# Lao script

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Abugida script for the Lao language

Lao ອັກສອນລາວ Script type Abugida Period c. 1497 – present[1] Direction Left-to-right Languages Lao, Isan and others Related scripts Parent systems Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi script Tamil-Brahmi Pallava Khmer Sukhothai Fakkham Tai Noi Lao ISO 15924 ISO 15924 Laoo (356), ​Lao Unicode Unicode alias Lao Unicode range U+0E80–U+0EFF This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

**This article contains [Lao text](/source/Lao_language).** Without proper [rendering support](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Multilingual_support_(Indic)), you may see [question marks, boxes, or other symbols](/source/Specials_(Unicode_block)#Replacement_character) instead of [Lao script](/source/Lao_alphabet).

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**Lao script** or **Akson Lao** (Lao: ອັກສອນລາວ [\[ʔák.sɔ̌ːn láːw\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)) is the primary script used to write the [Lao language](/source/Lao_language) and other languages in [Laos](/source/Laos). Its earlier form, the [Tai Noi script](/source/Tai_Noi_script), was also used to write the [Isan language](/source/Isan_language), but was replaced by the [Thai script](/source/Thai_script). It has 27 [consonants](/source/Consonants) (ພະຍັນຊະນະ [\[pʰā.ɲán.sā.nāʔ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)), 7 consonantal ligatures (ພະຍັນຊະນະປະສົມ [\[pʰā.ɲán.sā.nāʔ pā.sǒm\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)), 33 vowels (ສະຫລະ/ສະຫຼະ [\[sā.láʔ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)), and 4 tone marks (ວັນນະຍຸດ [\[wán.nā.ɲūt\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)).

The Lao abugida was adapted from the [Khmer script](/source/Khmer_script), which itself was derived from the [Pallava script](/source/Pallava_script), a variant of the [Grantha script](/source/Grantha_script) descended from the [Brāhmī script](/source/Brahmi_script), which was used in southern India and South East Asia during the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Akson Lao is a sister system to the [Thai script](/source/Thai_script), with which it shares many similarities and roots. However, Lao has fewer characters and is formed in a more curvilinear fashion than Thai.

Lao is written from left to right. Vowels can be written above, below, in front of, or behind consonants, with some vowel combinations written before, over, and after. Spaces for separating words and punctuation were traditionally not used, but space is used and functions in place of a comma or period. The letters have no majuscule or minuscule (upper- and lowercase) differentiation.

## History

Further information: [Tai Noi script](/source/Tai_Noi_script)

The Lao script ultimately derived from a variant of the [Old Khmer script](/source/Khmer_script) of [Angkor](/source/Khmer_Empire), through the [Sukhothai script](/source/Sukhothai_script). By the late 15th century, a form of the Sukhothai script had reached the Mekong River basin, after which the script developed differences between its Thai and Lao variants.

In the 1930s, [Maha Sila Viravong](/source/Maha_Sila_Viravong), a Buddhist scholar, backed by the Buddhist Institute in Vientiane and the Buddhist Academic Council, added an additional set of Lao characters to support Pali and Sanskrit, thereby filling the missing gaps in the existing script.[2] While the Buddhist Institute published books that utilised these extended Indic characters, they did not see widespread usage, and fell out of usage by 1975.[2]In the 1960s, the [Lao People's Revolutionary Party](/source/Lao_People's_Revolutionary_Party) simplified the spelling to be phonemic and omitted extra letters used to write words of Pali-Sanskrit origin.[3][1]

In 2019, the extended Indic characters were added to [Unicode](/source/Unicode) 12.[4]

Evolution of the Lao Script

Lao script on a sign at Wat That Luang, Vientiane.

## Consonants

The twenty-seven consonants of the Lao alphabet are divided into three tone classes—high (ສູງ [\[sǔːŋ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)), middle (ກາງ [\[kàːŋ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)), and low (ຕ່ຳ [\[tām\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao))—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 [acrophonical](/source/Acrophony) 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.[5] A comprehensive dictionary published by a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Information and Culture did not include it.[6] 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.[7] The letter ຣ can also be found in Unit 14 (ບົດທີ 14 ຮ ຫ ຣ) of a textbook published by the government.[8] 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](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) (IPA), as well as various romanisation 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 Anglo-based system in use by the US [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress) (LC), [Royal Thai General System of Transcription](/source/Royal_Thai_General_System_of_Transcription) (RTGS) used in Thailand, and finally its [Unicode](/source/Unicode) name. A slash indicates the pronunciation at the beginning juxtaposed with its pronunciation at the end of a syllable.

