Lao Writing System: suung Consonants

Introduction: Spoken tones are governed by several rules that are summarized graphically in the tone chart. Here we shall comment briefly on the two kinds of syllables in Lao. The first type is "Smooth or Live." They end in a long vowel or a final -m, -n, -N, -l, -r, -y, -w. The second type is "Checked or Dead" syllables: syllables ending in - p, -t, -k, glottal stop (sudden closure of the glottis). The reason for these names has to do with the air flow out of the oral cavity. A checked or stopped syllable is made "dead" by the lips (-p), the tip/blade of the tongue (-t), the back of the tongue (-k), or closure of the glottis (?). A "live" syllable is, by default, "not dead." That is the syllable can be continued or kept "alive" by continuous air flow. The terms "live" and "dead" come from Lao terms "pen" and "taay" respectively. They correspond to the phonetic terms "smooth" and "checked." The tone chart is divided vertically along the lines of live and dead. The first question the learner should ask is: "Is the syllable I am reading live or dead?" Then the learner should ask, "Is the initial consonant High, Middle, or Low Class?" If it is one of the latter three, then the next question is: "Is there a written tone mark?" These three questions then lead to the final answer found in one of the boxes in the tone chart. Keep these questions in mind as you engage yourself in the following exercises.

(Click here to review Lao Vowels)

Su4uN/High Class Consonants

The first group of consonants to learn is the su4uN class. The su4uN consonants are pronounced with a low rising tone.

Consonants:	ຂ	ສ	ຖ	ຜ	ຝ	ຫ
Names:	khO4O	sO4O	thO4O	phO4O	fO4O	hO4O

If we list the su4uN and ta#m/Low Class consonants side by side, we see that there are su4uN symbols corresponding to some ta#m symbols.

su4uN		ta#m
ຂ	khO4O	ຄ	khO2O
ສ	sO4O	ຊ	sO2O
ຖ	thO4O	ທ	thO2O
ຜ	phO4O	ພ	phO2O
ຝ	fO4O	ຟ	fO2O
ຫ	hO4O	ຮ	hO2O

If the letter ຫ is placed before one of these ta#m consonants: ງ, ຍ, ນ, ມ, ລ, or ວ, they follow the rules of the su4uN class.

su4uN		ta#m
ຫງ	NO4O	ງ	NO2O
ຫຍ	±O4O	ຍ	±O2O
ໜ	nO4O	ນ	nO2O
ໝ	mO4O	ມ	mO2O
ຫລ	lO4O	ລ	lO2O
ຫວ	vO4O	ວ	vO2O

In the above combinations the ຫ is silent. It only serves to indicate that the following consonant is to be considered a su4uN consonant. (Notice how ຫ is joined to ນ and ມ e.g. ຫ + ນ = ໜ ; ຫ + ມ = ໝ ; The combination ຫ + ລ is often written ຫຼ. ຫ + ຍ is often written ຫຽ .)

The syllable ຂາ is pronounced kha4a. Look at the following syllables and read them aloud.

ຂາ	ສໍ	ຖື	ເຂີ	ເສ	ຖູ
kha4a	sO4O	thyy4	khe4e	se4e	thu4u

WHAT INHERENT TONE DO THEY (high class consonants) HAVE? Answer!

(Click here to refer to the Lao Tones Chart.)

Rule: su4uN + long vowel has low rising tone.

PRACTICE READING THE FOLLOWING SYLLABLES:

Look at the following and read them aloud.

ຜົມ	ຝົນ
pho4m	fo4n

WHAT TONE DO THEY HAVE? Answer!

(Click here to refer to the Lao Tones Chart.)

Rule: su4uN + short vowel + sonorant has low rising tone.

PRACTICE READING THE FOLLOWING SYLLABLES:

ຖານ	ສູງ	ຜົມ	ຝັງ	ຜິວ	ສາວ
ຝົນ	ຫົງ	ເຂັມ	ຫິນ	ຂາຍ	ຖອຍ

READ THE FOLLOWING:

ງູ	ມໍ	ຍາ	ເນ	ວີ	ລື
Nu2u	mO2O	±áa	née	víi	lyy2

WHAT TONE DO THEY HAVE AND WHY? Answer!

