Lao script

Infobox Writing system
name=Lao
languages=Lao and others
time=c. 1350–present
fam1=Proto-Canaanite alphabet
fam2=Phoenician alphabet
fam3=Aramaic alphabet
fam4=Brāhmī
fam5=Pallava
fam6=Khmer
fam7=Thai
type=Abugida
unicode= [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0E80.pdf U+0E80–U+0EFF]
iso15924=LaooThe 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 very similar to the Thai alphabet, but Lao's spelling system is simpler and more phonetic, partially due to a spelling reform carried out in the 1960s.

Consonants

The table below shows the Lao consonant letters with their phonetic value in the , 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.

Vowel nuclei

The table below shows the Lao vowel nuclei, combined with the consonant ກ."(provisional version)"

* indicates variations no longer used in the reformed spelling

Lao in Unicode

The Unicode range for Lao is U+0E80–U+0EFF. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.

External links

* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/lao.htm Omniglot - Lao alphabet]
* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/lang2.htm The Lao Alphabet at SEAsite]
* [http://www.mpi.nl/world/persons/private/enfni/Enfield_ELL2_Laos_lg_situation_2004.pdf Laos - language situation] by N. J. Enfield
*PDFlink| [http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0E80.pdf The Unicode Standard 5.0 Code Charts] |90.4 KB Lao Range: 0E80 - 0EFF, from the Unicode Consortium

See also

* Romanization of Lao
* Brahmic family