Letter Name Initial position Final position Unicode Tone Class IPA BGN/PCGN LC RTGS IPA BGN/PCGN LC RTGS ກ ໄກ່ [kāj], chicken /k/ k /k/ k KO Middle ຂ ໄຂ່ [kʰāj], egg /kʰ/, /x/ kh – – KHO SUNG High ຄ ຄວາຍ [kʰwáːj], water buffalo /kʰ/, /x/ kh – – KHO TAM Low ງ ງົວ or ງູ [ŋúa], ox or [ŋúː], snake /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ ng NGO Low ຈ ຈອກ or ຈົວ [tɕɔ̏ːk], glass or [tɕùa] Buddhist novice /tɕ/ ch – – CO Middle ສ ເສືອ [sɯ̌a], tiger /s/ s – – SO SUNG High ຊ ຊ້າງ [sâːŋ], elephant /s/ x s – – SO TAM Low ຍ ຍຸງ [ɲúŋ], mosquito /ɲ/ gn ny y /j/ y i NYO Low ດ ເດັກ [dék], child /d/ d /t/ t DO Middle ຕ ຕາ [tàː], eye /t/ t – – TO Middle ຖ ຖົງ [tʰǒŋ], stocking, bag /tʰ/ th – – THO SUNG High ທ ທຸງ [tʰúŋ], flag /tʰ/ th – – THO TAM Low ນ ນົກ [nòk], bird /n/ n /n/ ne n NO Low ບ ແບ້ [bɛ̑ː], goat /b/ b /p/ p BO Middle ປ ປາ [pàː], fish /p/ p – – PO Middle ຜ ເຜິ້ງ [pʰɤ̏ŋ], bee /pʰ/ ph – – PHO SUNG High ຝ ຝົນ [fǒn], rain /f/ f – – FO TAM[a] High ພ ພູ [pʰúː], mountain /pʰ/ ph – – PHO TAM Low ຟ ໄຟ [fáj], fire /f/ f – – FO SUNG[a] Low ມ ແມວ [mɛ́ːw], cat /m/ m /m/ m MO Low ຢ ຢາ [jàː], medicine /j/ y – – YO Middle ຣ ຣົຖ (ລົດ) or ຣະຄັງ (ລະຄັງ) [ròt] ([lōt]), car or [rā.kʰáŋ], bell /r/, /l/ r /n/ ne n LO LING[b] Low ລ ລີງ [líːŋ], monkey /l/ l – – LO LOOT[b] Low ວ ວີ [wíː], fan /w/ v w /w/ o WO Low ຫ ຫ່ານ [hāːn], goose /h/ h – – HO SUNG High ອ ໂອ or ອື່ງ [ʔòː], bowl or [ʔɯ̄ːŋ] frog /ʔ/ – – – O Middle ຮ ເຮືອນ or ເຮືອ [hɯ́an] house, or [hɯ́a], boat /h/ h – – HO TAM Low

**Notes**

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-alphabetic-ຝຟ_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-alphabetic-ຝຟ_9-1) 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.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-alphabetic-ຣລ_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-alphabetic-ຣລ_10-1) 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 [digraphs](/source/Digraph_(orthography)) based on combinations of the [silent letter](/source/Silent_letter) (unpronounced) ຫ ຫ່ານ with certain other consonants, some of which also have special [ligature](/source/Typographic_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 /kʰ/, ສ and ຊ /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 /pʰ/ + ຍ /ɲ/, ສ /s/ + ນ /n/, and ມ /m/ + ລ /l/. In addition, consonant clusters that had the second component of ຣ /r/ or ລ /l/ were written with a special form ◌ຼ underneath the consonant.[9][10] Since these were not pronounced in Lao, they were removed during various spelling reforms, and this symbol only appears in the ligature ຫຼ.[11]

Letter Initial position Unicode Sample Word Tone Class IPA BGN/PCGN LC RTGS ຫງ /ŋ/ ng ng ເຫງົາ lonely High ຫຍ /ɲ/ gn ny y ny ຫຍ້າ grass High ໜ or ຫນ /n/ n n ໜູ rat High ໝ or ຫມ /m/ m m ໝາ dog High ຫຼ or ຫລ /l/ l l ຫຼັງ back High ຫວ /w/ v w w ແຫວນ ring High

### Phonetic

Lao characters in initial position (several letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation).

Labial Alveolar Alveolo- palatal Palatal Velar Glottal plain lab. Nasal ມ IPA: [m] ນ IPA: [n] ຍ IPA: [ɲ] ງ IPA: [ŋ] Plosive voiced ບ IPA: [b] ດ IPA: [d] voiceless ປ IPA: [p] ຕ IPA: [t] ກ IPA: [k] ອ IPA: [ʔ] aspirated ຜພ IPA: [pʰ] ຖທ IPA: [tʰ] ຂຄ IPA: [kʰ] Fricative ຝຟ IPA: [f] ສຊ IPA: [s] ຂຄ IPA: [x] * ຫຮ IPA: [h] Affricate ຈ IPA: [tɕ] Trill ຣ IPA: [r] Approximant ວ IPA: [ʋ] ** ລ IPA: [l] ຢ IPA: [j] ວ IPA: [w] **

- * In Luang Prabang dialect.

- ** Depends on the dialect.

Lao characters in final position. In the old documents, the letter ຽ could be found in place of ຍ.

