Lao character tables

This document lists the per-character shaping information needed to shape Lao text.

Contents

• Lao character table

• Miscellaneous character table

Lao character table

Lao glyphs should be classified as in the following table. Codepoints in the Lao block with no assigned meaning are designated as unassigned in the Unicode category column.

Assigned codepoints with a null in the Shaping class column evoke no special behavior from the shaping engine. Note that this does include some valid codepoints, such as currency marks, punctuation, and other symbols.

Note: the NUMBER and SYMBOL Shaping classes are important during syllable identification, but generally evoke no further special behavior during the rest of the shaping process.

The Mark-placement subclass column indicates mark-placement positioning for codepoints in the Mark category. Assigned, non-mark codepoints have a null in this column and evoke no special mark-placement behavior. Marks tagged with [Mn] in the Unicode category column are categorized as non-spacing; marks tagged with [Mc] are categorized as spacing-combining.

Some codepoints in the following table use a Shaping class that differs from the codepoint’s Unicode General Category. The Shaping class takes precedence during OpenType shaping, as it captures more specific, script-aware behavior.

Table 42 Lao character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Combining class	PUA	Glyph
U+0E80	unassigned
U+0E81	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ກ Ko
U+0E82	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຂ Kho Sung
U+0E83	unassigned
U+0E84	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຄ Kho Tam
U+0E85	unassigned
U+0E86	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຆ Pali Gha
U+0E87	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ງ Ngo
U+0E88	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຈ Co
U+0E89	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຉ Pali Cha
U+0E8A	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຊ So Tam
U+0E8B	unassigned
U+0E8C	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຌ Pali Jha
U+0E8D	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຍ Nyo
U+0E8E	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຎ Pali Nya
U+0E8F	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຏ Pali Tta
U+0E90	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຐ Pali Ttha
U+0E91	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຑ Pali Dda
U+0E92	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຒ Pali Ddha
U+0E93	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຓ Pali Nna
U+0E94	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ດ Do
U+0E95	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຕ To
U+0E96	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຖ Tho Sung
U+0E97	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ທ Tho Tam
U+0E98	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຘ Pali Dha
U+0E99	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ນ No
U+0E9A	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ບ Bo
U+0E9B	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ປ Po
U+0E9C	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຜ Pho Sung
U+0E9D	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຝ Fo Tam
U+0E9E	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ພ Pho Tam
U+0E9F	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຟ Fo Sung
U+0EA0	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຠ Pali Bha
U+0EA1	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ມ Mo
U+0EA2	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຢ Yo
U+0EA3	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຣ Lo Ling
U+0EA4	unassigned
U+0EA5	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ລ Lo Loot
U+0EA6	unassigned
U+0EA7	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ວ Wo
U+0EA8	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຨ Sanskrit Sha
U+0EA9	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຩ Sanskrit Ssa
U+0EAA	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ສ So Sung
U+0EAB	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຫ Ho Sung
U+0EAC	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຬ Pali Lla
U+0EAD	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ອ O
U+0EAE	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ຮ Ho Tam
U+0EAF	Letter	null	null	0	null	ຯ Ellipsis
U+0EB0	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	0	null	ະ Sign A
U+0EB1	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ັ Sign Mai Kan
U+0EB2	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	0	null	າ Sign Aa
U+0EB3	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	0	null	ຳ Sign Am
U+0EB4	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ິ Sign I
U+0EB5	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ີ Sign Ii
U+0EB6	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ຶ Sign Y
U+0EB7	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ື Sign Yy
U+0EB8	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	BOTTOM_POSITION	118	null	ຸ Sign U
U+0EB9	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	BOTTOM_POSITION	118	null	ູ Sign Uu
U+0EBA	Mark [Mn]	VIRAMA	BOTTOM_POSITION	9	null	຺ Pali Virama
U+0EBB	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ົ Sign Mai Kon
U+0EBC	Mark [Mn]	CONSONANT_MEDIAL	BOTTOM_POSITION	0	null	ຼ Semivowel Sign Lo
U+0EBD	Letter	CONSONANT_MEDIAL	null	0	null	ຽ Semivowel Sign Nyo
U+0EBE	unassigned
U+0EBF	unassigned
U+0EC0	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	VISUAL_ORDER_LEFT	0	null	ເ Sign E
U+0EC1	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	VISUAL_ORDER_LEFT	0	null	ແ Sign Ei
U+0EC2	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	VISUAL_ORDER_LEFT	0	null	ໂ Sign O
U+0EC3	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	VISUAL_ORDER_LEFT	0	null	ໃ Sign Ay
U+0EC4	Letter	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	VISUAL_ORDER_LEFT	0	null	ໄ Sign Ai
U+0EC5	unassigned
U+0EC6	Letter Modifier	null	null	0	null	ໆ Ko La
U+0EC7	unassigned
U+0EC8	Mark [Mn]	TONE_MARKER	TOP_POSITION	122	null	່ Tone Mai Ek
U+0EC9	Mark [Mn]	TONE_MARKER	TOP_POSITION	122	null	້ Tone Mai Tho
U+0ECA	Mark [Mn]	TONE_MARKER	TOP_POSITION	122	null	໊ Tone Mai Ti
U+0ECB	Mark [Mn]	TONE_MARKER	TOP_POSITION	122	null	໋ Tone Mai Catawa
U+0ECC	Mark [Mn]	null	TOP_POSITION	0	null	໌ Cancellation mark
U+0ECD	Mark [Mn]	BINDU	TOP_POSITION	0	null	ໍ Niggahita
U+0ECE	Mark [Mn]	TONE_MARKER	TOP_POSITION	0	null	໎ Yamakkan
U+0ECF	unassigned
U+0ED0	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໐ Digit Zero
U+0ED1	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໑ Digit One
U+0ED2	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໒ Digit Two
U+0ED3	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໓ Digit Three
U+0ED4	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໔ Digit Four
U+0ED5	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໕ Digit Five
U+0ED6	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໖ Digit Six
U+0ED7	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໗ Digit Seven
U+0ED8	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໘ Digit Eight
U+0ED9	Number	NUMBER	null	0	null	໙ Digit Nine
U+0EDA	unassigned
U+0EDB	unassigned
U+0EDC	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ໜ Ho No
U+0EDD	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ໝ Ho Mo
U+0EDE	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ໞ Khmu Go
U+0EDF	Letter	CONSONANT	null	0	null	ໟ Khmu Nyo
U+0EE0	unassigned
U+0EE1	unassigned
U+0EE2	unassigned
U+0EE3	unassigned
U+0EE4	unassigned
U+0EE5	unassigned
U+0EE6	unassigned
U+0EE7	unassigned
U+0EE8	unassigned
U+0EE9	unassigned
U+0EEA	unassigned
U+0EEB	unassigned
U+0EEC	unassigned
U+0EED	unassigned
U+0EEE	unassigned
U+0EEF	unassigned
U+0EF0	unassigned
U+0EF1	unassigned
U+0EF2	unassigned
U+0EF3	unassigned
U+0EF4	unassigned
U+0EF5	unassigned
U+0EF6	unassigned
U+0EF7	unassigned
U+0EF8	unassigned
U+0EF9	unassigned
U+0EFA	unassigned
U+0EFB	unassigned
U+0EFC	unassigned
U+0EFD	unassigned
U+0EFE	unassigned
U+0EFF	unassigned

