Tag Archives: Consonants

Pronunciation – Thai Low Consonants – Set 3

There are Twenty-four Low consonants in Thai. Some are less common than others but all are used in some words. In a few cases the letters are common in place names and Thai names and nicknames. It is common to learn Low consonants in sets (we choose to do 3 sets of 8 consonants, in alphabetical order), and to start the Low consonants after the first set of 7 common Mid consonants.

The third set of 8 Low Consonants

  • #32 - ภอ สำเภา - pau sam pao
  • #33 - มอ ท้า - mau maa
  • #34 - ยอ ยักษ์ - yau yag
  • #35 - รอ เรือ - rau ru-ah
    • Note: this is a rolling "r" such as found in Spanish, and not pronounced like an "r" in English
  • #36 - ลอ ลิง - lau ling
  • #37 - วอ แหวน - wau waayn
  • #42 - ฬอ จุฬา - lau ju laa
  • #44 - ฮอ นกฮูก - hau nog hoog

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Pronunciation – Thai Low Consonants – Set 2

There are Twenty-four Low consonants in Thai. Some are less common than others but all are used in some words. In a few cases the letters are common in place names and Thai names and nicknames. It is common to learn Low consonants in sets (we choose to do 3 sets of 8 consonants, in alphabetical order), and to start the Low consonants after the first set of 7 common Mid consonants.

The second set of 8 Low Consonants

  • #17 - ฑอ มณโฑ - tau mon toh
  • #18 - ฌอ ผู้เฌ่า - tau poo tao
  • #19 - ณอ เณร - nau nayn (change from "nane")
  • #23 - ทอ ทหาร - tau ta haan
  • #24 - ธอ ธง - tau tohng
  • #25 - นอ หนู - nau nhoo
  • #30 - พอ พาน - pau paan
  • #31 - ฟอ ฟัน - fau fun

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Pronunciation Practice – Thai Low Consonants – Set 1

There are Twenty-four Low consonants in Thai. Some are less common than others but all are used in some words. In a few cases the letters are common in place names and Thai names and nicknames. It is common to learn Low consonants in sets (we choose to do 3 sets of 8 consonants, in alphabetical order), and to start the Low consonants after the first set of 7 common Mid consonants.

The first set of 8 Low Consonants

  • #4 - คอ ควาย - kau kwaai
  • #5 - ฅอ ฅน - kau khon (change from "kon")
  • #6 - ฆอ ระฆัง - kau ra kang
  • #7 - งอ งู - ngau ngoo
  • #10 - ชอ ช้าง - shau shaang
    • Note: Thai people do not make the same sound as an English "ch" or "sh". The way the sound is produced (place and manner of articulation) is different. We will discuss this more in full in a future article.
  • #11 - ซอ โซ่ - sau soh
  • #12 - ฌอ เฌอ - shau shuhh (chang from "shuh")
  • #13 - ญอ หญิง - yau ying

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Pronunciation Practice – First Set of Mid-Consonants

The First Set of Consonants to Learn

It is common to begin learning the Thai consonants in groups rather than in a linear fashion. The first set of consonants learned is generally the common mid-consonants. Seven of the nine Mid-Consonants are common, while two are uncommon and rarely used. Those are left for later. The idea is to learn consonants which can be built upon in terms of using vowels and creating words.

  • Purchase the Thai Alphabet Flash Cards

  • 1 Gau Gai - กอ ไก่

  • #8 Jau Jaan - จอ จาน
  • #20 Dau Deg - ดอ เด็ก
  • #21 Dtau Dtao - ตอ เต่า
  • #26 Bau Bai Mai - บอ ใบไมั
  • #27 Bpau Bplaa - ปอ ปสา
  • #43 Au Aang - ออ อ่าง

We use the Lanna Innovation Thai Consonant cards for this practice.

The 7 common Thai Alphabet Mid-Consonants

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Thai Consonant Tone and Pronunciation Practice

The first set of Thai Alphabet Cards is the 44 Thai Consonants. Below we have simple pronunciation drills for each of the cards, divided into four videos of around 3 minutes each.

01 - Gau Gai - Thai Alphabet Consonants - How to Learn Thai

Pronunciation Practice Drills

Each video has a female speaker who pronounces a consonant three times, and then a male speaker. Each of the speakers is a Thai native speaker who is using standard Thai pronunciation.

Each video is available in HD so click on the HD button at the bottom of the player and size for a full-screen view to be able to read all details on the Thai consonant flash cards.

Tones and Syllable Length

Two key factors beyond making the correct sound (place and manner of articulation of the mouth and larynx), it is helpful to track the tones against the graphical tone indicators (the lines underneath the English phonetic transcription). These show the relative frequency of tone as well as the duration (length of the line).

Thai Consonants 1-11

Thai Consonants 12-23

Thai Consonants 24-34

Thai Consonants 35-44

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ก. ไก่ – The first letter of the Thai alphabet

Sound

The first letter of the Thai alphabet - English sideก has the sound of .g. as golf, gun, guide in English when it is an initial consonant. กา crow (gaa), กิน to eat (gin), ไก่ chicken (gai). Note: The word "koh" that is the official name for island then misleads the foreign speaker to pronounce it wrong.

If it appears after a vowel ก will be softly pronounced as a stop "g" but not with a strong aspiration as in English. For example มาก – very (maa+soft g) รัก – to love (ra+soft g), ลูก child (loo+soft g).

Name

For the benefit of helping children to memorize the 44 consonants, Thai letters are made to have its own name which is referred to the object that is related to their daily life. By this, the learners will be able to recognize the name and the sound of the consonant connected to the meaning and order. Every consonant carries the "au" vowel to it and followed by the name. In this case, ก is therefore called "gau gai"

Cultural/historical view

The first letter of the Thai alphabet - Thai sideก has the same consonant sound in the word "gai" which means "chicken" and chicken was picked because of it is historically significant to the life of the Thais as honored to be the first consonant. The relationship between chicken and the Thai has been closely connected for a long time, especially for those community in the countryside chicken are kept in each house whether to be used for food or for pleasure, or even for sport (cock-fighting). Besides, the chicken are also a main character in much of Thai literature, as in Lilit Pra Law. Many Thai proverbs use the chicken as a symbol and to teach virtues such as the following:

ไก่ได้พลอย - A chicken gets a gem.

  • Meaning: A person who has a good thing, but he doesn't know about value.

ไก่เห็นตีนงู งูเห็นนมไก่ - A chicken sees the snake's foot and a snake sees the chicken's breast.

  • Meaning: Two parties who know each other secret.

ไก่งามเพราะขน คนงามเพราะแต่ง - Fine feathers make fine birds.

  • Meaning: Clothes make the man.

Consonant class

ก is classified as "mid consonant" because it has the inherent mid tone and consonants in this group when apply to a long vowel will produce mid tone syllable, for example กา (mid), while with short vowel it becomes low tone, for example กะ (low).

Form

ก as you see in the middle of the card is the official and typing form. However, when a Thai write ก it can be varied such as …. In addition, ก may appear differently in stylish design such as

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