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar plain lab. Nasal ມ IPA: [m] ນຣ IPA: [n] ງ IPA: [ŋ] Plosive ບ IPA: [p̚] ດ IPA: [t̚] ກ IPA: [k̚] Approximant ຍ IPA: [j] ວ IPA: [w]

## Vowels

In its earlier form, Lao would be considered a full [abugida](/source/Abugida), in which the *inherent vowel* is embedded in the consonant letters. The 1975 spelling reform by the Lao government shallows the orthography: the main vowels are now written explicitly, but the rest of vowel diacritics still apply.[12] However, many Lao outside of Laos, and some inside Laos, continue to write according to former spelling standards. For example, the old spelling of ສເຫຼີມ[13] "to hold a ceremony, celebrate" contrasts with the new ສະເຫລີມ/ສະເຫຼີມ.[14]

Vowels are constructed from only a handful of basic symbols, but they can be combined with other vowel forms and semi-vowels to represent the full repertoire of diphthongs and triphthongs used in the language. Vowels cannot stand alone or begin a syllable, so the silent consonant ອ, which can function as a vowel in its own right, is used as a base when spelling a word that begins with a vowel sound.

The names of the vowels are just as easy as saying *sala* (ສະຫຼະ, [\[sā.lāʔ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Lao)) before the vowel sign. Some vowels have unique names, and these are ໃ◌ (ໄມ້ມ້ວນ, /mâj mûan/, "rolled stem"), ໄ◌ (ໄມ້ມາຍ, /mâj máːj/, "unwound stem"), ◌ົ (ໄມ້ກົງ, . /mâj kòŋ/, "straight stem"), ◌ັ (ໄມ້ກັນ, . /mâj kàn/, "ear stem"), ◌ຽ (ວິລາມ, /wīʔ láːm/), and ◌ໍ (ນິກຄະຫິດ, /nīk kʰāʔ hǐt/).[15]

Although a dotted circle ◌ is used on this page to represent the consonant, in standard Lao orthography a small x symbol is used for this purpose.[7] Traditionally this was a simple, stylized, sans-serif x and it was included in Lao fonts before Unicode became widespread. Unicode does not make it available as part of the Lao alphabet set, and a lower-case sans-serif x is often used instead.

Some vowels change their forms depending on whether they appear in the final or medial position.

### Short and long vowels

Short vowels Long vowels Letter IPA BGN/PCGN LC RTGS Unicode Letter IPA BGN/PCGN LC RTGS Unicode Final Medial Final Medial ◌ະ ◌ັ◌ /aʔ/, /a/ a a ◌າ /aː/ a ā a aa ◌ິ /i/ i i ◌ີ /iː/ i ī i ii ◌ຶ /ɯ/ u ư ue y ◌ື /ɯː/ u ư̄ ue yy ◌ຸ /u/ ou u u u ◌ູ /uː/ ou ū u uu ເ◌ະ ເ◌ັ◌ /eʔ/, /e/ é e e ເ◌ /eː/ é ē e e ແ◌ະ ແ◌ັ◌ /ɛʔ/, /ɛ/ è æ ae ແ◌ /ɛː/ è ǣ ae ei ໂ◌ະ ◌ົ◌ /oʔ/, /o/ ô o o ໂ◌ /oː/ ô ō o o ເ◌າະ ◌ັອ◌ /ɔʔ/, /ɔ/ o ǫ o ◌ໍ ◌ອ◌ /ɔː/ o ǭ o ເ◌ິ /ɤʔ/ eu œ oe ເ◌ີ /ɤː/ eu œ̄ oe ເ◌ັຍ — /iaʔ/ ia ເ◌ຍ ◌ຽ◌ /ia/ ia īa ia ເ◌ຶອ — /ɯaʔ/ ua ưa uea ເ◌ືອ /ɯa/ ua ư̄a uea ◌ົວະ — /uaʔ/ oua ua ua ◌ົວ ◌ວ◌ /ua/ oua ūa ua

### Special vowels

Letter IPA BGN/PCGN LC RTGS Unicode Old Alternative ໄ◌, ໃ◌* /aj/ ai ai or ay ◌ັຍ ເ◌ົາ /aw/ ao ◌ັວ ◌ໍາ /am/ am ◌ັມ

- * In the Northern ([Luang Prabang](/source/Luang_Prabang)) dialect of Lao, ໃ◌ is pronounced as [aɰ] rather than [aj]; similarly, in the Northeastern ([Houaphanh](/source/Houaphanh_Province)) dialect, ໃ◌ is pronounced as /ɯ/.

As in the neighboring [Thai script](/source/Thai_alphabet), [◌ະ](/source/Visarga) is used to represent a [glottal stop](/source/Glottal_stop) after a vowel.

