ກ

Lao

[This document is for discussion, and should not yet be used as a reference. It closely follows pages 116-119 of the LA-LC Romanization Tables, with annotations and typographic corrections by Doug Cooper, January 2006.]

Consonants (see note 1)

*Vernacular*	*Romanization When Initial*	*Romanization When Final*
ກ	k	k
ຂ	kh	(k)
ຄ	kh	(k)
ງ	ng	ng
ຈ	ch	(t)
ສ	s	(t)
ຊ	s	(t)
ຍ	ny	-
ດ	d	t
ຕ	t	(t)
ຖ	th	(t)
ທ	th	(t)
ນ	n	n
ບ	b	p
ປ	p	(p)
ຜ	ph	(p)
ຝ	f	(p)
ພ	ph	(p)
ຟ	f	(p)
ມ	m	m
ຢ	y	-
ຣ	r	(n)
ລ	l (see note 3)	(n)
ວ	v (see note 3)	-
ຫ	h (see note 3)	-
ອ	ʻ (ayn)	-
ຮ	h	-

Obsolete Consonants

*Vernacular*	*Romanization*
	s
	t
	t
	tsa
	l

Vowels

*Vernacular*	*Romanization*
-ະ ,‌ - ັ	a
-າ	ā
- ິ	i
- ີ	ī
- ຶ	ư
- ື	ư̄
- ຸ	u
- ຸ ຸ , - ູ	ū
ເ-ະ , ເ- ັ	e
ເ-	ē
ແ-ະ ແ- ັ	æ
ແ-	ǣ
ໂ-ະ , - ົ	o
ໂ-	ō
ເ-າະ , - ັອ	o̜
- ໍ , -ອ	ō̜
ເ- ິະ, ເ- ິ	œ
ເ- ີ	œ̄
ເ- ັ‌ຽະ ັ‌-ຽ	ia
ເ‌‌- ັຽ‌‌ -ຽ	īa
ເ- ຶອະ, ເ- ຶອ	ưa
ເ- ືອ	ư̄a
- ົວະ ັ-ວ	ua
- ົວ , - ວ	ūa
ໄ‌‌- , ໃ- , - ັຍ	ai
-າຍ , -າຽ	āi
ເ‌‌- ົາ	ao
-ຳ	am

Special Symbols

*Vernacular*	*Romanization*
ຯ	…
ໆ	(syllable repeated)
ຯລຯ	la

Notes

1. Some consonants do not occur as finals, except in loan-words. The romanization for these consonants is enclosed in parentheses in the table.

2. In final position, ຍ follows as vowel, closing the dipthong, and is romanized as i. See the vowel table (ai and āi). In non-initial position, ຽ is often written in a secondary form ‌ຫ. See the vowel table (ia and īa).

3. The combining form of ລ is - ຼ. It is not romanized except when subscript to ‌ຫ, thus: ຄຼິສຕຽນ (khitsatīan), ຫຼາຍ (lāi).

4. In initial position, ວ is romanized as v, thus: ວັດ (vat).

When medial ວ is followed by a vowel, it forms a cluster with the initial consonant, and is romanized as w, thus: ຂວາ (khwā), ແຂວງ (khwǣng).

When medial ວ is followed by a final consonant, it is romanized ūa, thus: ບວກ (būa), ດ້ວຍ (dūai)

When ວ is in final position following a vowel, it is romanized as o, thus: ນາວ (nāo), ແກ້ວ (khǣo). See also the vowel table (ua and ūa). The forms - ິວ and - ີວ are romanized as (iu and īu), and the forms ຽວ and ເ- ັຽວ are romanized as īeo.

5. ຫ is not romanized before ຍ (ny), ນ (n), ມ (m), ຣ (r), ລ (l), and ວ (v), thus: ຫຍ (nyā). ຫນ and ຫມ are often written as ligatures, thus: ໜ (n) and ໝ (m).

