Lao Language--Grammar Notes 17

Words like me&t g,af ,q kE@Ew cdh;,q kho#n 7qoq are classifiers. They are used in counting as shown in the example above. The usual pattern is:
Noun + number + classifier

Note the following phrases:

1klv'g,af	jaa sO%OG me&t	two tablets of medicine
	medicine two tablets
g[plv'cdh;	bia sO%OG kE@Ew	two bottles of beer
	beer two glasses
vhkplv'7qo	a@ay sO%OG kho#n	two brothers (older)
	brothers two persons
mtskolv'7qo	thaha%an sO%OG kho#n	two soldiers
	soldiers two persons

If the number is ny&G Vbj'q 'one' or diaw gfup;q 'just one' they come after the classifier.

1kg,afgfup;

jaa me&t diaw

Just one tablet of medicine.

In jaa sO%OG me&t 1klv'g,afq the Lao phrase closely parallels its English translation. In English, it will be: Medicine two tablets.

But, in the case of a@ay sO%OG kho#n vhkplv'7qoq 'two brothers' (older), the English translation does not have a word corresponding to kho#n. Just as me&t is necessary to count tablets of medicine, kho#n is necessary to count people.

In the first sentence below, the classifier is not needed. It is needed in the next sentences.

0hvp,uvhkp	khO^y mi#i a@ay	I have a brother or brothers. (older)
g9qhk,uvhkp9ad7qo	ca@w mi#i a@ay ca#k kho#n	How many older brothers do you have?
0hvp,uvhkplv'7qo	khO^y mi#i a@ay sO%OG kho#n	I have two older brother.

Besides kho#n 7qoq there is another classifier for people, phu&u z6hq Both may be used to say 'one person, teacher, etc.'

]6dz6hVbj' lu@uk phu&u ny&G one child

]6d7qoVbj' lu@uk kho#n ny&G one child

Only kho#n 7qoq is used to count above one.

Right:

]6dlv'7qoq lu@uk sO%OG kho#n two child

Wrong:

]6dlv'z6h lu@uk sO%OG phu&u two child

Both kho#n 7qoq and phu&u z6hq can be used with ordinal numbers.

7qomujVbj' kho#n thi&i ny&G the first one

z6hmujVbj' phu&u thi&i ny&G the first one

7qomujlv' kho#n thi&i sO%OG the second one

z6hmujlv' phu&u thi&i sO%OG the second one

phu&u z6h q is commonly used for expressions such as:

z6hgfup; phu&u diaw alone, a sigle one

z6h.f phu&u day who, which one

In Lao culture, one is expected to defer to one's elders. a@ay vhkpq and ya#y gvnhvpq may refer not only to one's older brother and sister, but to any older male or female friend. Younger friends are often called nO@OG ohv'q whether male or female.
lu@uk ]6dq means 'child, offspring'. de#k nO@Oy gfadohvpq means 'child, young person'.
Na#G pa'q means 'still, yet,'. can be used in telling time.

lk,3,'pa'ly[ sa%am mo#oG Na#G si#p ten minutes to three or 2.50

i^ik vudq means 'more, further, again,'. also means 'other, another, the other.'

mtskoz6hVbj'16j vudz6hVbj'[+16j
thaha^an phu&u ny&G ju&u, i^ik phu&u ny&G bO&O ju&u

One of the soldiers is here, the other one isn't.

z6hVbj'gxaomtsko vudz6hVbj'gxao8es^q;f
phu&u ny&G pen thaha%an i^ik phu&u ny&G pen tamlu^at

One is a soldier, another is a policeman.