กา กา กา กา กา

Reading
Sounds
in Thai

Walaiporn Tantikanangkul
1. Middle Consonants

      
koo coo doo too boo poo oo
a. Middle consonants with long vowel  without a tone mark

      
(kaa) (caa) (daa) (taa) (baa) (paa) (aa)

analysis:

Long vowels with middle class consonants without a tone mark are pronounced as mid

tone.

'ay eek ไมเอก

b. Middle consonants with tone mark (maay เอก) 
      

(ka`a) (ca`a) (da`a)

a) (ta`a) (ba`a)
a) (pa`a)
a) (a`a)

analysis:

ay eek (ไมเอก
Long vowels with middle consonants with ma ay เอก)are pronounced as low tone.
'

' y thooไมโท)
c. Middle consonants with tone mark (maay
a 
      
(kafla) (cafla) (dafla) (tafla) (bafla)
a) (pafla) (afla)

analysis:

Long vowels with middle consonants with 'ay thoo (ไมโท)are pronounced as falling
maay

tone.

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1. Middle Consonants

      
koo coo doo too boo poo oo
a. Middle consonants with long vowel  without a tone mark

      
(kaa) (caa) (daa) (taa) (baa) (paa) (aa)

analysis:

Long vowels with middle class consonants without a tone mark are pronounced as mid

tone.

'ay eek ไมเอก

b. Middle consonants with tone mark (maay เอก) 
      

(ka`a) (ca`a) (da`a)

a) (ta`a) (ba`a)
a) (pa`a)
a) (a`a)

analysis:

ay eek (ไมเอก
Long vowels with middle consonants with ma ay เอก)are pronounced as low tone.
'

' y thooไมโท)
c. Middle consonants with tone mark (maay
a 
      
(kafla) (cafla) (dafla) (tafla) (bafla)
a) (pafla) (afla)

analysis:

Long vowels with middle consonants with 'ay thoo (ไมโท)are pronounced as falling
maay

tone.

1
d. Middle Consonants with tone mark  (maay
' y trii ไมตร
a ตร)
      
(ka'a) (ca'a)
a) (da'a) (ta'a) (ba'a) (pa'a) (a'a)

analysis:

Long vowels with middle consonants with ma'ay

ay trii (ไมตร
ตร)are pronounced as high tone.

e. Middle consonants with tone mark  maay' y cat` ta waa ไมจั

a จัตวา
ตวา)
       
(ka‡a) (ca‡a)
a) (da‡a) (ta‡a) (ba‡a) (pa‡a) (a‡a)

analysis:

Long vowels with middle consonants with ma'ay

ay ca`t ta waa (ไมจั
จัตวา
ตวา)are pronounced as

rising tone.

Note: As you might have noticed, these rules are quite simple in that what you see or write is

what you hear. It is true

tr ue to the form and true to the sound as these tone marks represent the

sounds you hear.

form          
    
sound mid low falling high rising

Revision

Read aloud and think about how you put the tone marks and how these words are

written. Remember the rules we have just learned and make sure that you pronounce the

consonants correctly.

1.         

        
2
Let’s check the answers and find out about the meaning of the words.

1.  (mid tone) = crow

2.  (low tone) = forest, wood , jungle

3.  (mid tone) = maternal grandfather, eye

4.  (low tone) = to swear, to tell people off

5.  (falling tone) = particle in Thai used with both genders when people are

close to each other e.g. between boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife and

the elder use with the younger.

6.  (high tone) = daddy esp. for Chinese people in Thailand.

7.  (falling tone) = to be crazy, to be mad

8.  (low tone) = shoulder

9.  (falling tone) = to be ajar

10 (low tone) = sergeant

Exercise

Below is the phonetic transcription. Make sure that you consult the reference if you

cannot remember.

1. kaa 2. dafla 3. ta`a 4. baa 5. pa‡a 6. aa 7. ca`a

___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

3
Answer Key

1  (mid tone; no tone mark) = crow

2.  (falling tone; ma'ay thoo) = no meaning; but to illustrate that this sound is

allowed in Thai and this is how it is written.

