Help:IPA/Lao

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Lao on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Lao in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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These charts illustrate International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols used for pronunciations of the Lao/Isan (Lao script for Nongkhai-Vientiane dialect, a standard Lao in Laos; Thai script for Isan; and Phu Thai in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA, and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

Consonants
IPA	Lao	Isan	Phu Thai	RTGS	English approximation
Syllable-initial consonants
b	ບ	บ	บ	b	boss
d	ດ	ฎ, ด	ฎ, ด	d	done
f	ຝ, ຟ	ฝ, ฟ	ฝ, ฟ	f	food
h	ຫ, ຮ	ห, ฮ	ห, ฮ	h	head
j	ຢ	ย, อย, หย	ย, อย, หย	y	yak
k	ກ	ก	ก	k	scan
kʰ	ຂ, ຄ	ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ	ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ	kh	can
l	ລ, ຫຼ	ล, ฬ, หล	ร, หร, ล, ฬ, หล	l	law
m	ມ, ໝ	ม, หม	ม, หม	m	much
n	ນ, ໜ	ณ, น, หน	ณ, น, หน	n	not
ŋ	ງ, ຫງ	ง, หง	ง, หง	ng	singer
ɲ^[1]	ຍ, ຫຍ	ญ, ย, หย	ญ, ย, หย	y	canyon
p	ປ	ป	ป	p	span
pʰ	ຜ, ພ	ผ, พ, ภ	ผ, พ, ภ	ph	pan
r^[2]	ຣ, ຫຼ, ຫຣ	ร, หร	ร, หร	r	trilled r
s	ສ, ຊ	ซ, ศ, ษ, ส	ซ, ศ, ษ, ส	s	sue
t	ຕ	ฏ, ต	ฏ, ต	t	stable
tʰ	ຖ, ທ	ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, ท, ธ	ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, ท, ธ	th	table
tɕ	ຈ	จ	จ	ch	somewhat like jean; like Mandarin beijing
tɕʰ^[2]	—	ฉ, ช, ฌ	ฉ, ช, ฌ	ch	somewhat like cheese; like Mandarin qing
w	ວ, ຫວ	ว, หว	ว, หว	w	way
x^[3]	ຂ, ຄ	ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ	ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ	kh	loch
ʔ	ອ	อ	อ		the catch in uh'-oh
Syllable-final consonants
j	ຍ, ຽ	ย	ย	i	toy
k^[4]	ກ	ก, ข, ค, ฆ	ก, ข, ค, ฆ	k	tractor
m	ມ	ม	ม	m	dam
n	ນ	ญ, ณ, น, ร, ล, ฬ	ญ, ณ, น, ร, ล, ฬ	n	pin
ŋ	ງ	ง	ง	ng	sing
p^[4]	ບ	บ, ป, พ, ฟ, ภ	บ, ป, พ, ฟ, ภ	p	apt
t^[4]	ດ	จ, ช, ซ, ฎ, ฏ, ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ด, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ ,ษ ,ส	จ, ช, ซ, ฎ, ฏ, ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ด, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ ,ษ ,ส	t	catnip
w	ວ	ว	ว	o	down
ʔ	ະ	ะ, –	ะ, –		flat (Cockney)

Tones^[5]
IPA	Description
āː	Mid [aː˧]
àː	Low [aː˨˩] or [aː˩]
âː	Falling [aː˦˩] or [aː˥˨]
a᷇ː	High-mid falling [aː˥˧] (Isan)
ȁː	Mid-low falling [aː˧˩] (Lao)
áː	High [aː˦˥] or [aː˥]
ǎː	Rising [aː˨˩˦] or [aː˨˦]

