Alphabet
The Lao alphabet is made up of 33 consonants representing 21 sounds. Consonants are divided into 3 groups according to the tone in which they are spoken.
middle consonants class
low consonant class
high consonant class
The consonants are classed as this forms the base tone for each consonant. Often you will see the consonants charts sold at the markets looking like this:
Those learning Lao learn each consonant which corresponds to a word. This helps the student identify the consonant class and the consonant much easier.
Vowels are grouped into two main groups, short and long vowel sounds. Sometimes you will see dipthongs which are two vowel sounds combined together.
Long Vowels
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Short Vowels |
Other Vowels |