3.  (falling tone; ma'ay e`ek) = no meaning

4.  (mid tone; no tone mark) = no meaning
5  (rising tone; ma'ay ca`t ta waa) = sugar daddy

6.  (mid tone; no tone mark) = uncle or aunt

7.  (low tone; ma 'ay e`ek) = sergent

Let’s practise some of the long monopthong vowels.

Before that let’s look at the vowels and try to remember how they are written in Thai

and their position.

Note: __ represents the position of the consonant.

⌫
__ (ii)

⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫
⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫
⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫
⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫
⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫ ⌫
__ (ee)
      
      
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       
      
      
__ (aa)
      
      
      
      
      

Exercise
If you feel confident about the tone rules as regards mid class

consonants, do the exercise below. An example has been done for you.

(koflo) = = to be trendy

Make sure you put correct tone marks, and appropriate consonants

according to the phonetic transcriptio n.

1. ka`a 2. pe‡e 3. boo 4. cifli 5. o‡o 6. po'o 7. ki`i

___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

5
Answer Key

1. ka`a  to correct, to make right, to rectify

2. pe‡e  to limp, to jerk

3. boo  ribbon

4. cifli ⌫ 1. to hold up is usually used in the case of hijacking but in Thai it

has to have the word airplane or passanger(s) or person after

this word.

5. o‡o  exclamation to mean understand, realise

6. po'o  to be naked, to be unclothed

7. ki`i ⌫ how many + classifier

Time to think about tones rules

Before we move on to the new chapter, let’s answer some of the questions below:

a. Name of middle consonants

_________________________________________________________________

b. Name some of the long vowels you know.

________________________________________________________________

c. summarise the rules:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Answer:

For a and b answers, please refer to the reference.

Middle consonants followed by long vowels with 4 tone marks : ma ay eek ' ` 
(..), maay thoo
'

 
(..), maay trii (..) and maay cat ta waa ( .
' ' `  are written and pronounced as they are written; and
when writing with no tone mark will be pronounced as mid tone. In other words, what you see is

what you hear—form and sound are the same; they are true to the sound and true to the form.

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2. low consonants

      
ngoo noo moo yoo roo loo woo
a. low consonants with long vowel  without a tone mark

      

(ngaa) (naa) (maa) (yaa) (raa) (laa) (waa)

analysis:

Long vowels with low consonants without a tone mark are pronounced as mid tone.


' y e`ek ไมเอก)
b. Low consonants with tone mark (maa

      

(ngafla) (nafla) (mafla) (yafla) (rafla) (lafla) (wafla)

analysis:

Long vowels with low consonants with ma ay eek are pronounced as falling tone.
' `


' y thoo ไมโท)
c. Low consonants with tone mark (maa

      

(nga'a) (na'a) (ma'a) (ya'a) (ra'a) (la'a) (wa'a)

analysis:

Long vowels with low consonants with ma ay thoo are pronounced as high tone.
'

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 In this class there are only ‘three’ forms and ‘three’ sounds that we can write - the forms

are: 1. consonant with long vowel and no tone mark; 2. consonant with long vowel w ith ma ay '

eek ; 3. consonant with long vowel and maay thoo. These are pronounced mid, falling and
`

high tones respectively. There are no forms written with maay ' form mid tone low tone falling tone

   
trii (๗)or maay cat ta waa
' ` as the chart shows. "
Revision
!
mid falling high
sound

Read aloud and think about how you put the tone marks

and how these words are written. Remember the rules we have

just learned and make sure that you pronounce the consonants correctly.

         
         
Let’s check the answers and find out about the meaning of the words.

