ຫຼັກການໃຊ້ວັດຈະນານຸກົມ
Guide to using the Lao Thesaurus — alphabetical order, abbreviations, and dictionary conventions
ພະຍັນຊະນະ — Consonant Order
The dictionary uses the traditional Lao consonant order — not Unicode codepoint order. Entries are sorted by this sequence as their primary key.
ຣ is used for loanwords with a trilled r (e.g. ປາຣີ, ຮົງກາຣີ). Compound initials ຫງ, ຫຍ, ໜ, ໝ, ຫຼ, ຫວ follow ຫ. Words without a final consonant precede words with one within the same vowel.
ສະຫຼະ — Vowel Order
Within each consonant section, entries are ordered by vowel. The sequence below uses x as a placeholder for the initial consonant.
ສະຫຼະປ່ຽນຮູບ ແລະ ຍໍເຟື້ອງ — Transformed Vowels & Medial Signs
According to the official orthographic standards of the Ministry of Education and Sports of Laos (ກະຊວງສຶກສາທິການ ແລະ ກິລາ), the combining character ຽ (U+0EBD Lao Semivowel Sign Nyo, traditionally known as ຍໍເຟື້ອງ — Nyo Feuang) is classified as a Transformed Vowel (ສະຫຼະປ່ຽນຮູບ) or Medial Semi-Vowel (ພະຍັນຊະນະເຟື້ອງ).
When the open diphthong ເ-ຍ (/iːa/) combines with a final consonant (ຕົວສະກົດ), the circumfix ເ- and -ຍ contract into the medial glyph ຽ:
| ຮູບເດີມ (Open Syllable) | ຮູບປ່ຽນ (Closed Syllable) | ສຽງ (Phoneme) | ຕົວຢ່າງ (Examples) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ເ-ຍ (ເສຍ, ເມຍ, ເລຍ) | ◌ຽ + ຕົວສະກົດ (ຍໍເຟື້ອງ) | /iːa/ (ຍາວ · Long) | ຮຽນ, ຂຽນ, ວຽກ, ຕຽງ, ກຽງ, ສຽງ |
| ເ-ັຍ (ເປະຍະ, ເອັຍ) | ◌ຽ + ຕົວສະກົດ (ສຽງສັ້ນ) | /ia/ (ສັ້ນ · Short) | ຜຽກ, ບຽບ |
ຕົວສະກົດ — Final Consonants
Words with a final consonant follow words without one. Finals sort in this sequence:
The finals ໄ, ໃ, ເxົາ, xໍາ cannot take a final consonant and are not listed here.
ປະເພດຄຳ — Parts of Speech
Abbreviations appear outside parentheses, immediately after the headword, to indicate grammatical class.
| Abbr. | ລາວ | English |
|---|---|---|
| ກ. | ກິລິຍາ | Verb — action word |
| ນ. | ນາມ | Noun — name, object |
| ວ. | ວິເສດ | Adjective or adverb — modifier |
| ສ. | ສັບພະນາມ | Pronoun — substitute for a noun |
| ສັນ. | ສັນທານ | Conjunction — connecting word |
| ບ. | ບຸບພະບົດ | Preposition — word preceding a noun |
| ອຸ. | ອຸທານ | Exclamation — interjection |
ທີ່ມາຂອງຄຳ — Etymology Abbreviations
When a word is borrowed from another language, the source is shown in parentheses after the part-of-speech abbreviation. Native Lao words carry no etymology tag.
| Abbreviation | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| (ປ.) | ປາລີ — Pali | Language of Theravada Buddhist scripture |
| (ສ.) | ສັນສະກິດ — Sanskrit | Classical Indian language |
| (ປ.ສ.) | ປາລີ ແລະ ສັນສະກິດ | Shared Pali and Sanskrit origin |
| (ຂ.) | ຂະເໝນ — Khmer | Cambodian language |
| (ຈ.) | ຈີນ — Chinese | Chinese language (various dialects) |
| (ທ.) | ໄທ — Thai | Thai language |
| (ຝ.) | ຝຣັ່ງ — French | Colonial-era French loanwords |
| (ອ.) | ອັງກິດ — English | Modern English loanwords |
| (ຮ.) | ຮິນດູ — Hindi | Hindi / Indian loanwords |
| (ຫວ.) | ຫວຽດນາມ — Vietnamese | Vietnamese loanwords |
ອ້າງອີງວັນນະຄະດີ — Literary Sources
Example sentences and citations are drawn from classical Lao literature. The abbreviated source name appears in parentheses at the end of the example.
ຄຳພ້ອງຮູບ — Homographs
Words that share the same written form but carry different meanings are disambiguated with superscript numbers.
The entry ຮັບ has multiple unrelated senses and is listed as two separate entries:
Words with multiple senses sharing a common root are listed as a single entry with numbered senses (໑, ໒, ໓…).
ຄຳກາບກອນ — Poetic Forms
Many words found in classical verse have extended forms not listed as separate entries. Strip the suffix and look up the root:
| Suffix pattern | Example | Root to look up |
|---|---|---|
| + ອາ, ອີ, ໂອ, ອິນ | ກາຍາ · ກາຍີ · ກາຍິນ | ກາຍ |
| + ເxດ | ນະຄະເລດ · ພູເບດ | ນະຄອນ · ພູ |
| + ອາການ | ທັດສະນາການ · ຈິນຕະນາການ | ທັດສະນາ · ຈິນຕະນາ |
| + ຊາດ | ບຸບຜາຊາດ · ສຸຄັນທະຊາດ | ບຸບຜາ · ສຸຄັນທະ |