຟ}}||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ພ</span> |align=left|<big>ພູ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[pʰúː]}}, ''mountain'' |{{IPA|/pʰ/}}||colspan=3|ph |–||colspan=3|– |PHO TAM||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຟ</span> |align=left|<big>ໄຟ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[fáj]}}, ''fire'' |{{IPA|/f/}}||colspan=3|f |–||colspan=3|– |FO SUNG{{efn|name=alphabetic-ຝຟ}}||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ມ</span> |align=left|<big>ແມວ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[mɛ́ːw]}}, ''cat'' |{{IPA|/m/}}||colspan=3|m |{{IPA|/m/}}||colspan=3|m |MO||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຢ</span> |align=left|<big>ຢາ</big> ||align=left|{{IPA|[jàː]}}, ''medicine'' |{{IPA|/j/}}||colspan=3|y |–||colspan=3|– |YO||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຣ</span> |align=left|<big>ຣົຖ (ລົດ)</big>'' or ''<big>ຣະຄັງ (ລະຄັງ)</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[ròt]}} ({{IPA|[lōt]}}), ''car'' or {{IPA|[rā.kʰáŋ]}}, ''bell'' |{{IPA|/r/}}, {{IPA|/l/}}||colspan=3|r |{{IPA|/n/}}||ne||colspan=2|n |LO LING{{efn|name=alphabetic-ຣລ}}||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ລ</span> |align=left|<big>ລີງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[líːŋ]}}, ''monkey'' |{{IPA|/l/}}||colspan=3|l |–||colspan=3|– |LO LOOT{{efn|name=alphabetic-ຣລ}}||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ວ</span> |align=left|<big>ວີ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[wíː]}}, ''fan'' |{{IPA|/w/}}||v||colspan=2|w |{{IPA|/w/}}||colspan=3|o |WO||style="background: #ccf"|Low |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຫ</span> |align=left|<big>ຫ່ານ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[hāːn]}}, ''goose'' |{{IPA|/h/}}||colspan=3|h |–||colspan=3|– |HO SUNG||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ອ</span> |align=left|<big>ໂອ</big>'' or ''<big>ອື່ງ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[ʔòː]}}, ''bowl'' or {{IPA|[ʔɯ̄ːŋ]}} ''frog'' |{{IPA|/ʔ/}}||colspan=3|– |–||colspan=3|– |O||style="background: #cfc"|Middle |- align=center |<span style="font-size:190%;">ຮ</span> |align=left|<big>ເຮືອນ</big>'' or ''<big>ເຮືອ</big>||align=left|{{IPA|[hɯ́an]}} ''house'', or {{IPA|[hɯ́a]}}, ''boat'' |{{IPA|/h/}}||colspan=3|h |–||colspan=3|– |HO TAM||style="background: #ccf"|Low |} ; Notes {{Notelist|refs= {{efn|name=alphabetic-ຝຟ|1=The Unicode names for the characters ຝ (FO TAM) and ຟ (FO SUNG) are reversed. This error was introduced into the Unicode standard and cannot be fixed, as character names are immutable.}} {{efn|name=alphabetic-ຣລ|1=The Unicode names for the characters ຣ (LO LING) and ລ (LO LOOT) are reversed. This error was introduced into the Unicode standard and cannot be fixed, as character names are immutable.}} }} ===Consonantal digraphs and ligatures=== Lao also uses [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] based on combinations of the silent (unpronounced) ຫ ຫ່ານ with certain other consonants, some of which also have special [[Typographic ligature|ligature]] forms that are optionally used. In the Thai script, certain consonants are preceded by '''tone modifiers'''. This is because high consonants or low consonants cannot produce the full 5 tones of Thai. For instance, tone modifier '''ห''' can turn low consonants into high ones. This also explains why the Lao script reserved consonants with the same sounds (e.g. ຂ and ຄ {{IPA|/kʰ/}}, ສ and ຊ {{IPA|/s/}}). Both high and low consonants are needed to produce full five (or six) tones of Lao. Such design also exists in Lao. Sonorants ງ, ຍ, ນ, ມ, ລ, ວ are originally low consonants, but when they're preceded by ຫ, they become high consonants. The older versions of the script also included special forms for combinations of ພ {{IPA|/pʰ/}} + ຍ {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, ສ {{IPA|/s/}} + ນ {{IPA|/n/}}, and ມ {{IPA|/m/}} + ລ {{IPA|/l/}}. In addition, consonant clusters that had the second component of ຣ {{IPA|/r/}} or ລ {{IPA|/l/}} were written with a special form ◌ຼ underneath the consonant.<ref>Ronnakieat, N.</ref><ref>Davis, Garry W. (2015). The story of Lao r: Filling in the gaps. ''Journal of Lao Studies'' 2, 97–109. Retrieved from http://www.laostudies.org/system/files/subscription/Davis.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309115625/http://www.laostudies.org/system/files/subscription/Davis.pdf |date=9 March 2016 }}</ref> Since these were not pronounced in Lao, they were removed during various spelling reforms, and this symbol only appears in the ligature ຫຼ.<ref>Ivarsson, Søren. (2008). Creating laos: the making of a lao space between indochina and siam, 1860–1945. Copenhagen, Denmark: Nordic Inst of Asian Studies.