1.  mid tone (ngaa) 1. tusk, ivory

2. ยา falling tone (yafla) paternal grandmother

3.  mid tone (raa) fungus, mold

4.  mid tone (laa) 1. to say good-bye, to take leave

5. ลา falling tone (lafla) 1. to hunt, to hunt someone down

6. มา high tone (ma'a) horse

7.  mid tone (maa) to come

8. วา falling tone (wafla) 1. to tell sombody off, to scold, to reprimand, to nag

9. นา high tone (na'a) aunt or uncle

10. นา mid tone (naa) rice farm

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Exercise

Below are the phonetic transcriptions. Make sure that you consult the reference if

you cannot remember.

1. mo'o 2. nifli 3. roo 4. yoo 5. lo'o 6. mafla 7. mii

_____________ _____________ ______________ _____________ ___________ ____________ ___________

Answer Key

1. mo'o  to boast, to brag

2. ni‡i ⌫ This (as subject); it is used without noun e.g. what is this?= ⌫

3. roo  to wait

4. yoo  1. to flatter, to sweet-talk, to praise to excess

5. lo'o  1. wheel e.g. car wheel, bicycle wheel, lorry wheel

6. mafla  mother

7. mii ⌫ to have

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Time to think about tone rules
Before we move on to the new chapter, let’s answer some of the questions below:

a. Name of low consonants

_________________________________________________________________

b. Name some of the long vowels you know.

________________________________________________________________

c. summarise the rules:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Answer:

For a and b answers, please refer to the reference.

Low consonants are followed by long vowels and there are only 2 tone marks to

be used, which are maay eek

' `  .)maay thoo. With the ma ay eek on the low
' ' `

consonant, it will be pronouced as a falli ng tone and with the ma ay thoo, it will be
'

pronounced as a high tone. Without a tone mark, it will be pronounced as a mid tone.

Revision

Choose the best answers.

1. Which answer has all the consonants in the same class?

a.     
b.     
c.     
d.     

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2. Which one has all the answers with the same tone - in terms of

the sound you hear?

a.     

b. ⌫  ⌫ ⌫ 
c.   ⌫ ⌫ 
d.  ⌫   
3. Which one has all the anwers with the falling tone - in terms of the

sound you hear?

a.     

b. ⌫ ⌫   
c.     
d.     

4. Which one has all the answers which has 2 words with the falling

tone and 3 words with the high tone respectively.

a.  ⌫   

b.     
c.    ⌫ 
d.  ⌫ ⌫  

Answer key
1. C - they all belong to low class consonants.

2. C    ⌫ are mid class consonants and the rest are low class consonants.
3. d. -    are mid class consonants and the rest are low class consonants.

4. b     are mid class consonants and the rest are low class

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 Some vowels

long vowel Example

 
⌫ ⌫
 
 
 
 
      
 
 
 
 
 
Look at the following sentences below. Read and put the tone marks by using

phonetic symbols

sentence  ⌫   

    

sentence     

    

sentence    ⌫ 
    

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Answer key

 ⌫   
       
     

    

        
         

   ⌫ 
        
      
   

Exercise: Thai Vowels

Write the words below in Thai and make sure that you have put the position of the vowels, the consonants and the tone marks in the rigth place. An

example has been done for you.

transcription Thai script your answer

bafla      

1. dii ⌫
2. ru'u 
3. cuung 
4. kooy 
5. klafly 
6. klay 
7. way 
8. ke'e 
9. nafla 
10. lo'o 
11. naflw 
12. cam 
13
 Answer key

transcription answer meaning

1. dii ⌫ to be good

2. ru'u  to ransack

3. cuung  to lead somebody, something

to hold sombody’s hand

4. kooy  to scoop up, to pile up

5. klafly  to be near

6. klay  to be far

7. way  age

8. ke'e  to be fake, forged, phoney

9. nafla  to be certain, sure

10. lo'o  to tease, fool, make fun of

11. naflw  to be rotten, decaying

12. cam  to memorise, remember

By now you are familair with the middle and low consonants. These consonants can be seen as final
consonants. However, for the purpose of t his lesson - the low consonants will be illustrated.

