You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session.Dismiss alert
<pclass="addToVowels">There are no <aclass="termref" href="../glossary/index.html#independentvowel">independent vowels</a>, and <aclass="seclink" href="#standalone">standalone vowel</a> sounds are written using vowel signs applied to <spanclass="ch">ອ</span>.</p>
225
225
226
226
<pclass="addToVowels">Lao has 6 tones. <spanclass="addToConsonants"><aclass="seclink" href="#tones">Tone</a> is indicated by a combination of the consonant class, the syllable type (<aclass="termref" href="../glossary/index.html#checked">checked/unchecked</a>), plus any tone mark.</span></p>
227
+
228
+
229
+
230
+
231
+
232
+
233
+
<sectionid="notable">
234
+
<h3>Notable features</h3>
235
+
236
+
<ul>
237
+
<li>an alphabet, rather than an abugida</li>
238
+
<li>visual encoding: pre-base letters rather than pre-base glyphs</li>
239
+
<li>no conjuncts</li>
240
+
<li>no independent vowel letters</li>
241
+
<li>substantial use of composite vowel signs</li>
242
+
<li>consonant clusters treated as indivisible units, even though there are no conjuncts</li>
243
+
<li>3 consonant classes determine tone with context & tone marks</li>
244
+
</ul>
245
+
</section>
227
246
</section>
228
247
229
248
@@ -1189,14 +1208,14 @@ <h2>Vowels</h2>
1189
1208
<h4>Vowel summary table</h4>
1190
1209
1191
1210
1192
-
<p>The following table summarises the main vowel to character assigments.</p>
1211
+
<p>This table summarises basic vowel to character assignments.</p>
1193
1212
1194
1213
<pclass="instructions highlight">The diphthongs section below contains one character that incorporates a final nasal. The list doesn't include those combinations that involve simply appending a glide after the vowel (see <aclass="secref">compositeV</a>). Standalone vowels use the character shown as a base for the normal vowel symbols. ◌ indicates the location of consonants, but doesn't necessarily indicate the presence of a combining mark.</p>
1195
1214
1196
1215
1197
1216
<tableclass="soundSummary">
1198
1217
<tr>
1199
-
<throwspan="4">Plain:</th>
1218
+
<throwspan="4">Plain</th>
1200
1219
<td><figureclass="summaryBox auto noexpansion" data-ignore="◌" data-ipa="i,iː,,ɯ,ɯː,,u,uː" data-cols="">◌ິ␣◌ີ␣ ␣◌ຶ␣◌ື␣ ␣◌ຸ␣◌ູ</figure></td>
<p>The short vowel <spanclass="ipa">a</span> has to be written explicitly, using <spanclass="hx">0EB0</span> in open syllables, and <spanclass="hx circle">0EB1</span> in closed syllables. The following word shows examples of both.</p>
1278
+
1259
1279
<p><spanclass="eg" lang="lo">ລະດັບ</span></p>
1280
+
<tableclass="sequenceTable breakdown">
1281
+
<trdata-notes="l,a,d,a,p"
1282
+
data-type="ipa,ipa,ipa,ipa,ipa,ipa,"
1283
+
data-prefix=",,,,,"><td>ລ␣ະ␣ດ␣ັ␣ບ</td></tr>
1284
+
</table>
1260
1285
1261
1286
<p>When used in conjunction with other vowels, <spanclass="hx">0EB0</span> and <spanclass="hx circle">0EB1</span> are also used to indicate short vowels for open and closed syllables, respectively. In phonetic transcriptions, shortened open vowels often end with a glottal stop. For example, compare:</p>
<pclass="info">Like Thai, Lao uses a visual encoding model, so these characters are not combining characters, and are typed and stored before the base. For example:</p>
1534
1559
1535
1560
<p><spanclass="eg" lang="lo">ແມວ</span></p>
1561
+
<tableclass="sequenceTable breakdown">
1562
+
<trdata-notes="EI,MO,WO"
1563
+
data-type="uname,uname,uname"
1564
+
data-prefix=",,"><td>ແ␣ມ␣ວ</td></tr>
1565
+
</table>
1536
1566
1537
1567
<pclass="info">Note that <spanclass="ch">ແ</span> should not be typed as two successive <spanclass="ch">ເ</span> characters.</p>
1538
1568
1539
-
<p>These vowel signs are placed before the start of the <em>syllable onset</em>. This means that in a word with more than one consonant at the start (such as for shifting the tone) the pre-base vowel is placed to the left of the syllable-initial consonant, rather than to the left of the consonant after which it is pronounced. Tone marks and post-base vowel signs are however attached to the latter. For the following examples, click on the Lao text to see the order of characters.</p>
1540
-
<p>
1541
-
