Language/Thai/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Thai Alphabet & Pronunciation

Thai Alphabet, IPA Pronuncation, Video, Virtual Keyboard...

Hello Polyglots,

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Thai alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.

Thai, Central Thai (historically Siamese; Thai: ภาษาไทย), is the national and official language of Thailand.

You might think that Thai script isn’t for you, but let me explain to you why you are wrong: Knowing the Thai alphabet will make your pronunciation a lot better, a lot. It is impossible to write the correct sound with Roman letters, because there are only 25 of them. The Thai alphabet consists of 44 consonants, which gives you a lot more sounds and variations. And not to mention the 43 vowels and five tones. I don’t know anyone who can’t read and write and are still sounding like a Thai (except for the ลกครง [luuk krueng] (half Thai) that have been to lazy to learn the script). I recommend you going to YouTube to find a video on how the consonants are pronounced. First we say the sound of the consonant followed by a noun to relate to that consonant. For example, the first consonant is ก and is a G sound. We will pronounce it like this: gor gai. Gai meaning chicken. So, we relate the Gor sound to the chicken, because it is used in the word ไก [gai] (chicken).

Once you've gotten a grasp on this subject, you may be keen to learn more about these connected themes: LOW, MIDDLE AND HIGH CLASS ..., Seasons & LOW, MIDDLE AND HIGH CLASS CONSONANTS.

Thai Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation

TONES & SOUND

If the tone is wrong, or you put the pressure at the wrong place, the word can get a whole different meaning. Therefore, pay close attention to this chapter. This is just a guide line on how to help you on the right track, you will only progress if you do your homework. A key is: talk slow and clearly. There is no need to speed it up in order to “sound like a native”, because you won’t. Take it easy, take your time and get the pronunciation right. A little tip; put in some earplugs and speak out loud. This will help you to hear your voice more clearly so you can stop your mistakes and know where you need to improve. To record your own voice and play it over and over again is also a very good technique. In the beginning you will be embarrassed to hear your own Thai, but get over that because it will help you improve a lot. Then you can listen to your voice recordings everywhere; in the sky train, the car or just in your room.

I am not a fan of the phonetic alphabet, as a matter of fact I detest it. Who invented that ก should be written a K when it makes a G sound? and ต written as a T when it makes a DT sound? As you progress with the Thai alphabet you will, like me and many others, start to question it. I agree and understand that there are some sounds that you can’t write with the Roman alphabet, but your teacher can teach you the sounds, so don’t go too hard about learning the phonetic alphabet as it is a waste of time. Learn the basics and then forget about it. (L) behind the phonetic word meaning a low tone, (H) meaning a high tone, (F) meaning a falling tone, (R) meaning a rising tone and if there is no symbol then it’s a middle tone.

Source: https://www.thaiguide.dk/download/Straight-To-The-Point-Emil-Vohlert.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0yoUAagls_67jPH-dCdHquWbtiBEtGL7YJlwDBpBbCYdffvec2onbK3wg

Consonants

Letter	Name	Name in Latin	IPA
			Initial	Final
ก	ก ไก่	ko kai	[k]	[k̚]
ข	ข ไข่	kho khai	[kʰ]	[k̚]
ฃ	ฃ ขวด	kho khuat	[kʰ]	[k̚]
ค	ค ควาย	kho khwai	[kʰ]	[k̚]
ฅ	ฅ คน	kho khon	[kʰ]	[k̚]
ฆ	ฆ ระฆัง	kho ra-khang	[kʰ]	[k̚]
ง	ง งู	ngo ngu	[ŋ]	[ŋ]
จ	จ จาน	cho chan	[tɕ]	[t̚]
ฉ	ฉ ฉิ่ง	cho ching	[tɕʰ]	–
ช	ช ช้าง	cho chang	[tɕʰ]	[t̚]
ซ	ซ โซ่	so so	[s]	[t̚]
ฌ	ฌ เฌอ	cho choe	[tɕʰ]	–
ญ	ญ หญิง	yo ying	[j]	[n]
ฎ	ฎ ชฎา	do cha-da	[d]	[t̚]
ฏ	ฏ ปฏัก	to pa-tak	[t]	[t̚]
ฐ	ฐ ฐาน	tho than	[tʰ]	[t̚]
ฑ	ฑ มณโฑ	tho montho	[tʰ]	[t̚]
ฒ	ฒ ผู้เฒ่า	tho phu-thao	[tʰ]	[t̚]
ณ	ณ เณร	no nen	[n]	[n]
ด	ด เด็ก	do dek	[d]	[t̚]
ต	ต เต่า	to tao	[t]	[t̚]
ถ	ถ ถุง	tho thung	[tʰ]	[t̚]
ท	ท ทหาร	tho thahan	[tʰ]	[t̚]
ธ	ธ ธง	tho thong	[tʰ]	[t̚]
น	น หนู	no nu	[n]	[n]
บ	บ ใบไม้	bo baimai	[b]	[p̚]
ป	ป ปลา	po pla	[p]	[p̚]
ผ	ผ ผึ้ง	pho phueng	[pʰ]	–
ฝ	ฝ ฝา	fo fa	[f]	–
พ	พ พาน	pho phan	[pʰ]	[p̚]
ฟ	ฟ ฟัน	fo fan	[f]	[p̚]
ภ	ภ สำเภา	pho sam-phao	[pʰ]	[p̚]
ม	ม ม้า	mo ma	[m]	[m]
ย	ย ยักษ์	yo yak	[j]	– or [n]
ร	ร เรือ	ro ruea	[r]	[n]
ล	ล ลิง	lo ling	[l]	[n]
ว	ว แหวน	wo waen	[w]	–
ศ	ศ ศาลา	so sala	[s]	[t̚]
ษ	ษ ฤๅษี	so rue-si	[s]	[t̚]
ส	ส เสือ	so suea	[s]	[t̚]
ห	ห หีบ	ho hip	[h]	–
ฬ	ฬ จุฬา	lo chu-la	[l]	[n]
อ	อ อ่าง	o ang	[ʔ]	–
ฮ	ฮ นกฮูก	ho nok-huk	[h]	–

Low, Middle and High class Consonants

More information: https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/Thai/Pronunciation/LOW,-MIDDLE-AND-HIGH-CLASS-CONSONANTS

Vowels

For learning the vowels you need to use in order to build words, I will recommend the following videos on YouTube:

Diacritic	Name	IPA
◌ะ	a	a
◌ั	a	a
◌า	a	aː
◌ิ	i	i
◌ี	i	iː
◌ึ	ue	ɯ
◌ื	ue	ɯː
◌ือ	ue	ɯː
◌ุ	u	u
◌ู	u	uː
เ◌ะ	e	e
เ◌็	e	e
เ◌	e	eː
แ◌ะ	ae	ɛ
แ◌็	ae	ɛ
แ◌	ae	ɛː
โ◌ะ	o	o
โ◌	o	oː
เ◌าะ	o	ɔ
◌็อ	o	ɔ
◌อ	o	ɔː
◌็	o	ɔː
เ◌อะ	oe	ɤ
เ◌อ	oe	ɤː
เ◌ิ	oe	ɤː

Thai Online Virtual Keyboard

Sources

https://www.thaiguide.dk/download/Straight-To-The-Point-Emil-Vohlert.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0yoUAagls_67jPH-dCdHquWbtiBEtGL7YJlwDBpBbCYdffvec2onbK3wg

Other Lessons

• Fonts
• LOW, MIDDLE AND HIGH CLASS CONSONANTS