       

baan naang ngaam maan raaw daaw yaaw baflang
to bloom Mrs. to be pretty, evil, satan to estimate, star to be long some, any
beautiful row, line

⌫       

khiim luum muu luflun yuflun tu`un kluun pluflum
tongs, pliers to forget hand to be slippery to hand in to wake up to swallow to be chuffed,
delighted,
ecstatic

       

nuun puun coon yoon noflon no'on phlo`o prooy
to bulge, cement thief, to throw there, over further away to appear witho to scatter
puff up burglar there than there ut warning

14
       
wan man kan ra'n lafln pafln rufla tu‡a
day potato, it together, to be to be loud to sculpt to leak ticket
each other stubborn,
headstrong,
pig-headed

       

keem chefln sefln lefln laflan raang yaflang naflan
game for example line, thread, to play to move strength to snatch to be crowd
contacts, along, run ed, packed
backing along

       

lo'om yoom poflon toflong loong no'ong ploom pluay
to surround, to give in, to spoon fee must, to try out younger to be fake, to be naked,
fence resign, endure, d have to person copy,to be nude,
to yield, to be
submissive phoney unclothed

       

ka`w kaw baw pa`w naflw daw taw maw
to be old to itch, to to be light in to blow e.g. to be rotten to second stove to be drunk
scratch on weight candle guess
the body

       
nam tam ram classifier for yam yaflm plaflm cam
to bring to grind e.g. to dance something to mix e.g. to trot to wrestle, to memorise
with pestal oblong salad. rape (inf.) , recall,
shaped remember

Note: 1.  and ....  do not need final consonants.

2. All the vowels we have learned so far can be part of ‘live syllables’ as opposed to ‘dead

syllables’. Live syllables mean that once you pronounce this sound you can continue pronouncing it as

long as you can. For example, ieao u in English or ... ..⌫  ... ...
... and etc. Dead

syllables mean once you pronounce you cannot continue pronouncing it. Normally, they are either short

vowels or have middle consonants -  as final consonants.

3. Low class consonants as final consonants can be seen as ‘live syllables’ . For example,  
    . However,  and  with a vowel as final consonants are pronounced as 

15
Revision

Look at the following vowels below and add initial and final consonants. Write down as many words as you can think of.
Example:


.... with low class consonants

your answer will be       


1. ... with low consonants and ma ay eek( ' ` ไมเอก).

_______________________________________________

2.  with middle consonants

_______________________________________________

3.  with '  ไมโท - you have to think of consonants and the tones you will hear.

_______________________________________________

4.  with final consonants that are considered as ‘live syllables’

_______________________________________________

5.  with the   - you have to think of consonants and the tones you will hear.

_______________________________________________

6.  with low consonants

_______________________________________________
7.  with low consonants as final consonants

_______________________________________________
8.    with middle and low consonants as initial consonants.

_______________________________________________

16
3. Low consonant with high consonant counterparts
Look at the chart below. The place of articulation (where you pronounce the sound) is the same, but the
tones are different. How are the low and high consonants pronounced and what tones are used?

Low class consonants High class consonants

 khoo  kho‡o
     
khaa khafla kha'a kha‡a kha`a khafla

 choo  cho‡o
     
chaa chafla cha'a cha‡a cha`a chafla

 soo  so‡o
     
saa safla sa'a sa‡a sa`a safla

 phoo  pho‡o
     
phaa phafla pha'a pha‡a pha`a phafla

 foo  fo‡o
     
faa fafla fa'a fa‡a fa`a fafla

 thoo  tho‡o
     
thaa thafla tha'a tha‡a tha`a thafla

 hoo  ho‡o
     
haa hafla ha'a ha‡a ha`a hafla

17
Analysis
The low and high consonants are pronounced the same , but with different tones: low

class consonants are pronounced with level or mid tone; high class consonants with the high

tone. Together they can form 5 tones as the chart is shown below:

mid tone low tone falling tone high tone rising tone

! ! ! ! !
form " " "  " " "
sound! khaa! kha`a! khafla! kha'a! kha‡a!