Vowels
IPA	Lao^[6]	Isan/Phu Thai	RTGS	English approximation
Short monophthongs^[7]
a	◌ະ, ◌ັ◌	◌, ◌ะ, ◌ั◌	a	cut
e	ເ◌ະ, ເ◌ັ◌	เ◌ะ, เ◌็◌	e	mate
ɛ	ແ◌ະ, ແ◌ັ◌	แ◌ะ, แ◌็◌	ae	bat
i	◌ິ, ◌ິ◌	◌ิ, ◌ิ◌	i	happy
o	ໂ◌ະ, ◌ົ◌	โ◌ะ, ◌◌	o	boat
ɔ	ເ◌າະ, ◌ັອ◌	เ◌าะ, ◌็อ◌	o	jock (RP)
u	◌ຸ, ◌ຸ◌	◌ุ, ◌ุ◌	u	shoot
ɯ	◌ຶ, ◌ຶ◌	◌ึ, ◌ึ◌	ue	could (weak sound)
ɤ	ເ◌ິ^[8], ເ◌ິ◌	เ◌อะ	oe	the
Long monopthongs
aː	◌າ, ◌າ◌	◌า, ◌า◌	a	bra
eː	ເ◌, ເ◌◌	เ◌, เ◌◌	e	play
ɛː	ແ◌, ແ◌◌	แ◌, แ◌◌	ae	man
iː	◌ີ, ◌ີ◌	◌ี, ◌ี◌	i	green
oː	ໂ◌, ໂ◌◌	โ◌, โ◌◌	o	go
ɔː	◌ໍ, ◌ອ◌	◌, ◌อ, ◌อ◌	o	dog
uː	◌ູ, ◌ູ◌	◌ู, ◌ู◌	u	moon
ɯː	◌ື, ◌ື◌	◌ือ, ◌ื◌	ue	goose (Australian)
ɤː	ເ◌ີ, ເ◌ີ◌	เ◌อ, เ◌ิ◌	oe	fur
Diphthongs
ia	ເ◌ຍ, ◌ຽ◌	เ◌ีย, เ◌ีย◌	ia	idea
ua	◌ົວ, ◌ວ◌	◌ัว, ◌ว◌	ua	poor (British English)
ɯa	ເ◌ືອ, ເ◌ືອ◌	เ◌ือ, เ◌ือ◌	uea	No English equivalent
Vowels + syllable-final /j, w/ and Tripthongs
aj	ໃ◌, ໄ◌	◌ัย, ใ◌, ไ◌	ai	sight
aw	ເ◌ົາ	เ◌า	ao	house
ew	ເ◌ວ, ເ◌ັວ	เ◌ว, เ◌็ว	eo	No English equivalent
ɛw	ແ◌ວ, ແ◌ັວ	แ◌ว, แ◌็ว	aeo	No English equivalent
iw	◌ິວ	◌ิว	io	duty
ɔj	◌ອຍ, ◌ັອຍ	◌อย, ◌็อย	oi	choice
uj	◌ຸຍ	◌ุย	ui	chewy
aːj	◌າຍ	◌าย	ai	mind
aːw	◌າວ	◌าว	ao	cow
eːw	ເ◌ວ	เ◌ว	eo	No English equivalent
ɛːw	ແ◌ວ	แ◌ว	aeo	cow (Australian)
oːj	ໂ◌ຍ	โ◌ย	oi	boy (Australian)
ɔːj	◌ອຍ	◌อย	oi	toy
uːj	◌ູຍ	◌ูย	ui	No English equivalent
ɤːj	ເ◌ີຍ	เ◌ย	oei	millefeuille (British)
iaw	◌ຽວ	เ◌ียว	iao	meow
uaj	◌ວຍ	◌วย	uai	Uruguay
ɯaj	ເ◌ືອຍ	เ◌ือย	ueai	No English equivalent

Other Symbols
IPA	Description
.	Syllable break

^ Not present in Central and Southern Thai.
^ ^a ^b Only loan word from Central and Southern Thai.
^ Allophone of /kʰ/ some dialects.
^ ^a ^b ^c In syllable-final position, /p, t, k,/ have no audible release: [p̚, t̚, k̚].
^ In contrast to Pinyin romanization for Mandarin, Thai romanization uses diacritics in the same way as the IPA.
^ Diacritics are shown on a dotted circle "◌".
^ In Isan, Phu Thai and Lao, the signs ◌ะ and ◌ະ are respectively used to indicate a glottal stop after the vowel.
^ The vowel "ເ◌ິ" is a modern vowel form.

[1] Not present in Central and Southern Thai.

[loan_word-2] Only loan word from Central and Southern Thai.

[3] Allophone of /kʰ/ some dialects.

[no_audible_release-4] In syllable-final position, /p, t, k,/ have no audible release: [p̚, t̚, k̚].

[5] In contrast to Pinyin romanization for Mandarin, Thai romanization uses diacritics in the same way as the IPA.

[6] Diacritics are shown on a dotted circle "◌".

[7] In Isan, Phu Thai and Lao, the signs ◌ะ and ◌ະ are respectively used to indicate a glottal stop after the vowel.

[8] The vowel "ເ◌ິ" is a modern vowel form.

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