Lao Writing System: Additional Comment

Often a kaaN or su4uN consonant is followed immediately by a ta#m consonant without an intervening vowel symbol. Most of this kind are pronounced as two syllables with a neutral tone "a" pronounced between the consonants. The tone of the word, whether one syllable or two, follows the rules for the first consonant.

x]kf	lok,	lg,u	x3pf	0oq,	4c]'	8]kf	moqo
palaât	sana4am	sane4e	pañoôt	khano4m	thalE4EN	talaât	thano4n

In polysyllabic words, the final consonant of one syllable often doubles as the initial consonant of the following one. 9, l, and - are pronounced "t" when they appear as final consonants. ] is pronounced "n" as a final.

For example va#tcanaánukom (dictionary) is spelled For example va#tcanaánukom (dictionary) is spelled ;a9oko5dq, the 9 standing for both the "t" of "vat..." and the "c" of the next syllable "...ca...". If the first part of this word were pronounced "va#ca..." instead of "vatca..." it would be spelled ;t9....

Ia4t[ko	Ik-vkok9ad	l50trk[	vto58it
la#tthabaan	làatsaaanaácák	súkkhaphàap	anuttala
rq]g,nv'	vqrpq[	;klok
pho2nlamy2aN	o2pphaño#p	va1atsana4a

Note the use of the symbol ; in spelling the following words. ;a and ;k are pronounced "?ua" when preceded by the letters d, 7, or 0.

d;jk	d;hk'	d;ad	7;af	7;kp	0;k	0;ao
ku#a	ku1aN	kuák	khu1at	khuáj	khu4a	khu4an