Consonants[]
Many consonants in Lao make a phonemic contrast between labialized and plain versions. The complete inventory of Lao consonants is as shown in the table below:[1]
Initial consonants[]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | |||
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | |||||||
| voiceless | p | t | tɕ | tɕʷ | k | kʷ | ʔ | ʔʷ | ||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | tʷʰ | kʰ | kʷʰ | |||||
| Fricative | f | s | sʷ | h | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||||
| Approximant | l | lʷ | j | w | ||||||
Final consonants[]
All plosive sounds are unreleased in final position. Hence, final /p/, /t/, and /k/ sounds are pronounced as [p̚], [t̚], and [k̚] respectively.
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | p | t | k | ʔ* | ||
| Approximant | w | j |
- * The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel.
Vowels[]
All vowels make a phonemic length distinction. Diphthongs are all centering diphthongs with falling sonority.[1] The monophthongs and diphthongs are as shown in the following table:[1]
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Tones[]
Lao has six lexical tones.[2]
Unchecked syllables[]
There are six phonemic tones in unchecked syllables, that is, in syllables ending in a vowel or other sonorant sound ([m], [n], [ŋ], [w], and [j]).
| Name | Diacritic on ⟨e⟩ | Tone letter | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rising | ě | ˨˦ or ˨˩˦ | /kʰǎː/ ຂາ |
leg |
| High level | é | ˦ | /kʰáː/ ຄາ |
stuck |
| High falling | ê | ˥˧ | /kʰâː/ ຄ້າ |
trade |
| Mid level | ē | ˧ | /kʰāː/ ຂ່າ, ຄ່າ |
galangal, value resp. |
| Low level | è | ˩ | /kàː/ ກາ |
crow |
| Low falling | e᷆ | ˧˩ | /kʰa᷆ː/ ຂ້າ |
kill, servant |
Checked syllables[]
The number of contrastive tones is reduced to four in checked syllables, that is, in syllables ending in an obstruent sound ([p], [t], [k], or the glottal stop [ʔ]).
| Tone | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| high | /hák/ ຫັກ |
break |
| mid | /hāk/ ຮັກ |
love |
| low-falling | /ha᷆ːk/ ຫາກ |
if, inevitably |
| falling | /hâːk/ ຮາກ |
vomit, root |
Syllables[]
Lao syllables are of the form (C)V(C), i.e., they consist of a vowel in the syllable nucleus, optionally preceded by a single consonant in the syllable onset and optionally followed by single consonant in the syllable coda. The only consonant clusters allowed are syllable initial clusters /kw/ or /kʰw/. Any consonant may appear in the onset, but the labialized consonants do not occur before rounded vowels.[1]
One difference between Thai and Lao is that in Lao initial clusters are simplified. For example, the official name of Laos is Romanized as Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, with the Thai analogue being Satharanarat Prachathipatai Prachachon Lao (สาธารณรัฐประชาธิปไตยประชาชนลาว), indicating the simplification of Thai pr to Lao p.
Only /p t k ʔ m n ŋ w j/ may appear in the coda. If the vowel in the nucleus is short, it must be followed by a consonant in the coda; /ʔ/ in the coda can be preceded only by a short vowel. Open syllables (i.e., those with no coda consonant) and syllables ending in one of the sonorants /m n ŋ w j/ take one of the six tones, syllables ending in /p t k/ take one of four tones, and syllables ending in /ʔ/ take one of only two tones.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Blaine Erickson, 2001. "On the Origins of Labialized Consonants in Lao". Analysis based on L. N. Morev, A. A. Moskalyov and Y. Y. Plam, (1979). The Lao Language. Moscow: USSR Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies. Accessed 2009-12-19.
- ↑ Blaine Erickson, 2001. "On the Origins of Labialized Consonants in Lao". Analysis based on T. Hoshino and R. Marcus (1981). Lao for Beginners: An Introduction to the Spoken and Written Language of Laos. Rutland/Tokyo: Tuttle. Accessed 2009-12-19.