To combine these two classes, we are able to pronouce 5 tones. Notice the falling tone

sound can be written either with low consonant or high consonant, however; the tone marks

are different. You might have noticed that now these classes do not always conform to the rule

“what you hear is what you write.’; only (khaa) from low consonants, (kha`a)
and(khafla) from high consonants are spelled and pronounced the same. The rest are
not.(kha‡a) - one can argue that since the consonant by itself is pronounced with the rising
tone mark  there is no need to put the rising tone mark; it can be made redundant.

Note: The rules we have learned so far are ‘Live syllable rules’

There are other consonants from each class, wihich represent the same sound. Here

they are:

low class consonants high class consonants

  , ฅ  
   
    
   
      
  
  
18
Dead syllable vowels and sounds
 ⌫ 
So far we have learned “live syllable rules”, which either have long vowels e.g. ...

  etc. or have low class consonants without pairs with high class consonants:  
       as final consonants regardless of whether the vowels are either short or
long, since the final consonants will determine the rules of the tones. What you have to

remember is that each class has its own rules. If you cannot remember go over the rules you

have learned.

What are dead vowels?

What it means is once you pronounce it you cannot draw out the sound or prolong it.

You can pronounce or articulate this sound only once. And all the dead vowels that you

pronounce are pronounced with low tone whereas the long vowels you pronounce with level

or mid tone.

short .....  ..... 

.....  ...     ⌫  
a` i` u` o` o` e` a` o` ia` u`a u`a
long ....  .....⌫ 
...... .... ...  ... ...  ⌫  
...
aa ii uu oo oo ee aa aw iay ua ua

Look at the chart below.

As you can see, all the short vowels in this chart are pronounced with low tone; and

there are two written forms that are pronounced the same: ...  and . The other rule to
remember is that whenever you see this vowel  either as part of other vowels or is in itself a

vowel, it means that you cannot put any final consonant.

Since we know that all the consonants can be final consonants. Live consonsonants

belong to the group of low class consonants without their pairs from high class

consonants we thus can argue that the rest of the consonants are dead consonants.

Dead sounds are the sounds which are similar to the English ones: P T K. However, we

need to remember that in Thai, once you pronounce these sounds we don’t explode them like

the way you pronounce in English. Once you pronouce the sound you stop; the sound then will

be inside your mouth rather than outside in the air. That is why when you hear Thai people

speak, they tend not to pronounce these sounds clearly according to English standard as Thai

don’t have these explosive sounds towards the end of the word. For example, the words ‘tip’

‘sit’ and ‘kick’ we tend to say without exploding the sounds p, t, k.

19
Dead syllable rules
What we have learned so far is Live syllable rules for 3 classes. Make sure that you

remember before moving on to dead syllable rules. If you think you are ready this is what we

are going to look at.

Middle consonant rules

Remember the consonants first, which are         . (bold ones

represent the same sound of the ones that are italicised.)

Notice: there are two rules that can be sai d
Let’s look at the chart below. to be true to the form and true to the sound:

the falling tone sound and falling tone mark;

and the high tone sound and th e high tone

low tone falling tone hightone mark. The other one has the form without the

! ! !
tone mark, but is pronounced as low tone.

However, we cannot write this tone and put

form "    the low tone mark, since we can make it

redundant so  is wrong. And we cannot

have mid and rising tones since we cannot

sound! ba`! bafl! ba'! have these 2 forms and pronouce these 2

sounds.To sum up we cannot pronounce this

class with 5 tones like the live syllable rules

which can be written according to what you

hear - “true to the form true to the sound’s

Let’s practise other vowels and other consonants.
rules”.

     

     
     
กัก กาก ดัก ดาก ตัก ตาก
อะ จะ ปะ ตัก อัก ดาก

Analysis:
Mid class + dead final consonant (regardless of the length of the vowel) + no tone mark = low tone
Mid class + dead final consonant (regardless of the length of the vowel) + ma 'ay thoo = falling tone
Mid class +dead final consonant (regardless of the length of the vowel) + ma 'ay trii = high tone

20
 Dead syllable rules

Low consonant rules

         
Remember the consonants first, which 
            

high falling tone falling high tone

A
tone! ! tone! !
B

form " " " form " " "

sound! kha'! khafl! sound! khaflak! kha'ak!

