Reading Thai - in easy steps

[KhwaamLap]

The Thai language is notoriously hard for us westerners. It is a tonal language where words sounding very similar to our untrained ears mean completely differing things based on the tone (pitch) in which they are spoken.

Many of us carry this across to the Thai script; we see a whole new script and believe that it will be as impenetrable as Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc. However, this isn't true. Without going in to the disputed history of the script (and thus avoiding Khmer, Pali and Sanskrit claims/arguments) lets just say it was adapted from other Asian written texts at the time (as was the English script and numbering system I might add).

The aim of the originator, believed to be King Ramkhamhaeng the Great himself, was to create a true alphabetic script.Unfortunatly, this turned out to be a step too far and some earlier rules slipped back (for example the placement of vowels). This made Thai an almost alphabetic script and not a pictographic one (like a Japanese etc).

It also means that we can learn the sounds the letters make and the phonemes the syllables make by following simple rules - rather than having to learn thousands of symbols. Yes, I know this is simplistic, but it will do for a bit of groundwork and to help lessen the fear of undertaking an insurmountable task.

OK, to start. Unlike the English (I'll call it English for want of a better term - pls keep politics out) alphabet, the Thai alphabet does not include the vowels in the same list as consonants (with a few possible exceptions of characters that are also used as vowels or part vowels - these are considered different letters though, even though the characters are the same - and this actually helps, trust me).

There are 44 consonants (there are actually 46, but one is no longer ever used and one is only used in some old words - like the word "English" funnily enough - it is no longer included in the consonant list, but may be in dictionaries) representing 21 distinct consonant sounds - 21 initial sounds and 6 ending sounds (yes, they overlap). There is a good breakdown here: Thai alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and of course thai-language.com, but too me its just too academic and my eyes glaze over.

There are 24 low class consonants, 9 middle class consonants and 11 high class consonants. The classes are important for determining the tone which a syllable should be spoken with, but don't worry too much yet as we are only going to start with mid tone consonants - and even then in bite sized amounts.

Each consonant has an associated word - think of it like "D for Dog" etc - that give the letter its full name: For example the first letter of the alphabet is Gor Gai (Gai is Thai for chicken, so the letters name is 'gor for chicken' - OK it doesn't work in English obviously, but you get the picture). Some people find it useful to learn all these, but I think that can be left until later - we do not need to know 'A' is called 'Aye' to read 'Apple', we just need to know the sound it makes, so that's what I am going to aim for here.

There are some other rules that I need to tell you about, but I will simplify them for now (I know some of what follows is not strictly true, but it helps with the basics without overwhelming the reader - I hope):

-Syllables always begin with a consonant - where a vowel sound is needed at the beginning, a special consonant is used that has no sound at all. Using vowels in a standalone way is not valid in Thai.

-Vowels can be placed before, after, above and below the consonant - but are pronounced afterwards (see the last rule).

- Syllables also can have tone marks - but that's another day - so don't worry about them yet.

- All consonant have classes (High/Medium/Low) which help determine how the syllable is spoken - we are starting with mid class, so syllables can be spoke in a normal voice.

- There are only 6 consonant ending sounds (not including vowel endings - also called) - three hard sounds (Dead endings): K, T, P; and three soft sounds (Live endings): Ng, N, M.

- Nine consonants never appear at the end of a syllable as a consonant: Three of these do appear at the end, but as part of a vowel (get to that another day).

- Loan words (Words borrowed from other languages) sometimes break these rules - but don't worry, honestly.

OK, a lot to take in, but don't worry I'll try to remember to remind you of each as we come to it - later I may refine and add to the rules above.

[KhwaamLap]

So, to start:

A couple of basic vowels so we can make up some syllables - these may or may not be real Thai words, it is the sound we are trying to get here.

[Note: Hyphens to show consonant position(s)].

