There are several different Lao romanization systems, i.e. transcriptions of the Lao alphabet in the Latin alphabet. The Lao alphabet is used to write the Lao language. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ...
One standard system was devised in the first half of the 20th century when Laos was a French protectorate. There are two important factors that govern the way Lao - as opposed to Thai or Isan - was transcribed in that system. The first is that the Lao script does not render characters that are not pronounced. This standard was put into place via a royal edict. The idea was both to make it easier for non-ethnic Laotians to read and write Lao, and to differentiate Lao from Thai, which does render characters that are not pronounced. The second factor is that the French system for transcribing sounds was used, hence "ou," for example, instead of "oo" (or "u") for an oo sound. If not for these two factors, Lao and Thai romanization would appear very similar.
The French transcription system is reflected by the BGN and PCGN standards. (See below.)
Tables
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. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... The Great Hall interior. ... Because of technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...
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.
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
ໂກ/ໃກ/ກັຢ
/ai/
ai
ai
ai/ay
ກາຢ/ກາຽ
/ai/
āi
ເກົາ
/au/
ao
ao
ກໍາ
/am/
am
am
am
References and external links
Report on the current status of United Nations romanization systems for geographical names - Lao (PDF; this document refers to the Lao Commission Nationale de Toponymie. There is no Lao romanization system officially adopted by the UN.)
Library of Congress romanization table for Lao (PDF)
Lao (ພາສາລາວ phaasaa laao) is the official language of Laos.
Vientiane Lao, the predominant and dialect due to its use at the capitol where it gets its name from, is widely understood throughout the country, and all the dialects are for the most part intelligable between themselves.
The Lao alphabet is based on the same script as the Thai alphabet.
It is a kung lao ga lao tonal language of the Tai family, and is so closely related to the Isan language lao rice basket of the northeast region of Thailand that the two are often classed as one lao tze language.
Vientiane Lao is widely understood throughout the country, and all the dialects are largely mutually lao zi comprehensible.
The Tham script lao chat is derived from the script used in Lan Na prior to the standardization of the beer lao Thai alphabet, which is itself derived from the Mon script.
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