Let’s look at the two charts below.

Can you spot the differences between these two charts?

Although they all produce falling tone and high tone only, the forms are written

differently - A: short vowels with low class consonants can have two forms and

two sounds only namely:  which is pronounced as high tone: notice there is no tone
mark; and คwhich is pronounced as falling tone: notice the tone mark-ma 'ay e`ek.
 long vowels with low class consonants and dead sounds as final consonants
can have two forms as well, which are  and  These two words are

pronounced as falling tone and high tone respectively:notice the two forms of these

words—one without the tone mark, the other with ma 'ay thoo

Let’s practise other vowels and other consonants.

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
⌫ ⌫ ⌫   
21
 Dead syllable rules
High consonant rules

Remember the consonants first, which are      

 these consonants have their pairs with their low class consonants that we have
seen earlier. Let’s look at the chart below.
Notice: As you might have noticed the one that is true

to the form and true to the sound is the falling tone

mark and falling tone sound  ; the low tone sound

low falling tone has the form without the low tone mark. We might form

the hypothesis that since the short vowel is pronounced

tone! ! as low tone it can be made redundant with the high

consonants. In other words, no low tone mark is

form " " " required. It then is wrong to write . Also, remember

that only two forms and two sounds can be produced in

sound! kha`! khafl! this class. No mid tone sound, no high tone sound,

and no rising tone sound can be produced.

Let’s practise other vowels and other consonants.

      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      

22
Silent ห
Letter ห (from the high class consonants class) can change the tones of low class

consonants without pairs (high class consonants), which are: ง นมรลยญว

and this ห can be preceded either by live or dead syllable words.

Note: silent ห cannot precede the low class consonants which pair up with high class
consonants or any mid class consonants.

' `

Note: in this case ณ cannot be followed by silent ห; there is no such word.

'

23
Silent ห

Note: regardless of the length of a vowel—these two groups follow the same rule.
Also, there are no forms for ย ญ ณ and silent ห can only have this rule (no form for
the ones with ma'ay e`ek (ไมเอก).

Let’s practise more words.

หลัด หลาด หยาด หยด หวด โหวด

หลง หลาย หนาย หน หว โหวง

หลน หรน หลด หลบ หลก หล

24
 Review of Live syllable rules
Listen to these words and put the following words in the right place; some of them may be correct. Make sure that you put them i n the correct

tones, not the correct spellings. You may draw an arrow to a correct column.

    

         

   
     
         คา
     
     
     
 ⌫  ⌫
    เซอ
   
       
   
   
       
     ยง
     
25
 Review of Dead syllable rules

Listen to these words and put the following words in the right place; some of them may be correct. Make sure that you put them in the

correct tones, not the correct spellings. You may draw an arrow to the correct column.

    

         

   
   
   
   
   
   ⌦
   
     
   
 ⌦    
   
 ป
   
   
   
26
 Exercise on analysing rules: Listen to the words below and tick in appropriate boxes.

    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (
 

    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (

 
    ไมเอก ( ) 
      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (

 
    ไมเอก ( ) 
      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (


    ไมเอก ( ) 
      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (

 

    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (


    ไมเอก ( ) 
      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (

 
    ไมเอก ( ) 
      ไมโท ( )
ไมตร (

   
ไมจัตวา (

 

27
     ไมเอก ( ) 
      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (



    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (



    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (



    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (



    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (



    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (



    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (

 

    ไมเอก ( ) 

      ไมโท ( ) 
ไมตร (
   
ไมจัตวา (

 

28
 Can you summarise the tones rules after doing the exercise?

summary of the tone rules: Live syllable rules summary of the tone rules: Dead syllable rules
1. Mid consonants can be pronounced................... tones: 1. Mid consonants can be pronounced................... tones:
which are: ........................................................................................................ which are: ........................................................................................................