(Click here to refer to the Lao Tones Chart.)

READ THE FOLLOWING SYLLABLES:

ຫງູ	ໝໍ	ຫຍາ	ເໜ	ຫວີ	ຫລື	ຫຼື
Nu4u	mO4O	±a4a	ne4e	vi4i	lyy4	lyy4

WHAT TONE DO THEY HAVE AND WHY? Answer!

(Click here to refer to the Lao Tones Chart.)

PRACTICE READING THE FOLLOWING SYLLABLES:

ຂູ	ແຫງ	ສີ	ເຫຍ		ຖໍ	ແໝ	ຜາ
ໜື	ເຝີ	ໂຫລ	ຫູ		ຫວີ
ເວລາສອງໂມງຍັງຊາວ				ຍາພໍ່ເອົາຊິຫຍັງ
ເຈົ້າກິນກາເຟນົມບໍ				ແນວນີ້ດີທໍ່ກັບແນວນັ້ນ
ເຈົ້າມີຢາເຈັບຫົວຂາຍ

Here are some su4uN syllables with mày eêk:

ຫົ່ງ	ຂ່າ	ສູ່	ຫວີ່	ຜ່ານ
ho#N	kha#a	su#u	vii#	pha#a

WHAT TONE DO THEY HAVE? Answer!

(Click here to refer to the Lao Tones Chart.)

Rule: A syllable which begins with a su4uN consonant and has a mày eêk has high-mid tone.

(The use of the mày eêk is the same for all three classes of consonants. It always indicates high-mid tone.)

PRACTICE READING THE FOLLOWING SYLLABLES:

ສໍດຳສີເຫລືອງຢູ່ເທິງຕັ່ງ

ເຈົ້າຂຽນໜັງສືສອງສາມກ້ານ

ຕອນແລງລາວກິນຢູ່ຮາ້ນອາຫານ

ຢູ່ເສັນທາງສາມແສນໄທ

ອາຫານຈີນແຊບຫລາຍ

ນ້ອງສາວມັກສອນໜັງສື

The mày thóo indicates high falling tone for the kaaN/Middle Class and ta#m/Low Class consonants: e.g.

ຕົ້ນ	ບ້າ	ທ້າຍ	ນ້ອງ
tòn	bàa	thàay	nO1ON

For the su4uN/High class, however, it indicates low falling tone. e.g.

ຂ້ອຍ	ຜູ້
khO3Oy	phu3u

Rule: su4uN + mày thóo has low falling tone.

PRACTICE READING THE FOLLOWING SYLLABLES:

(Remember: (1) Any consonant + mày eêk has high-mid tone

(2) kaaN or ta#m + mày thóo has high falling tone

(3) su4uN + mày thóo has low falling tone)

Click here to refer to the Lao Tones Chart

ຂ້ອຍຄຶດວ່າລາວຊິໄປມື້ອື່ນ	ລາວຊິເຮັດການຜູ້ດຽວ
ຂ້ອຍຖາມວ່າເຈົ້າມີສໍບໍ	ຫົວໜ້າຊິຂີ່ຣົຖໄປທ່າເດື່ອ
ຂ້ອຍອາຍຸຊາວຫ້າແລ້ວ	ພໍ່ຄ້າໄດ້ໄປໄຊຍະບູຣີ
ທະຫານຊິເມືອບ້ານມື້ໄດ	ສາຣິຊິມາວຽງຈັນມື້ຮື

All of the syllables in the above exercises were "Smooth or Live." That is, they ended in a long vowel or a final m, n, N, l, r, y, w. The following exercises will deal with "Checked or Dead" syllables: Syllables ending in -p, -t, -k, glottal stop (sudden closure of the glottis). The reason for this is that the air flow of these syllables is checked or stopped, i.e. made "dead" by the lips (-p), the tip/blade of the tongue (-t), the back of the tongue (-k), or closure of the glottis (?).

Look at the following and read them aloud.