Phonetic ("Romanized") entry of Lao Text

Users who are unfamiliar with the Lao typewriter layout and have any standard, latin-alphabet, keyboard (for example, English or French), will often find it easier to enter Lao text using a phonetic ("romanized") input method, especially where Lao keyboard stickers are unavailable. With phonetic input, you can type "kan" for ກັນ, "tham" for ທຳ, "pheuan1" for ເພື່ອນ, etc., or "hkian phaa saa laaw boh1 nyaak!" for ຂຽນພາສາລາວບໍ່ຍາກ!

Phonetic Entry Principles

Many suggestions have been made for romanizing Lao text, and there is no perfect solution, since it is not possible to represent Lao phonetics exactly in English. The phonetic input method used by LaoScript 8 is based on following principles:

• The convention should be systematic and intuitive for English speakers as much as possible.
• It should be possible to enter most Lao words using only lower-case letters, to facilitate text entry.
• Syllable-final consonants can be entered either phonetically or as written, so type -d or -t for -ດ, -b or -p for -ບ, and -y for -ຍ.
• Tone marks may be added by typing a number (1 to 4) at the end of the syllable being entered. (LaoScript 8 will automatically position the inserted tone mark correctly.)
• Hidden ("ZWSP") break characters will be inserted automatically at the end of a syllable if a tone mark digit is typed, or if the following character requires the start of a new syllable. Otherwise, pressing the space bar once inserts a break character. (Pressing the space bar again, or in any other context, inserts a space character in the usual way.)
• Punctuation and symbol keys output the character shown on the key, except for the digits 1 to 4 when entered to indicate a tone mark in a Lao syllable (as noted above), and % when entered immediately after a Lao consonant (see below).
• Phonetic transcription follows the system keyboard in use, not the physical layout. So you can type "kan" with either a QWERTY (English layout) or an AZERTY (French layout) keyboard to get ກັນ.
• With CAPS LOCK on, the numeral keys (in the top row) will be mapped as the Lao numerals ໐,໑,໒...໙ instead of standard numerals 0,1,2,...9. (The Number Pad keys, with NumLock on, always output the digit shown on the key.)

Special conventions

• When % is typed immediately after a Lao consonant, the THANTHAKHAT symbol (U+0ECC) will be placed over that consonant. This is mainly useful for loan words, so for example, type mail% for ໄມ​ລ໌​ ("mile"). (If the percent sign is itself needed immediately following a Lao word, press % again to change the THANTHAKHAT to %.)
• Most "long" vowels (for example ອາ ເອ ອີ ໂອ ອູ ອື ແອ) vowels are entered either by repeating the letter used for the corresponding "short" vowel, or by using the upper-case (shifted) letter, if you prefer.

Entering Lao Consonants Phonetically

The letter (or letters) to type for each Lao consonant is shown in the following table. Alternate key sequences are shown in parentheses after the default convention.

* When used at the end of a syllable.

**For any syllable that starts with a vowel, the character ອ will be inserted automatically when the vowel character is typed. If it is ever necessary to insert ອ separately, just type any vowel letter, then press backspace to delete the Lao vowel character, leaving ອ.

Entering Lao Vowels, Tones and Special Symbols

In the following table, each vowel is shown in a syllable, using ກ and ນ as place-holders for the initial and final consonants.

* The digits 1-4 and * only translate to tone marks at the end of a syllable. Otherwise, they appear as digits and asterisk as usual.

For easier use, the accent key alternates between some vowels, for example:

• ko ð ໂກະ + ` ð ເກາະ + ` ð ໂກະ

Many old spelling conventions can also be entered, by using the accent key to change between conventions:

• mia ð ເມຍ + ` ð ເມັຍ + ` ð ເມັຍະ + ` ð ເມັຽ + ` ð ເມຍ

or by using J to enter ຽ as a final semi-vowel:

• dooy ð ໂດຍ
• dooJ ð ໂດຽ

You can also use the accent key (after $) to produce the Kip and Euro symbols (if included in the font being used):

• $ + ` ð ₭ + ` ð € + ` ð $