</ref> {|class="wikitable" |- ! style="width:80px;" rowspan="2"|Letter!!colspan=4|Initial position !rowspan=2|Unicode!!rowspan=2|Sample Word !rowspan=2|Tone Class |- !IPA!!BGN/PCGN!!LC!!RTGS |- align=center |align=left|<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫງ </span> |{{IPA|/ŋ/}} ||colspan=3|ng |ng||ເຫງົາ ''lonely''||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |align=left|<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫຍ </span> |{{IPA|/ɲ/}} ||gn||ny||y |ny||ຫຍ້າ ''grass''||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |align=left|<span style="font-size:190%;"> ໜ </span>or<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫນ </span> |{{IPA|/n/}}||colspan=3|n |n||ໜູ ''rat''||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |align=left|<span style="font-size:190%;"> ໝ </span>or<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫມ </span> |{{IPA|/m/}}||colspan=3|m |m||ໝາ ''dog''||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |- align=center |align=left|<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫຼ </span>or<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫລ </span> |{{IPA|/l/}}||colspan=3|l |l||ຫຼັງ ''back''||style="background: #fcc"|High |- align=center |align=left|<span style="font-size:190%;"> ຫວ </span> |{{IPA|/w/}}||v||colspan=2|w |w||ແຫວນ ''ring''||style="background: #fcc"|High |} ===Phonetic=== Lao characters in initial position (several letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation). {|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;" ! colspan=2 rowspan=2| ! rowspan=2| [[Labial consonant|Labial]] ! rowspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! rowspan=2| [[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-<br>palatal]] ! rowspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! rowspan=2| [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- ! plain ! [[Labialization|lab.]] |- ! colspan=2|[[Nasal stop|Nasal]] | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ມ | ipa = [m] }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ນ | ipa = [n] }} | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ຍ | ipa = [ɲ] }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ງ | ipa = [ŋ] }} | | |- ! rowspan=3|[[Plosive]] ! [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ບ | ipa = [b] }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ດ | ipa = [d] }} | | | | | |- ! [[voiceless]] | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ປ | ipa = [p] }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ຕ | ipa = [t] }} | | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ກ | ipa = [k] }} | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ອ | ipa = [ʔ] }} |- ! [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ຜ | ch2 = ພ | ipa = [pʰ] }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ຖ | ch2 = ທ | ipa = [tʰ] }} | | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ຂ | ch2 = ຄ | ipa = [kʰ] }} | | |- ! colspan=2|[[Fricative]] | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ຝ | ch2 = ຟ | ipa = [f] }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ສ | ch2 = ຊ | ipa = [s] }} | | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ຂ | ch2 = ຄ | ipa = [x] | note = * }} | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch1 = ຫ | ch2 = ຮ | ipa = [h] }} |- ! colspan=2|[[Affricate]] | | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ຈ | ipa = [tɕ] }} | | | | |- ! colspan=2|[[Trill consonant|Trill]] | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ຣ | ipa = [r] }} | | | | | |- ! colspan=2|[[Approximant]] | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ວ | ipa = [ʋ] | note = ** }} | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ລ | ipa = [l] }} | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ຢ | ipa = [j] }} | | {{letter | s = Laoo | ch = ວ | ipa = [w] | note = ** }} | |} :<small><sup>*</sup> In Luang Prabang dialect.</small> :<small><sup>**</sup> Depends on the dialect.</small> Lao characters in final position. In the old documents, the letter ຽ could be found in place of ຍ. {|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;" ! rowspan=2| ! rowspan=2| [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]] ! rowspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! rowspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]] |- align=center ! plain ! [[Labialization|lab.]] |- align=center ![[Nasal stop|Nasal]] | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ມ| ipa = [m]}} | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch1 = ນ| ch2 = ຣ| ipa = [n]}} | | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ງ| ipa = [ŋ]}} | |- align=center ![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]] | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ບ| ipa = [p̚]}} | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ດ| ipa = [t̚]}} | | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ກ| ipa = [k̚]}} | |- align=center ![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | | | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ຍ| ipa = [j]}} | | {{letter| s = Laoo| ch = ວ| ipa = [w]}} |}
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