Lao letter ngo

It is the nasal “ng” at the end of “sing.”

At either end of a Lao syllable, the back of the tongue meets the soft palate while air flows through the nose. The oral spelling names “ngo ngu” and “ngo ngua” pair the letter with Lao words for snake and ox, helping people distinguish it when reciting the alphabet.

Lao tone rules use consonant class alongside syllable shape and tone marks; ງ belongs to the low class, but it is not a tone mark. In ຫງ, the silent ຫ makes the onset follow high-class rules while ງ keeps the ng sound.

How did Lao writing develop?

Tham writing includes a dated example from CE 1376 and another manuscript from CE 1471. Lao Tham and Lao Laic traditions had emerged by about 1500.

Tham scripts recorded Pali, a language used in Buddhist scripture, and local spoken languages. In Laos, Lao Tham writing was generally reserved for religious texts, while secular Lao writing fed the modern tradition. Related Tham writing also served Lao, Northern Thai, and Tai Lue communities; texts could be read across them even when pronunciation differed.

Lao belongs to a script lineage that connects South Indian writing traditions with forms related to Mon or Old Khmer, older regional scripts, before branching into Tai scripts such as Tham, Fakkham, and Lao. Lao Buhan is the closest predecessor of modern Lao writing; Thai writing is a related sister system. The post-1975 reforms made Lao spelling more phonemic.

How do I type ງ?

Switch to a Lao keyboard layout, then use the key mapped to ງ.

As of 2026, Microsoft's standard Windows Lao layout maps ງ to the US apostrophe/quote key; Shift plus that key produces =. On AZERTY and other physical layouts, the character may be on a key with a different printed label.

Lao vowel order can put a pre-base vowel before the consonant it belongs with, even though the vowel displays to its left. Combining vowel marks must precede tone marks, and the font must position them correctly.