Characteristics of the Lao language in AX Semantics
Fundamentals
In Lao, you need to know the number of a noun to form the accompanying determiners and pronouns correctly.
Lao has neither grammatical gender nor grammatical case. There are two numbers: singular and plural.
| grammatical name | values | examples |
|---|---|---|
| number | singular | ຫມານີ້ [mani] (this dog) |
| plural | ຫມາເຫຼົ່ານີ້ [maheoani] (these dogs) | |
| adjectives (noun) | after noun | ຫມາກໂປມແດງ [mak opm aedng] (red apple) |
| verb tenses | present | ລາວໄປ [lav pai] (he goes) |
The standard order of a noun phrase in Lao is the following: preposition + noun + adjective + numeral + determiner. See for example:
ໂດຍຜ່ານ ປຶ້ມ ໃຫມ່ ສາມ ຫົວນີ້
[odnyphan pum haim sam huani]
through books new three these
PREP NOUN ADJ NUM DET
"through these three new books"
Lexicon
Nouns
Although Laotian nouns don't inflect for number, the number information is required for the corresponding determiners and pronouns.
Examples
The basic lexicon entry for ໝາ [ma] (dog) contains:
- inflection table for number:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ໝາ [ma] | ໝາ [ma] |
Adjectives
In Lao, adjectives do not inflect. The default position for an adjective is "after noun".
Verbs
Laotian verbs do not inflect.
Container settings
Determiner
The AX NLG platform supports the following determiners for Lao: demonstrative (proximal + distal).
Pronoun
The AX NLG platform supports the following pronouns for Lao: demonstrative (proximal +distal) and personal.
Numerals
Four types of numerals are possible on the AX NLG platform: cardinal, cardinal as digit, ordinal, and ordinal as digit. Take ມື້ [mu] (day) for example:
| cardinal | ordinal | |
|---|---|---|
| text | ເກົ້າມື້ [kao mu] (nine days) | ມື້ທີເກົ້າ [muthi kao] (the ninth day) |
| digit | 9 ມື້ [9 mu] (9 days) | ວັນທີ 9 [muthi kao] (the 9th day) |
For a single item (i.e. numeral = 1), the classifier ໂຕ [ot] comes before the number. Otherwise, the classifier comes after the numeral. For example:
ເບັຽໂຕຫນຶ່ງ
[beiaotnung]
(one bottle of beer)
vs.
ເບັຽສອງໂຕ
[beiasongot]
(two bottles of beer)
For Lao, both cardinal and ordinal numerals are written out until 12 on the platform, otherwise (above 12) the output is in digit form. Take cardinal numerals for example:
ໝາສິບສອງໂຕ
[ma sibsong ot]
(twelve dogs)
vs.
ໝາ 13 ໂຕ
[ma 13 ot]
(13 dogs)
Writing System
Spaces in a Laotian text indicate the end of a clause or sentence. There are usually no spaces between words.