## Punctuation

Lao is traditionally not written with spaces between words. Spaces are reserved for ends of clauses or sentences. Periods are not used, and questions can be determined by question words in a sentence. Traditional punctuation marks include ◌໌, an obsolete mark indicating silenced consonants; ໆ, used to indicate repetition of the preceding word; ຯ, the Lao ellipsis that is also used to indicate omission of words; ฯ, a more or less obsolete symbol indicating shortened form of a phrase (such as royal names); and ฯລฯ, used to indicate *et cetera*.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In more contemporary writing, punctuation marks are borrowed from French, such as exclamation point !, question mark ?, parentheses (), and «» for quotation marks, although "" is also common. Hyphens (-) and the ellipsis (...) are also commonly found in modern writing.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Numerals

Part of a series on Numeral systems Place-value notation Hindu–Arabic numerals Western Arabic Eastern Arabic Bengali Devanagari Gujarati Gurmukhi Odia Sinhala Tamil Malayalam Telugu Kannada Dzongkha Tibetan Balinese Burmese Javanese Khmer Lao Mongolian Sundanese Thai Other systems History Ancient Babylonian Post-classical Cistercian Mayan Muisca Pentadic Quipu Rumi Contemporary Cherokee Kaktovik (Iñupiaq) By radix/base Common radices/bases 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 11 12 16 20 60 Non-standard radices/bases Bijective (1) Signed-digit (balanced ternary) Mixed (factorial) Negative Complex (2i) Non-integer (φ) Asymmetric Sign-value notation Non-alphabetic Contemporary East Asian Chinese Hokkien Suzhou Japanese Korean Vietnamese Historic East Asian Counting rods Tangut Other non-alphabetic Aegean Attic Aztec Brahmi Chuvash Egyptian Etruscan Kharosthi Prehistoric counting Proto-cuneiform Roman Tally marks Alphabetic Abjad Armenian Alphasyllabic Akṣarapallī Āryabhaṭa Kaṭapayādi Coptic Cyrillic Geʽez Georgian Glagolitic Greek Hebrew List of numeral systems v t e

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 Lao Numerals ໐ ໑ ໒ ໓ ໔ ໕ ໖ ໗ ໘ ໙ ໑໐ ໒໐ Lao Names ສູນ ໜຶ່ງ ສອງ ສາມ ສີ່ ຫ້າ ຫົກ ເຈັດ ແປດ ເກົ້າ ສິບ ຊາວ Thai Numerals ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙ ๑๐ ๒๐ RTGS sun nueng song sam si ha hok chet paet kao sip sao Transliteration soun nung song sam si ha hok chet pèt kao sip xao

## Other languages in Lao script

According to Article 89 of the 2003 Amended Constitution of the [Lao People's Democratic Republic](/source/Lao_People's_Democratic_Republic), the Lao alphabet, though originally used solely for transcribing the Lao language, is also used to write several minority languages.[16][*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*]

1. Additional Lao characters used to write [Pali](/source/Pali)/[Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit), the [liturgical language](/source/Sacred_language) of [Theravāda Buddhism](/source/Theravada), are now available with the publication of Unicode 12.0.[17] The font *Lao Pali (Alpha)* can be downloaded from Aksharamukha.[18]

1. Additional Lao characters used to write [Khmu’](/source/Khmu_language) were also encoded.[19][20] The script has also been adapted for [Katu](/source/Katu_language), while Tai-speaking groups in Viet Nam including the Tai Dam and White Tai use a similar script (called [Tai Viet](/source/Tai_Viet_script)).[21]

1. An older version of Lao, *[Tai Noi](/source/Tai_Noi_script)*, was also used by the ethnic Lao of Thailand's [Isan](/source/Isan) region before Isan was incorporated into Siam.[22] Its use was banned by the Thai government and supplemented with the very similar Thai alphabet in 1871; however, the region remained culturally and politically distant until further government campaigns and integration into the Thai state ([Thaification](/source/Thaification)) were imposed in the 20th century.[23] Attempts to encode Thai Noi in [Unicode](/source/Unicode) have been made.[24]

1. The applicability of Lao script for other minority languages requires further evaluations.[25]

Some minority languages use other writing systems. For example, the [Hmong](/source/Hmong_people) adopted the [Romanized Popular Alphabet](/source/Romanized_Popular_Alphabet) to spell the [Hmong languages](/source/Hmong_language).

### Pali

These now-obsolete Lao letters were once used to spell words of [Pali](/source/Pali) and [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit) derivation, but were removed, reducing the consonant inventory and the similarity of spelling between Thai and Lao.

The modern Lao alphabet cannot be used to transcribe [Pali](/source/Pali), due to spelling reforms. In the 20th century, [Maha Sila Viravong](/source/Sila_Viravong) designed the additional characters to transcribe Pali, based on research into various epigraphic sources, including precursor characters that can be traced back to the [Tai Noi script](/source/Tai_Noi_script).[17] Extended characters to support Lao Pali were added to [Unicode 12](/source/Unicode) in 2019.[26] Below are the consonant letters used for Pali, including their [IAST](/source/IAST) transcriptions (the ones in gold are extended characters not found in the modern Lao alphabet). For additional details, see the Thai script page's sections for the [alphabetic table](/source/Thai_script#Alphabetic) and [usage for Sanskrit and Pali](/source/Thai_script#Sanskrit_and_Pali).