2. Mid consonants can have......................................tone marks: 2. Mid consonants can have......................................tone marks:
which are: ........................................................................................................... which are: ...........................................................................................................

3. Are all of them true to the forms, true to the sounds? 3. Are all of them true to the forms, true to the sounds?
In other words, is what you hear what you write? In other words, is what you hear what you write?
_______________________________ _______________________________

summary of the tone rules: Live syllable rules summary of the tone rules: Dead syllable rules
1. Low consonants can be pronounced................... tones: 1. Low consonants can be pronounced................... tones:
which are: ........................................................................................................ which are: ........................................................................................................

2. Low consonants can have......................................tone marks: 2. Low consonants can have......................................tone marks:
which are: ........................................................................................................... which are: ...........................................................................................................

3. Are all of them true to the forms, true to the sounds? 3. Are all of them true to the forms, true to the sounds?
In other words, is what you hear what you write? In other words, is what you hear what you write?
_______________________________ _______________________________

summary of the tone rules: Live syllable rules summary of the tone rules: Dead syllable rules
1. High consonants can be pronounced................... tones: 1. High consonants can be pronounced................... tones:
which are: ........................................................................................................ which are: ........................................................................................................

2. High consonants can have......................................tone marks: 2. High consonants can have......................................tone marks:
which are: ........................................................................................................... which are: ...........................................................................................................

3. Are all of them true to the forms, true to the sounds? 3. Are all of them true to the forms, true to the sounds?
In other words, is what you hear what you write? In other words, is what you hear what you write?
_______________________________ _______________________________

29
Look at the following words and formulate the rules.
1.    

    ⌫

    

   

    

    

    

    ⌫

     

      

     

30
Exercise A: Look at the following consonants and number t he ones which are low class consonants (without pairs) .

 
 




 
 

  

1. How many can you find? And which ones represent the same sounds as initial consonants and which ones

represent the same sounds as final consonants?

_______________________________________________________________

2. These groups of consonants when they become final consonants, are they considered under live or dead syllable

rules, and why?_________________________________________________________

Exercise B: Match the pairs of each low class consonant - they pair up with high class consonants.

low class consonants high class consonants

   
   
  
   
     
   
    
Can you give the reason why they are paired up? Clue: think about the sound and the place of articulation.

________________________________________________________________________________

31
Exercise C: Make up some words from both groups of consonants. You have to use the vowels and tone marks given in

the third column. However, you have to think carefully whether all the vowels can be used in all these cases.

low class consonants high class consonants vowels and tone marks
(lcc) (hcc)

       

  


         


  


        

  


       

  


         

  


      

  


      

  

32
low class consonants high class consonants vowels and tone marks

      


    ⌫     



      



      



       



       



1. How many tones can you make in low class consonants?

___________________________________________

2. Do you use live or dead syllable rules?

___________________________________________

3. How many tone marks can you use in low class consonants?

___________________________________________

4. How many tones can you make in high class consonants?

___________________________________________

5. Do you use live or dead syllable rules?

___________________________________________

6. How many tone marks can you use in hi gh class consonants?

___________________________________________

7. If you put the pairs of each class, namely high class and low class pairs, how many tone marks can you put and

how many tones can you hear?

___________________________________________

8. Do you think you understand the rules of these groups under the live syllable rules?

___________________________________________

33
Exercise A: Look at the following consonants and number t he ones which are mid class consonants .


 
 


 





  
1. How many can you find? And which ones represent the same sounds?

_______________________________________________________________

2. These groups of consonants when they become final consonants, are they considered under live or dead syllable

rules, and why?

_________________________________________________________

3. Which consonant can be seen as a vowel as well?

_____________________________________________________________________

Exercise B: Which of the following vowels below are long vowels and why?