<spanclass="eg" lang="lo">ໃຫຍ່</span>
1542
-
<spanclass="eg" lang="lo">ເຫຼືອງ</span>
1543
-
</p>
1569
+
<p>Even though there are no conjuncts, these vowel signs are placed before the start of the <em>syllable onset</em>. This means that in a word with more than one consonant at the start (such as for shifting the tone) the pre-base vowel is placed to the left of the syllable-initial consonant, rather than to the left of the consonant after which it is pronounced. Tone marks and post-base vowel signs are however attached to the latter. Examples:</p>
1570
+
1571
+
<p><spanclass="eg" lang="lo">ໃຫຍ່</span></p>
1572
+
<tableclass="sequenceTable breakdown">
1573
+
<trdata-notes="AY,HO,NYO"
1574
+
data-type="uname,uname,uname,uname"
1575
+
data-prefix=",,"><td>ໃ␣ຫ␣ຍ່</td></tr>
1576
+
</table>
1577
+
1578
+
<p><spanclass="eg" lang="lo">ເຫຼືອງ</span></p>
1579
+
<tableclass="sequenceTable breakdown">
1580
+
<trdata-notes="E,HO,LO,YY,O,NGO"
1581
+
data-type="uname,uname,uname,uname,uname,uname"
1582
+
data-prefix=",,,,,"><td>ເ␣ຫ␣ຼ␣ື␣ອ␣ງ</td></tr>
1583
+
</table>
1584
+
1544
1585
1545
1586
<p><aclass="figref">fig_prebase</a> shows another example to graphically illustrate the relationships between the characters.</p>
1546
1587
@@ -1593,14 +1634,21 @@ <h4>Composite vowels</h4>
1593
1634
<pclass="instructions">In the lists below, ◌ represents a consonant. Vowels used in closed syllables are indicated by a trailing ◌, or a trailing hyphen in the IPA transcription.</p>
1594
1635
1595
1636
1596
-
<p>Lao has many vowel sounds that are represented by more than one code point. Composite vowels can involve up to 4 glyphs, and glyphs can surround the base consonant(s) on up to 3 sides.</p>
1637
+
<p>Lao has many vowel sounds that are represented by more than one code point. Composite vowels can involve up to 4 glyphs, and glyphs can surround the base consonant(s) on up to 3 sides, eg.</p>
<figcaption>A composite vowel comprised of a pre-base vowel letter, a vowel combining mark, and a post-base semivowel that is acting as part of the rhyme.</figcaption>
<p>The following table summarises the main consonant to character assigments.</p>
2454
+
<p>This table summarises basic consonant to character assignments.</p>
2407
2455
2408
2456
2409
-
<pclass="instructions highlight">The initial consonants are split across high, mid, and low columns.</p>
2457
+
<!--<p class="instructions highlight">The initial consonants are split across high, mid, and low columns.</p>-->
2410
2458
2411
2459
2412
2460
<tableclass="soundSummary">
2413
2461
<thead>
2414
2462
<tr>
2415
2463
<th> </th>
2416
-
<th>high class</th>
2417
-
<th>mid class</th>
2418
-
<th>low class</th>
2464
+
<thstyle="width:30%;">high class</th>
2465
+
<thstyle="width:30%;">mid class</th>
2466
+
<thstyle="width:30%;">low class</th>
2419
2467
</tr>
2420
2468
</thead>
2421
2469
<tbody>
@@ -2478,7 +2526,7 @@ <h3>Consonant letters</h3>
2478
2526
2479
2527
<p>The panel below lists the basic consonant letters for Lao, with typical pronunciations for syllable onset and final positions.</p>
2480
2528
2481
-
<pclass="instructions">In the following lists, the class of each consonant is shown just below the IPA data. If a dash appears after the IPA transcription, it indicates the pronunciation in syllable-initial position; before indicates the pronunciation for syllable codas.</p>
2529
+
<pclass="instructions">Click on the letters below for more detailed information and examples of use. If a dash appears after the IPA transcription, it indicates the pronunciation in syllable-initial position; before indicates the pronunciation for syllable codas.</p>
<p>Otherwise, consonant letter clusters only occur where a syllable ends with a consonant and another syllable begins.</p>
2701
2749
2702
2750
<p>Because the orthography is alphabetic, rather than an abugida, vowel absence after syllable-final consonants does not normally need to be marked in any way. The absence of a vowel sound is simply indicated by the absence of a vowel sign. The following example has 2 instances of a syllable-final consonant followed by an onset, one word-internal, and the other between words.</p>
0 commit comments