ກ k ຂ kh ຄ g ຆ gh ງ ṅ ຈ c ຉ ch ຊ j ຌ jh ຎ ñ ຏ ṭ ຐ ṭh ຑ ḍ ຒ ḍh ຓ ṇ ດ t ຖ th ທ d ຘ dh ນ n ບ p ຜ ph ພ b ຠ bh ມ m ຍ y ຣ r ລ l ວ v ສ s ຫ h ຬ ḷ ອ a

The extended characters are listed below:

Letter Unicode Similar Thai Letter ຆ PALI GHA ฆ ຉ PALI CHA ฉ ຌ PALI JHA ฌ ຎ PALI NYA ญ ຏ PALI TTA ฏ ຐ PALI TTHA ฐ ຑ PALI DDA ฑ ຒ PALI DDHA ฒ ຓ PALI NNA ณ ຘ PALI DHA ธ ຠ PALI BHA ภ ຨ SANSKRIT SHA ศ ຩ SANSKRIT SSA ษ ຬ PALI LLA ฬ

## Lao compatible software

Linux has been available in Lao since 2005.[27]

[Windows](/source/Windows) did not officially support Lao until [Windows Vista](/source/Windows_Vista).[28] User-generated fonts are freely available online.[29]

In December 2011, the Lao Ministry of Science and Technology, in cooperation with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, officially[30] authorized the use of Phetsarath OT[31] as the standard national font.

The Phetsarath OT font was already adopted by the government in 2009; however, Lao users were unable to use it, as international software manufacturers did not include the font in their software systems. Mobile devices were not able to use or show the Lao language. Instead, mobile phone users had to rely on Thai or English as the language they used.

The Laos Ministry of Post and Telecommunications asked local technicians to develop a software system of international standard that would enable the Phetsarath OT font to be like other font systems that local users could access.

In March 2011, the Lao company XY Mobile presented[32] the Phetsarath OT on mobile phones as well as tablet PCs using the mobile device operating system [Android](/source/Android_(operating_system)).

[iOS](/source/IOS) supports Lao script on [iPhones](/source/IPhones) and [iPads](/source/IPads).

## Unicode

Main article: [Lao (Unicode block)](/source/Lao_(Unicode_block))

The Unicode block for the Lao script is U+0E80–U+0EFF, added in Unicode version 1.0. The first ten characters of the row U+0EDx are the Lao numerals 0 through 9. Throughout the chart, grey (unassigned) code points are shown because the assigned Lao characters intentionally match the relative positions of the corresponding Thai characters. This has created the anomaly that the Lao letter ສ is not in alphabetical order, since it occupies the same code-point as the Thai letter ส.

Lao[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F U+0E8x ກ ຂ ຄ ຆ ງ ຈ ຉ ຊ ຌ ຍ ຎ ຏ U+0E9x ຐ ຑ ຒ ຓ ດ ຕ ຖ ທ ຘ ນ ບ ປ ຜ ຝ ພ ຟ U+0EAx ຠ ມ ຢ ຣ ລ ວ ຨ ຩ ສ ຫ ຬ 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 ໞ ໟ U+0EEx U+0EFx Notes 1.^As of Unicode version 17.0 2.^Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

## See also

- [Romanization of Lao](/source/Romanization_of_Lao)

- [Lao Braille](/source/Lao_Braille)

