These charts illustrate International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols used for pronunciations of the Lao/Isan (Lao script for Nongkhai-Vientiane dialect, a standard Lao in Laos; Thai script for Isan is from Khon Kaen-Roi Et dialect, a standard Lao in Thailand) and Phu Thai in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA, and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

Consonants
IPA Lao Isan Phu Thai English approximation
b ບ บ บ boss
d ດ ฎ, ด ฎ,ด done
f ຝ, ຟ ฝ, ฟ ฝ,ฟ food
h ຫ, ຮ ห ,ฮ ห, ฮ head
j ຢ ย, อย, หย ย, อย, หย yak
k ກ ก ก scan
kʰ ຂ, ຄ ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ can
l ລ, ຫຼ ล, ฬ, หล ร, หร, ล, ฬ, หล law
m ມ, ໝ ม, หม ม, หม much
n ນ, ໜ ณ, น, หน ณ, น, หน not
ŋ ງ, ຫງ ง, หง ง, หง singer
ɲ ຍ, ຫຍ ญ ญ canyon
p ປ ป ป span
pʰ ຜ, ພ ผ, พ, ภ ผ, พ, ภ pan
r[1] ຣ, ຫຼ, ຫຣ ร, หร — trilled r
s ສ,ຊ ซ, ศ, ษ, ส ฉ, ช, ฌ,
ซ, ศ, ษ, ส 		sue
t ຕ ฏ, ต ฏ, ต stable
tʰ ຖ, ທ ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, ท, ธ ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, ท, ธ table
tɕ ຈ จ จ somewhat like jean; like Mandarin beijing
tɕʰ[2] — ฉ, ช, ฌ — somewhat like cheese; like Mandarin qing
w ວ, ຫວ ว, หว ว, หว way
x[3] ຂ, ຄ ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ loch
ʔ ອ อ, ะ อ, ะ the catch in uh'-oh
 
Tone[4]
IPA Description
aː = āː mid [aː˧]
àː low [aː˨˩] or [aː˩]
âː high falling [aː˥˧]
ȁː low falling [aː˧˩]
áː high [aː˦˥] or [aː˥]
ǎː rising [aː˩˩˦] or [aː˩˦]
Vowels
IPA Lao[5] Isan/Phu Thai English approximation
Short vowels[6]
a ◌ະ, ◌ັ◌ ◌ะ, ◌ั◌ cut
e ເ◌ະ, ເ◌ັ◌ เ◌ะ, เ◌็◌ mate
ɛ ແ◌ະ, ແ◌ັ◌ แ◌ะ, แ◌็◌ bat
i ◌ິ ◌ิ, ◌ิ◌ happy
o ໂ◌ະ, ◌ົ◌ โ◌ะ, ◌◌ boat
ɔ ເ◌າະ, ◌ັອ◌ เ◌าะ, ◌็อ◌ jock (RP)
u ◌ຸ ◌ุ, ◌ุ◌ shoot
ɯ ◌ຶ ◌ึ, ◌ึ◌ could (weak sound)
ɤ ເ◌ິະ[7], ເ◌ິ◌ เ◌อะ the
Long vowels
aː ◌າ ◌า, ◌า◌ bra
eː ເ◌ เ◌, เ◌◌ play
ɛː ແ◌ แ◌, แ◌◌ man
iː ◌ີ ◌ี, ◌ี◌ green
oː ໂ◌ โ◌, โ◌◌ go
ɔː ◌ໍ, ◌ອ◌ ◌อ, ◌อ◌ dog
uː ◌ູ ◌ู, ◌ู◌ moon
ɯː ◌ື ◌ือ, ◌ื◌ goose (Australian)
ɤː ເ◌ີ เ◌อ, เ◌ิ◌ fur
Diphthongs[8][9]
iaʔ, iəʔ ເ◌ັຍ, ◌ັຽ◌ เ◌ียะ idea (shorter)
ia, iə ເ◌ຍ, ◌ຽ◌ เ◌ีย, เ◌ีย◌ idea
uaʔ, uəʔ ◌ົວະ, ◌ົວ◌ ◌ัวะ poor (shorter)
ua, uə ◌ົວ, ◌ວ◌ ◌ัว, ◌ว◌ poor (British English)
ɯaʔ, ɯəʔ ເ◌ຶອ เ◌ือะ to a (weak sound)
ɯa, ɯə ເ◌ືອ เ◌ือ, เ◌ือ◌ who am i (Australian)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Only loan word from Central Thai and Southern Thai.
  2. ^ Only loan word from Central Thai and Southern Thai.
  3. ^ Allophone in some dialects.
  4. ^ In contrast to Pinyin romanization for Mandarin, Thai romanization uses diacritics in the same way as the IPA.
  5. ^ Diacritics are shown on a dotted circle "◌".
  6. ^ In Isan, Phu Thai and Lao, the signs ◌ะ and ◌ະ are respectively used to indicate a glottal stop after the vowel.
  7. ^ The vowel "ເ◌ິະ" is a modern vowel form.
  8. ^ More diphthongs occur in the pattern /Vw/ or /Vj/: /aj, aːj, aw, aːw, iw, uj, uːj, ew, eːw, ɛːw, ɤːj, oːj, ɔːj, iow, uɛj, ɯɛj/.
  9. ^ Each first element represents a Thai diphthong, with /a/ as the ending vowel (according to Tingsabadh, Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur S. (1993). "Thai". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 23 (1): 24–28. doi:10.1017/S0025100300004746.).

See also[edit]

Comparisons
Introductory guides
Category