Southern Lao (Champasak) Vientiane Lao is widely understood throughout the country.
Tones
Vientiane Lao has six tones: Low, Mid, High, Rising, High and Low Falling. Pitch levels vary from the speaker's ethnicity and geographic location. Luang Prabang residents use five tones: Mid Falling Rising, Low Rising, Mid, High Falling and Mid Rising.
Script
The Lao alphabet is based on the same script as the Thai alphabet. It made its way into Laos from Sinhalese and Khmer Buddhists during the reign of Laos' first King. It is made up of 33 consonants and 28 vowels representing respectively 21 and 27 original sounds, written from left to right. It is much simpler and thus easier to learn than its Thai, Khmer, and Burmese counterparts. Lao words are written phonetically using this script.
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