- [Literature of Laos](/source/Literature_of_Laos)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-auto_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-auto_1-1) ["The Diffusion of Lao Scripts"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230131070448/https://hal.science/hal-02358511/document). Archived from [the original](https://hal.science/hal-02358511/document) on 31 January 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) Rajan, Vinodh; Mitchell, Ben; Jansche, Martin; Brawer, Sascha. ["Proposal to Encode Lao Characters for Pali"](http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17106-lao-for-pali.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Daniels, Peter T.](/source/Peter_T._Daniels) & [Bright, William](/source/William_O._Bright). (Eds.). (1996). *The World's Writing Systems* (pp. 460–461). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Lao Characters for Pali added to Unicode 12 | Computer Science Blog"](https://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/csblog/2019/03/06/lao-characters-for-pali-added-to-unicode-12/). *blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk*. Retrieved 1 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Kangpajanpeng, Kiao; Vilaipan, Vilaisat; Vongnaty, Kunlapan (1999). *English-Lao, Lao-English Dictionary* [*ວັດຈະນານຸກົມ ອັງກິດລາວ ລາວອັງກິດ*] (in Lao). Vientiane.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Konnyvong, Syviengkhek (2005). *Dictionary of the Lao Language* [*ວັດຈະນານຸກົມພາສາລາວ*] (in Lao). Vientiane.{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location_missing_publisher)).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DoES_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DoES_7-1) *Lao Language, level 1* [*ພາສາລາວ*] (in Lao). Vientiane: Ministry of Education and Sports. 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** 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](http://www.moes.edu.la/dge/primary-textbooks-grade-1.php) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210301004605/http://www.moes.edu.la/dge/primary-textbooks-grade-1.php) 1 March 2021 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Ronnakieat, N.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** 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](http://www.laostudies.org/system/files/subscription/Davis.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160309115625/http://www.laostudies.org/system/files/subscription/Davis.pdf) 9 March 2016 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Ivarsson, Søren. (2008). Creating laos: the making of a lao space between indochina and siam, 1860–1945. Copenhagen, Denmark: Nordic Inst of Asian Studies.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Unicode Consortium. (2019). Lao. In *The Unicode Standard Version 12.0* (p. 635). Mountain View, CA: Unicode Consortium.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Allen Kerr, with the assistance of Sing Bourommavong, Houmpheng Phetmongkhonh, Samreung Singhavara, and Somsangouane Loungsisomkham, "Lao-English Dictionary" (1972, Catholic University Press, reprinted 1992 by White Lotus Co., Ltd., Bangkok)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** William L. Patterson and Mario E. Severino, "Lao-English Dictionary" (1995, Dunwoody Press)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Southeast asian language resource lao dictionary. (2005). Retrieved from [http://sealang.net/lao/dictionary.htm](http://sealang.net/lao/dictionary.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100612172359/http://sealang.net/lao/dictionary.htm) 12 June 2010 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** National Assembly No. 25/NA, 6 May 2003. Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Translation Endorsed by the Law Committee of the National Assembly of the Lao PDR. Retrieved from [http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=180175](http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=180175) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131229054452/http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=180175) 29 December 2013 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) [WIPO Lex](/source/WIPO_Lex).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_19-1) Rajan, V., Mitchell, B., Jansche, M., & Brawer, S. (2017). [*Revised Proposal to Encode Lao Characters for Pali*](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17106r-lao-for-pali.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190615000628/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17106r-lao-for-pali.pdf) 15 June 2019 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [*Lao (Pali)*](http://aksharamukha.appspot.com/describe/LaoPali) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210224110819/http://aksharamukha.appspot.com/describe/LaoPali) 24 February 2021 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). Aksharamukha. Retrieved 25 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Hosken, Martin. (2010). [*Proposal to add minority characters to Lao script*](http://unicode.org/L2/L2010/10335r-n3893r.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201003043348/http://unicode.org/L2/L2010/10335r-n3893r.pdf) 3 October 2020 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Miller, Michelle. (2013). [A Description of Kmhmu’ Lao Script-Based Orthography](http://www.sealang.net/mks/mks42miller.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200102170835/http://www.sealang.net/mks/mks42miller.pdf) 2 January 2020 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine). *[Mon-Khmer Studies](/source/Mon-Khmer_Studies)*, 42, 12–25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:02_23-0)** Jenny, Mathias (23 August 2021), Sidwell, Paul; Jenny, Mathias (eds.), ["Writing systems of MSEA"](https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110558142-036/html), *The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia: A comprehensive guide*, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 879–906, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1515/9783110558142-036](https://doi.org/10.1515%2F9783110558142-036), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-11-055814-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-11-055814-2), retrieved 6 December 2024{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_work_parameter_with_ISBN))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Tsumura, Fumihiko. (2009). Magical Use of Traditional Scripts in Northeastern Thai Villages. *Senri Ethnological Studies, 74*, 63–77.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Ronnakiat, Nantana (1992). Evidence of the Thai Noi alphabet found in inscriptions. *The Third International Symposium on Language and Linguistics*, 1326 – 1334.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Mitchell, Ben. (2018). [*Towards a comprehensive proposal for Thai Noi/Lao Buhan script*](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18072-toward-thai-noi.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190615005555/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18072-toward-thai-noi.pdf) 15 June 2019 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Lew, Sigrid. (2014). A linguistic analysis of the Lao writing system and its suitability for minority language orthographies. *Writing Systems Research, 6*(1), 25–40. [doi:10.1080/17586801.2013.846843](https://doi.org/10.1080/17586801.2013.846843)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** ["Lao Characters for Pali added to Unicode 12 | Computer Science Blog"](https://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/csblog/2019/03/06/lao-characters-for-pali-added-to-unicode-12/). *blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk*. Retrieved 28 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["Survey of Language Computing in Asia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20201119204720/http://www.panl10n.net/english/outputs/Survey/Lao.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** ["Microsoft Windows help page"](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms776260(VS.85).aspx). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171019130420/https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms776260(VS.85).aspx) from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** ["AMERILAO.org site How to "Setup Internet Explorer to read Lao font""](https://web.archive.org/web/20130518231249/http://www.amerilao.org/faq_3.html). Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["New font drives IT development in Laos"](http://www.aihd.mahidol.ac.th/sites/default/files/images/new/pdf/aseannews/l1_30.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213918/http://www.aihd.mahidol.ac.th/sites/default/files/images/new/pdf/aseannews/l1_30.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** ["Phetsarath OT Information page""](http://www.phetsarath.gov.la/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210511201340/https://www.phetsarath.gov.la/) from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** ["Vientiane Times Laos unveils first Tablet"](http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/Video_FileVDO/VDO_Lao_tablet.htm). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200803001213/http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/Video_FileVDO/VDO_Lao_tablet.htm) from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2018.