6. ອ is used in initial position for syllables beginning with a vowel, thus ອີກ (ʻīk). When not in initial position, ອ is a vowel. See the vowel table (o̜, ō̜, ưa, ư̄a).

7. In the vowel columns, - shows the position of the consonant relative to the vowel. In all cases the romanization of the vowel is intended to follow the romanization of the consonant even though parts of the vernacular representation of the vowel may be written before the consonant.

8. The numerals are 0 (0), ໑ (1), ໒ (2), ໓ (3), ໔ (4), ໕ (5), ໖ (6), ໗ (7), ໘ (8), and ໙ (9).

9. In Lao, words are not written separately. In romanization, however, the shortest written form which can stand alone as a word is treated as such. This applies also to Pali and Sanskrit loan-words. Other loan-words have the same division as the original language. Tonal marks ( - ່, - ້, - ໊, - ໋) are not romanized.

10. When the pronunciation requires one consonant to serve a double function, at the end of one syllable and at the beginning of the next syllable, it is romanized twice according to the respective values, thus: ຄຼີສຕຽນ (khitsatīan).

Special Characters and Character Modifiers used in Romanization
(See the MARC 21 Specifications for Record Structure, Character Sets, and Exchange Media / CHARACTER SETS: Part 3 / Code Tables / January 2000, updated September 2004)

http://www.loc.gov/marc/specifications/specchartables.html
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/codetables/45.html (Extended Latin)

http://www.atla.com/tsig/LatinCharacters/Latin%20Characters%20in%20Unicode%20and%20MARC-8.pdf (full set of examples)

Character Æ

LC-ALA Name digraph æ (upper case)

USMARC hex code A5

Unicode Name LATIN CAPITAL LETTER æ

Unicode hex code / decimal 00C6 / 198

Character Œ

LC-ALA Name digraph œ (upper case)

USMARC hex code A6

Unicode Name LATIN CAPITAL LIGATURE œ

Unicode hex code / decimal 0152 / 338

Character

LC-ALA Name digraph ae (lower case)

USMARC hex code B5

Unicode Name LATIN SMALL LETTER æ

Unicode hex code / decimal 00E6 / 230

Character œ

LC-ALA Name digraph oe (lower case)

USMARC hex code B6

Unicode Name LATIN SMALL LIGATURE œ

Unicode hex code / decimal 0153 / 339

Character

LC-ALA Name digraph æ (upper case)

USMARC hex code A5

Unicode Name CAPITAL LETTER æ

Unicode hex code / decimal 00C6 / 198

Character Ư

LC-ALA Name U-hook (upper case)

USMARC hex code AC

Unicode Name LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH HORN

Unicode hex code / decimal 01AF / 431

Character ư

LC-ALA Name u-hook (lower case)

USMARC hex code BD

Unicode Name LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH HORN

Unicode hex code / decimal 01B0 / 432

Character ʻ

LC-ALA Name ayn

USMARC hex code B0

Unicode Name MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA

Unicode hex code / decimal 02BB / 699

Character ̄

LC-ALA Name macron

USMARC hex code E5

Unicode Name COMBINING MACRON

Unicode hex code / decimal 0304 / 772

Ā LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH MACRON 0100 / 256

ā LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH MACRON 0101 / 257

Ō LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH MACRON 014C1 / 332

ō LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH MACRON 014D / 333

Ī LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH MACRON 012A / 298

ī LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH MACRON 012B / 299

Ē LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH MACRON 0112 / 274

ē LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH MACRON 0113 / 275

Ū LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH MACRON 016A / 362

ū LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH MACRON 016B / 363

Ǣ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER æ WITH MACRON 01E2 / 482

ǣ LATIN SMALL LETTER æ WITH MACRON 01E3 / 483

Character ̜

LC-ALA Name right cedilla

USMARC hex code F8

Unicode Name COMBINING LEFT HALF RING BELOW

Unicode hex code / decimal 031C / 796