Script guide › Brahmic / Indic
How to recognize Lao
Lao is one of 14 languages in Grafle's Brahmic / Indic group. Here's what it looks like, where you'll see it on signs, and how to tell it apart from its lookalikes.
Spot it fast
- Like Thai but rounder and simpler — fewer letters and no little 'crown' serifs.
What Lao looks like
ມະນຸດທຸກຄົນເກີດມາມີສິດເສລີພາບ ແລະ ສະເໝີພາບ.
ສະບາຍດີ, ສະບາຍດີບໍ?
ພາສາລາວງາມຫຼາຍ.
Brahmic / Indic scripts: The scripts of South and Southeast Asia — letters hang from top bars, curl into loops, or stack vowel marks above and below.
Where you'll see it on signs
- Laos
Easy to confuse with
- Thai — Thai letters start with tiny loops and wear pointed 'crowns'; Lao is rounder, simpler, with fewer letters.
- Khmer — Lao is round and open; Khmer is tall, spiky and ornate with stacked subscripts.