## Further reading

- Lew, Sigrid. "[A linguistic analysis of the Lao writing system and its suitability for minority language orthographies".](https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17586801.2013.846843) Writing Systems Research ahead-of-print (2013): 1–16.[Authors’s accepted manuscript](http://li.payap.ac.th/images/stories/research/lew_2013_a_linguistic_analysis_of_the_lao_writing_system__authors_accepted_manuscript.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210308040550/https://li.payap.ac.th/images/stories/research/lew_2013_a_linguistic_analysis_of_the_lao_writing_system__authors_accepted_manuscript.pdf) 8 March 2021 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- Simmala, Buasawan and Benjawan Poomsan Becker (2003), *Lao for Beginners*. Paiboon Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-887521-28-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-887521-28-3)

## External links

- [The Lao Alphabet at SEAsite](http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/lang2.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210224220840/http://www.seasite.niu.edu/lao/lang2.htm) 24 February 2021 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [Laos – language situation](https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20061012190818/http://www.mpi.nl/world/persons/private/enfni/Enfield_ELL2_Laos_lg_situation_2004.pdf) by N. J. Enfield

- ["The Unicode Standard 5.0 Code Charts"](http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0E80.pdf) (PDF). (90.4 KB) Lao Range: 0E80 – 0EFF, from the Unicode Consortium