Miscellaneous character table

In addition to general punctuation, runs of Lao text text typically do not insert spaces between words. Consequently, the Zero-Width Space (U+200B) character is often used to insert invisible break points that may be converted to line breaks.

Table 43 Additional punctuation character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Glyph
U+200B	Separator	PLACEHOLDER	null	​ Zero-width space

Other important characters that may be encountered when shaping runs of Lao text include the dotted-circle placeholder (U+25CC), the zero-width joiner (U+200D) and zero-width non-joiner (U+200C), and the no-break space (U+00A0).

The dotted-circle placeholder is frequently used when displaying a dependent vowel or a combining mark in isolation. Real-world text syllables may also use other characters, such as hyphens or dashes, in a similar placeholder fashion; shaping engines should cope with this situation gracefully.

Table 44 Miscellaneous character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Glyph
U+00A0	Separator	PLACEHOLDER	null	No-break space
U+200C	Other	NON_JOINER	null	‌ Zero-width non-joiner
U+200D	Other	JOINER	null	‍ Zero-width joiner
U+2010	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	‐ Hyphen
U+2011	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	‑ No-break hyphen
U+2012	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	‒ Figure dash
U+2013	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	– En dash
U+2014	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	— Em dash
U+25CC	Symbol	DOTTED_CIRCLE	null	◌ Dotted circle