-า - This makes a long 'ah' sound like 'Bra' or 'star'. It follows the consonant and can be middle or end of a syllable.
-ั - This makes a short 'ah' sound like 'mum'. It is placed over the top of the consonant - it is always in the middle of a syllable (not the end).
แ- - This makes a long 'air' sound like 'bear'. It is placed before the consonant (though sounded afterwards) and can be middle or end of a syllable.
เ- - This makes a short 'air' sound like 'met'. It is placed before the consonant (though sounded afterwards) and can be middle or end of a syllable.
-ี - This makes a long 'ee' sound like 'bee'. It is placed over the top of the consonant and can be middle or end of a syllable.
-ิ - This makes a short 'i' sound like 'bit'. It is placed over the top of the consonant and can be middle of a syllable (not the end).
-ู - This makes a long 'oo' sound like 'moo'. It is placed under the consonant and can be middle or end of a syllable.
-ุ - This makes a short 'oo' sound like 'book'. It is placed under the consonant and can be middle or end of a syllable.
ไ- - This makes a 'ai' sound like 'bye'. It is placed before the consonant (though sounded afterwards) and can be at the end of a syllable only - i.e. short syllables.
โ- - This makes a 'oh' sound like 'go'. It is placed before the consonant (though sounded afterwards) and can be middle or end of a syllable.

There are many more vowels (unlike English where 5 vowels make 28 odd sounds - German, Dutch, Spanish etc have more vowels or accents to help - English doesn't), but as this is just a flavour, I have selected a few for the position and length.

Middle class consonants:


ก (Gor Gai) - In the initial place of a letter it is a hard 'G' sound. It has a K sound at the end of the syllable.

กา Gah ; กัก Guk ; แก Gair ; เกก Gek ; กี Gee ; กิก Gik ; กู Goo ; กุก Gook ; ไก Gai ; โก Goh


จ (Jor Jahn) - In the initial place of a letter it is a 'J' or soft 'G' sound. It has a T sound at the end of the syllable.

จา Jah ; จัจ Jut ; แจ Jair ; เจจ Jet ; จี Jee ; จิจ Jit ; จู Joo ; จุจ Joot ; ไจ Jai ; โจจ Joht


ด (Dor Dek) - In the initial place of a letter it is a 'D' sound. It has a T sound at the end of the syllable.

ดา Dah ; ดัด Dut ; แด Dair ; เดด Det ; ดี Dee ; ดิด Dit ; ดู Doo ; ดุด Doot ; ได Dai ; โดด Doht


ต(Dor Dowl) - In the initial place of a letter it is a cross between 'D' sound and 'T'. It has a T sound at the end of the syllable.

ตา Dtah ; ตัต Dtut ; แต Dtair ; เตต Dtet ; ตี Dtee ; ติต Dtit ; ตู Dtoo ; ตุต Dtoot ; ไต Dtai ; โตต Dtoht


บ (Bor Bai Mai) - In the initial place of a letter it is a 'B' sound. It has a P sound at the end of the syllable.

บา Bah ; บับ Bup ; แบบ Baip ; เบบ Bep ; บี Bee ; บิบ Bip ; บู Boo ; บุบ Boop ; ไบ Bai ; โบ Boh


ป (Bpor Bplah) - In the initial place of a letter it is a cross between 'B' sound and 'P'. It has a P sound at the end of the syllable.

ปา Bpah ; ปัป Bpup ; แปป Bpaip ; เปป Bpep ; ปี Bpee ; ปิป Bpip ; ปู Bpoo ; ปุป Bpoop ; ไป Bpai ; โป Bpoh



There are three other middle tone consonants - but I will cover them next week.


With the above we can mix and match and make many different syllables (try and make some and 'read' them)...

[starryme]

I gave up trying to read Thai scripts..guess, it's really not my thing

[Bobr]

I would be happy if I could read the license plates on my car and motorcycle. I can't tell some of these symbols apart even with a chart, many of them look the same to me. I've given up.

[starryme]

Originally Posted by Bobr

I would be happy if I could read the license plates on my car and motorcycle. I can't tell some of these symbols apart even with a chart, many of them look the same to me. I've given up.

hey bobr,

that's easy..plate numbers usually have a max of 3 Thai letters right, so you can ask a Thai to read it aloud and then try to memorize it..

Okay back to