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Spelling and Pronunciation

This section aims to show the spelling system that we have adopted for this book and, where necessary, to explain how to pronounce the letters and combinations of letters. This system is in fact not a transliteration, in the sense that one Thai sign is always represented by one roman letter, and it thus does not attempt to reproduce the spelling of Thai (as found in the Thai script). It is hoped that the method used will be clear and helpful for English-speaking readers.

To facilitate the discussion, we look first at the consonants, and then at the vowel sounds, giving an example word and the Thai spelling. The pronunciation is as in English, except where indicated otherwise.

Consonants

This is the same sound as the ng in “sing”; when it comes at the beginning of a word, it may be hard to say. Try saying “singer,” then slowing it down and breaking it into two parts: “si-nger.” Then you can get ng in an initial position.

g	gài	ไก่	chicken (as in “get”)
kh	khài	ไข่	egg (as in “kit”)
ng	nguu	งู	snake (as in “sing” or “singer”)
j	jaan	จาน	plate (as in “jam”)
ch	chórn	ช้อน	spoon (as in “chat”)
s	sìi	สี่	four (as in “sit”)
d	dèk	เด็ก	child (as in “do”)
dt	dtaa	ตา	eye (as in “stone”)

NOTE: This is like a t but with no wind behind it. You can get this effect by pursing the lips before releasing the sound.

th	Thai	ไทย	Thai (as in “teach”)
n	norn	นอน	to lie down (as in “nine”)
b	bâan	บ้าน	house (as in “bed”)
bp	bplaa	ปลา	fish (as in “spy”)
ph	phâa	ผ้า	cloth (as in “pan”)

This sound is an ordinary p, but with wind behind it. It is never ph as in “photo” (we have another letter for the f sound).

f	fan	ฟัน	tooth (as in “fine”)
m	maew	แมว	cat (as in “make”)
y	yaa	ยา	medicine (as in “you”)
r	rórn	ร้อน	hot, temperature (as in “rat”)
l	lom	ลม	wind (as in “lot”)
w	wát	วัด	temple (as in “well”)
h	hông	ห้อง	room (as in “hand”)

plus a glottal stop that is not normally written (but has a role in pronunciation) and will be represented with an apostrophe when needed, for example, jà’.

Vowels

Apart from the differences between tones (to be discussed on page 18), there is also an essential difference between long and short vowels. To mark this, we simply write the vowel sound double—that is, it has to be sounded as longer than the short one.

a wan วัน day

The example sounds like English “won.” The a is like the a in “ha!” It is never the a of English “cat” (this exists as well, though—see page 16).

aa maa มา to come

This could be written ah; the example word sounds like English “mar,” but of course without any r attached to it.

i prík พริก chilli

This is a short sound, as in English “if.”

ii mii มี to have

This is the long version of the above; think of the ee in “see.”

u khun คุณ you (polite)

This is the short sound as found in English “foot” or “put.”

uu nguu งู snake

This is the long version of the above, like the oo in English “mood.”

The next group of sounds is a little more difficult:

oh giloh กิโล kilo

This is the o of English “go,” to be carefully distinguished from the next two sounds.

o lom ลม wind

As in English “from.”

or lor หล่อ handsome

The sound intended here is the English or, but without any “r” attached to it; it could also be represented with aw, as in “awful.”

eu meu มือ hand

There are short and long versions of this sound. It is like the eu of French “deux,” but tighter. Compare oe below.

ae láe เเละ and

This is the a sound of “cat.” Note the glottal stop on the end, making the sound short.

e lék เล็ก small

This is just the e of English “met.”

eh mehk เมฆ cloud

This is like the e acute of French, rather than English ay; it could also be written with air (no “r” sound attached), but is a pure vowel, not a diphthong.

oe thoe เธอ you (familiar pronoun)

Like the ir of “bird” (no “r” attached); or the ö of German. There are long and short versions.

Next, there is a wonderful array of diphthongs, that is, combinations of two (or more) vowels. The sounds are as indicated above, but run together, as follows:

ia	mia [pronounce like mee-ah]	เมีย	wife (informal)
iu	hǐu [hew]	หิว	hungry
eua	reua [rer-ah]	เรือ	boat
ua	wua [woo-ah]	วัว	cow
ai	yài [rhymes with hi!]	ใหญ่	big
ao	mau [mow, rhymes with wow!]	เมา	drunk
ui	khui [kooy]	คุย	to chat
oi	noi [noy]	น้อย	a little
oei	khoei [ker-y]	เคย	ever
euai	nèuai [ner-ay]	เหนื่อย	tired
io	dio [dee-oh]	เดียว	alone
eho	leho [lay-oh]	เลว	bad
aeo	maeo [mair-oh]	แมว	cat
iau	nǐau [nee-ow]	เหนียว	sticky

Tones

This is an especially interesting feature of the Thai language, one that gives it a pleasant “singing” sound. The tones are essential, as mentioned above, and not an optional extra. Every Thai word can be said to have a tone, that is, has to be pronounced on a particular pitch. Changing the tone may, in some cases, produce a different word—sometimes with amusing or embarrassing results.

There are five tones in Thai. We call them:

• mid

• high

• falling

• low, and

• rising.

We have marks to indicate these. Each one has its typical contour.

The majority of words are mid tone, so no mark is used for them. When pronouncing a mid tone, we have to be careful to hold the note steadily, not let it drop or rise.

The high tone starts higher than mid, and rises to a little “hook” at the end.

The falling tone starts high, and then drops.

The low tone sounds like an English emphatic tone: “No!”

The rising tone starts low and then goes up.

Native speakers of Thai have very sharp ears for these differences, and so in natural speech the distinctions are sometimes minimal, and may be slurred over when words are in combination. But the learner is well advised to produce the tones exactly, and even to exaggerate them, in order to hit the right note. You can practice by “conducting” with your hand in the air.

In some of the example words already given, some tone marks can already be seen; a complete set looks like this:

Bpaa	ปา	throw	(mid tone)	¯
Bpàa	ป่า	forest	(low tone)	`
Bpâa	ป้า	aunt	(falling tone)	ˆ
Bpáa	ป๊า	father (Chinese)	(high tone)	´
Bpǎa	ป๋า	father (Papa)	(rising tone)	ˇ

Please note that when a vowel sound is written with two letters, the mark is placed over the first, but this of course applies to both.