Lao Vowels

Vowels in the Lao language can appear before, after, above, below, and around consonants. The vowel itself, however, determines its placement. For instance, the vowel, k , always appears after the consonant, as in, dk ( kaa / crow). The vowel, 6 , always appears below the consonant, as in, x6 (puu / crab). Vowels that "wrap around" a consonant are actually two or more vowels combined to form a sound. For instance, the vowels g F k F q combine to form the sound "ao," like cow. This vowel would then be placed "around" a consonant, such as 0 to form the word g0qhk (kao/ rice). In the list below, an "X" will be placed to designate the position of the consonant(s).

Lao vowels consist of 28 vowels which represent 27 sounds. Lao vowels can divided into 3 groups following the table below.

In order to best view this site and its Lao Fonts, you will need to download the Lao New Light, IPA, and Lao Phonemic Fonts then save them in your Windows/Fonts directory.

Exercises:

Exercise 1: Vowels
Exercise 2: Vowels
Exercise 3: Vowels
Lao Consonants: learning consonants and learning how to pronounce each consonant
Pronunciation of Lao Consonants
Prononciation of Lao Vowels
Vowels & Final Consonants: learning to read and write some vowels with consonant ending

Short Vowels

Long Vowels

Additional Vowels