v t e Types of writing systems Overview History of writing Grapheme Lists Writing systems undeciphered inventors constructed Languages by writing system / by first written accounts Types Abjads Numerals Aramaic Hatran Arabic Elifba Egyptian hieroglyphs Elymaic Hebrew Ashuri Cursive Rashi Solitreo Tifinagh Mandaic Manichaean Nabataean Ancient North Arabian Pahlavi Book Inscriptional Inscriptional Parthian Psalter Pegon Phoenician Paleo-Hebrew Pitman shorthand Proto-Sinaitic Punic Samaritan South Arabian Zabur Musnad Sogdian Syriac ʾEsṭrangēlā Serṭā Maḏnḥāyā Teeline Shorthand Ugaritic Abugidas Brahmic Northern Bengali–Assamese Bhaiksuki Brahmi script Devanagari Dogri Gujarati Gupta Gurmukhi Kaithi Kalinga Khema Khojki Khudabadi Laṇḍā Lepcha Mahajani Marchen Meitei Modi Multani Nagari Nandinagari Nepalese scripts Bhujimol Golmol Himmol Kummol Kvemmol Kurukh Pachumol Newar Ranjana Tamyig Tirhuta Limbu Litumol Odia Karani ʼPhags-pa Sharada Siddhaṃ Soyombo Sylheti Nagri Takri Tibetan Uchen Umê Tocharian Zanabazar square Southern Ahom Balinese Batak Baybayin Bhattiprolu Buda Buhid Chakma Cham Fakkham Grantha Goykanadi Hanunoo Javanese Kadamba Kannada Karen Kawi Khmer Khom Thai Kulitan Lanna Langdi Lao Leke Lontara Bilang-bilang Makasar Malayalam Old Maldivian Dhives Akuru Eveyla Akuru Mon–Burmese Pallava Pyu Saurashtra Shan Sinhala Sukhothai Sundanese Old Sundanese Tagbanwa Tai Le New Tai Lue Tai Noi Tai Tham Tai Viet Lai Tay Tamil Tamil-Brahmi Tanchangya Telugu Thai Tigalari Ulu scripts Incung Lampung Lembak Ogan Pasemah Rejang Serawai Vatteluttu Kolezhuthu Malayanma Others Bharati Boyd's syllabic shorthand Canadian syllabics Blackfoot Déné syllabics Dham Fox I Geʽez Gunjala Gondi Japanese Braille Sarati Jenticha Kharosthi Mandombe Masaram Gondi Meroitic Miao Mwangwego Pahawh Hmong Sorang Sompeng Tengwar Thaana Thomas Natural Shorthand Warang Citi Rma Alphabets Linear Adlam Ariyaka Armenian Avestan Pazend Avoiuli Bassa Vah Carian Caucasian Albanian Cirth Coelbren Coorgi–Cox alphabet Coptic Cyrillic Serbian Early Deseret Duployan shorthand Chinook Eclectic shorthand Elbasan Enochian Etruscan Formosan Fox II Franklin's phonetic Fraser Gabelsberger shorthand Gadabuursi Garay alphabet Georgian Asomtavruli Nuskhuri Mkhedruli Veso Bey Glagolitic Gothic Gregg shorthand Greek (Archaic) Greco-Iberian alphabet Hangul Hanifi Hurûf-ı munfasıla Sunuwar Kaddare Kayah Li Klingon Latin Beneventan Blackletter Carolingian minuscule Fraktur Gaelic Insular IPA Kurrent Merovingian Sigla Sütterlin Tironian notes Visigothic Luo Lycian Lydian Manchu Medefaidrin Mru Mundari Bani N'Ko Ogham Ol Chiki Old Italic Old Permic Orkhon-Yenisei (Old Hungarian) Old Uyghur Mongolian Evenki Galik alphabet Manchu Oirat Vagindra Ol Onal Osage Osmanya Pau Cin Hau Phrygian Pisidian Runic Anglo-Saxon Cipher Dalecarlian Elder Futhark Younger Futhark Gothic Marcomannic Medieval Staveless Shavian Sidetic Sorang Sompeng Sunuwar Tifinagh Todhri Tolong Siki Vellara Visible Speech Vithkuqi Wancho Warang Citi Yezidi Zaghawa Non-linear Braille Flag semaphore Maritime flags Moon type New York Point Fingerspelling Telegraph code Ideograms Adinkra Aztec Blissymbols Dongba Ersu Shaba Emoji Isotype Kaidā Miꞌkmaw Mixtec New Epoch Notation Painting Nsibidi Anishinaabewibii'iganan Olmec Siglas poveiras Testerian Yerkish Zapotec Logograms Chinese family of scripts Chinese characters Simplified Traditional Oracle bone script Bronze scripts Seal script large small bird-worm Hanja Kanji Chữ Nôm Sawndip Bowen Chinese-influenced Jurchen Khitan large script Sui Tangut Cuneiform Akkadian Assyrian Elamite Hittite Luwian Sumerian Other logosyllabic Anatolian Bagam Cretan Isthmian Maya Proto-Elamite Tenevil Wiigwaasabak Yi (Classical) Logoconsonantal Demotic Hieratic Hieroglyphs Numerals Hindu-Arabic Abjad Attic (Greek) Muisca Roman Other Sitelen Pona Semi-syllabaries Full Linear Elamite Celtiberian Iberian Northeastern Southeastern Khom Dunging Redundant Espanca script Pahawh Hmong Khitan small script Southwest Paleohispanic Bopomofo Quốc Âm Tân Tự Sign languages ASLwrite SignWriting si5s Stokoe notation Syllabaries Afaka Bamum Bété Byblos Canadian Aboriginal Cherokee Cypriot Cypro-Minoan Ditema tsa Dinoko Eskayan Geba Great Lakes Algonquian Iban Idu Kana Hiragana Katakana Man'yōgana Hentaigana Sōgana Jindai moji Kikakui Kpelle Linear B Linear Elamite Lisu Loma Nüshu Nwagu Aneke script Old Persian cuneiform Sumerian Vai Woleai Yi Yugtun v t e Braille ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑ Braille cell 1829 braille International uniformity ASCII braille Unicode braille patterns Braille scripts French-ordered Albanian Cantonese Catalan Chinese (mainland Mandarin) (largely reassigned) Czech Dutch 6-dot 8-dot English (Unified English) Esperanto French German Ghanaian Guarani Hawaiian Hungarian Iñupiaq IPA Irish Italian Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish (extended to 8-dot) Maltese Māori Navajo Nigerian Philippine Polish Portuguese Romanian Samoan Slovak South African Spanish Taiwanese Mandarin (largely reassigned) Turkish (Azerbaijani) Vietnamese Welsh Yugoslav Zambian Nordic family Estonian Faroese Icelandic Scandinavian Danish Finnish Greenlandic Northern Sámi Norwegian Swedish Russian lineage family i.e. Cyrillic-mediated scripts Belarusian Bulgarian Kazakh Kyrgyz Mongolian Russian Tatar Ukrainian Egyptian lineage family i.e. Arabic-mediated scripts Arabic Persian Urdu (Pakistan) Indian lineage family i.e. Bharati Braille Devanagari (Hindi / Marathi / Nepali) Bengali (Bangla / Assamese) Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Odia Punjabi Sinhala Tamil Telugu Urdu (India) Other scripts Amharic Armenian Burmese Dzongkha (Bhutanese) Georgian Greek Hebrew Inuktitut (reassigned vowels) Khmer Thai and Lao (Japanese vowels) Tibetan Reordered Algerian Braille (obsolete) Frequency-based American Braille (obsolete) Independent Chinese semi-syllabaries Cantonese Mainland Chinese Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin Two-cell Chinese (Shuangpin) Japanese Korean Eight-dot Dutch Luxembourgish Kanji Gardner–Salinas braille codes (GS8) Symbols in braille Braille music Canadian currency marks Computer Braille Code Gardner–Salinas braille codes (science; GS8/GS6) International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Nemeth braille code Braille technology Braille e-book Braille embosser Braille translator Braille watch Mountbatten Brailler Optical braille recognition Perforation Perkins Brailler Refreshable braille display Slate and stylus Braigo People Louis Braille Charles Barbier Róża Czacka Valentin Haüy Harris Mowbray Thakur Vishva Narain Singh Sabriye Tenberken William Bell Wait Organisations Braille Institute of America Braille Without Borders Japan Braille Library National Braille Association Blindness organizations Schools for the blind American Printing House for the Blind Other tactile alphabets Decapoint Moon type New York Point Night writing Vibratese Related topics Accessible publishing Braille literacy RoboBraille

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lao script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_script) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_script?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.