อ
 ⌫



⌫

  

34
Exercise C: Make up some words from both groups of consonants. You have to use the vowels and tone marks given in

the third column. However, you have to think carefully whether all the vowels can be used in all these cases.

mid class low class high class vowels and tone marks
consonants consonants consonants
(mcc) (lcc) (hcc)

       

  

  


          


  

  


          

  

  


         

  

  


          

  

  

35
mid class low class high class vowels and tone marks
consonants consonants consonants
(mcc) (lcc) (hcc)

          


  

  


           


  

  


     

  

  

  

1. How many tones can you make when using mid class consonants under live syllable rules?

____________________________________________________________________________________

2. when mid class consonants e.g.       except  become final consonants are they followed by

either live or dead syllable rules regardless of the length of the vowels?

__________________________________________________________________________________

3.What tone marks can be used with mid class consonants under live syllable rules and what tones do you hear?

____________________________________________________________________________________

4. When low class consonants such as,    , and  are final consonants are they followed by either live or

dead syllable rules regardless of either short or long vowels?

____________________________________________________________________________________

36
 Pronunciation and
Monopthong Vowels phonetic symbols

phonetics symbol Thai vowel example

i   kit

ii ⌫ see

e  led

ee  gay

a     cup

aa  car

u  put

uu  t oo

o  t 0' = table in Thai

oo  go

e  a bout (give stress to the ‘a’ )

ee  เก__ her

a  n a' = to suggest

'

aa  b ea r

u ⌦ n u' k= to assume in Thai

uu (อ)  u h h (pronouced with long vowel)

o  s o c k (but make the sound

o short)

oo  c au g h t, l aw,
j aw 37

Note: … represents initial consonant and represents final consonant except the one with * which either needs  or the final
consonant.
Diphthongs ( two vowels)

ia ⌫ b ee r

ua  ..ว b ua = lotus

ua  r ua = boat

aw  m aw = to be drunk

aaw     n ow

iw     h i‡w = to be hungry

ew  r ew = to be quick

eew     l eew = to be bad

ay         bi

aay     b ye

ooy    d ooy = by, with, by means of

ooy    b oy

eey     kh eey = ever

Thriphthongs (three vowels)

iaw ⌫ th iflaw = to visit, to go out

uay  r uay = to be rich

uay  p luay = to be naked

38
 vowels in Thai

   ⌫ ⌦

       
    
       
    
          
    
          
⌫ ⌫    
     
   
        

 
   
∗

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
  

     

 
Notice: long vowels are pronounced as mid tone; short vowel s as low tone, except the last two 39
short vowels with * they are pronouced as high tone as they are combined with ร and ล.
1. syllables ending with a long vowel (except เ..ย
 ะ, ..ัวะ and เ..อ ะ)
2. syllables ending with ง น ม ร ล ย ฬ ว ณ ญ regardless of the length of the vowel

initial consonant no tone

mark
ไมเอก ไมโท ไมตร ไมจัตวา
.. .. .. ..
mid class conso- mid tone low tone falling tone high tone rising tone
nants:

กจดฎตฏ ดา ดา ดา ดา ดา

( daa) ( da`a) ( dafla) ( da'a) ( da‡a)
บปอ ดัน ดัน
 ดัน
 ดัน
 ดัน

( dan) ( da`n) ( dafln) da'n)
( ( da‡n)

high class rising tone low tone falling tone

consonants:

ขฉถฐผฝ ขา ขา ขา no form no form

( kha‡a) ( kha`a) ( khafla)
สศษห ขัน ขัน
 ขัน

( kha‡n) ( kha`n) ( khafln)

a. low class conso- mid tone falling tone high tone

nants (pair up with
high consonants):

คฆ ช ฌ คา คา คา
( khaa) ( khafla) ( kha'a) no form no form

ทธฒฑพ คัน คัน

 คัน

ภฟซฮ ( khan) ( khafln) ( kha'n)
b. the rest of low
class consonants:
งนณมร นา นา นา no form no form
( naa) ( nafla) ( na'a)
ลฬ ย ญ ว นัง นัง นัง
( nang) ( naflng) ( na'ng)

Note: The high class consonants and their pairs can make up five tones like mid class consonants and
both can produce the falling tone, but have different forms. The low class without pairs follow the same
rules.

40