ຄົນຮັກຮ່ວມເພດ

[khon-huk-huam-phet]

gay, homosexual Noun

* Note — Lao sentences and phrases are not typically spaced out by syllables. But, this is helpful for recognizing where syllables start and end.

Tips:

Literally breaks down to:

  • ຄົນ [khon] — person, people
  • ຮັກ [huk] — to love
  • ຮ່ວມ [huam] — same, together, share
  • ເພດ [phet] — gender

Although people may still used the word ກະເທີຍ [ga-tery], it’s becoming pejorative as time goes on. Like any language, Lao grows and develops new words that matches the time.

Tone Breakdown

ຄົນ [khon] — this syllable has a low-class consonant, a short vowel, and a sonorant final consonant. As a result, this produces a high tone.

ຮັກ [huk] — this syllable has a low-class consonant, a short vowel, and unreleased-stop final consonant. As a result, this produces a middle tone.

ຮ່ວມ [huam] — this syllable has a low-class consonant, a long vowel, and a sonorant final consonant. This normally produces a high tone, but this syllable has a ໄມ້ເອກ /mai ehk/ tone mark. Therefore, the tone of the syllable is a middle tone.

ເພດ [phet] — this syllable has a low-class consonant, long vowel, and unreleased-stop final consonant. As a result, this produces a high-falling tone.