Add IPA romanization for Lao text

[Copilot]

Implements International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) romanization for Lao text, based on the Lingua::LO::NLP reference implementation.

Changes

• IPA character mappings in laonlp/transliterate/core.py:

  • 28 consonants with phonetic precision (aspirated kʰ/tʰ/pʰ, velar nasal ŋ, palatal nasal ɲ, affricate tɕ, glottal stop ʔ)
  • 21 vowels with length distinctions (aː, iː, uː, ɯ, ɛː, ɔː)
  • Tone marks stripped (basic IPA without tonal diacritics)

• Extended transliterate() function to support engine="ipa" alongside existing "anyascii" and "moh2020"

• Test coverage for consonants, vowels, digits, tone mark handling

Usage

from laonlp.transliterate import transliterate

transliterate("ສະບາຍດີ", engine="ipa")  # saʔbaːɲdiː
transliterate("ພາສາລາວ", engine="ipa")   # pʰaːsaːlaːʋ

Comparison

Lao	IPA	MOH2020	AnyASCII
ສະບາຍດີ	saʔbaːɲdiː	sabaydi	sabagndi
ພາສາລາວ	pʰaːsaːlaːʋ	phasalao	phasalav

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Add romanize Lao text according to the IPA</issue_title>
<issue_description>Add romanize Lao text according to the IPA

source: https://github.com/mbethke/Lingua-LO-NLP</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes Add romanize Lao text according to the IPA #26

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.