OG-Introduction to Thai (TFL)

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INTRODUCTION TO THAI

1. Introduction to Thai

Thai is the official language of Thailand which belongs to the Tai-Kadai language
family, a language family of tonal languages found in Southern China, Northeast India,
and Southeast Asia (Diller, 2002; Diller, Edmondson, & Luo, 2008; Draper, 2019). Over half
of Thai vocabularies is derived from Pali and Sanskrit, and some are from old Khmer and
others (Baker, 2014).

Figure 1: Asia map

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Thailand is traditionally divided into 4 regions such as North, North Eastern (Isan),
Central, and Southern Thailand. Therefore, there are four main dialects which are
categorized according to the four regions of Thailand (Liamprawat, 2008; Kingkham, 2013).
The standard Thai is spoken in the central region of Thailand and around the country,
mainly Bangkok metropolitan area.

Figure 2: Thailand map

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1.1 Thai Alphabet
There are 44 consonant letters, 32 vowel letters, and 4 tone diacritics to create

characters representing Thai syllables or words.
Thai Consonant Letters:

Figure 3: Thai consonant letters

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Thai Vowel Letters:

Figure 4: Thai vowel letters

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Thai Tone Diacritics:

Figure 5: Thai tone marks

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1.2 The Characteristics: Syntax 6
SV
Ann studies O
SV Thai
Ann studies
Thai.
SV
Ann studies O
SV English
Ann studies
Thai.

O
Thai

Thai.

O
Chinese

Thai.

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SV O Thai
Ann studies Thai. Korean

SO V
Ann Thai studies.

1.3 The Characteristics: Word Orders

Example 1:

English
• Shaun wears a read shirt.
Thai
• Shaun wears a shirt read.

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Example 2:

English
• Ann is very beautiful.

Thai
• Ann is beautiful very.

1.4 The Characteristics: Honorifics

Different speech level of respect
The way you talk to your parents/teachers
The way you talk to your friends

Figure 6: The Characteristics: Honorifics 1

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Therefore, Thai as a Foreign Language (TFL) learners need to consider these two things:

Using honorific words
Using different speech level

Figure 7: The Characteristics: Honorifics 2

2. Thai Phonology

2.1 Thai Consonants
Thai consonants consist of 44 letters which are distinguished into initial

consonants, final consonants, and cluster consonants. Even though there are 44 Thai
consonant letters, there are only 21 initial consonant sounds, when used at the beginning
of a syllable, and 8 final consonant sounds, when used at the end of a syllable. That
means some consonants produce the same sound. Please note that Thai consonant
letters are horizontally written from left to right.

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Table 1: Thai Romanized Consonant Letters

Romanized Alphabet Word Examples
Thai IPA Initial
Alphabet Final Initial Final
consonants consonants consonants consonants

ก /k/ g k ไก gai2 นก nok4

ข, ฃ /kh/ kh k ไข khai2 สุข suk2

ค, ฅ, ฆ /kh/ kh k คอ khor:1 นาค na:k3

ง /ŋ/ ng ng งู ngu:1 ยาง ya:ng1

จ /c/ j t จาน ja:n1 กจิ git2

ฉ, ฌ /c/ ch none ฉัน chan5 - -

ช /ch/ ch t ชา ง cha:ng คช kot4
4

ซ, ศ, ษ, ส /s/ s t เสอื suea5 กา ซ ga:t4

ญ /j/ y n หญงิ ying5 กาญจน ga:n1

ฎ, ด /d/ d t เด็ก dek2 กดั gat2

ฏ, ต /t/ t t เตา tao2 นาฏ na:t3

ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, /th/ th t ถุง thung5 บท bot2
ท, ธ

ณ, น /n/ n n หนู nu:5 กนิ gin1

บ /b/ b p บนิ bin1 อบ ob2

ป /p/ p p ไป bpai รูป ru:p3

ผ /ph/ ph none ผม phom5 - -

ฝ /f/ f none ฝา fa:5 - -

พ, ภ /ph/ ph p พาน pha:n1 ภาพ pa:p3

ฟ /f/ f p ฟน fan1 กราฟ gra:p4

ม /m/ m m มา ma:4 ลม lom1

ย /j/ y y ยาว ya:w1 เลย lery1

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ร /r/ r n เรือ ruea1 สาร sa:n5

ล, ฬ /l/ l n ลงิ ling1 กาล ga:n1

ว /w/ w w แหว wae:n5 สาว sa:w5
น

ห, ฮ /h/ h none หา ha:5 - -

อ /ʔ/ a none อาง a:ng2 - -

Note. 1The IPA scripts are derived from International Phonetic Association (1999) and 2the
Romanized alphabets used in this book are derived from Geerativudhipong (2021)
3Number 1-5 representing Thai tones.

1). Phonetically “h” is the symbol for aspirated sound, that is, the sound
followed by a puff of air when pronounced according to the phonetic rules:

[kh] represents “ข ฃ ค ฅ ฆ” which are aspirated sounds.
[ph] represents “ผ พ ภ” which are aspirated sounds, whereas [p] represents “ป”
which is an unaspirated sound.
[th] therefore represents “ฐ ฑ ฒ ถ ท ธ” which are aspirated sounds, whereas [t]
represents “ต ฏ” which are unaspirated sounds.
2). Phonetically “อ” is vowel sound, it is therefore transcribed the sound with
/a/ to represent “อ”.
3). There are 11 cluster consonant sounds:
“กร-” /gr-/, “ขร-” “คร-” /khr-/, “ปร-” /pr-/, “พร-” /phr-/, “ตร-” /tr-/
“กล-” /gl-/, “ขล-” “คล-” /khl-/, “ปล-” /pl-/, “พล-” /phl-/
“กว-” /gw-/, “ขว-” “คว-” /khw-/

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2.2 Thai vowels
There are 32 vowel letters in Thai language which are separated into short and

long vowel sounds. Thai vowel letters appear above, below, and around the consonants.
Please note that Thai vowels following a consonant letter are written above, below, to
the left or to the right of a consonant letter, or around the consonants.

Table 2: Thai vowel letters

Thai script for vowels IPA Romanized Word Examples
Alphabet

Single Vowels /a/ a นะ na4
อะ, อั /an/ an สรร- san5
รร (with/without final
consonant) /aː/ a: มา ma:1
อา /i/
/iː/ i กิน gin1
อิ /ɯ/ i: ตี ti:1
อี /ɯː/ ue ลกึ luek4
/u/
อึ /uː/ ue: มือ mue:1
/e/
อื /eː/ u ดุ du2
/ɛ/ u: ปู pu:1
อุ /ɛː/ e เตะ te2
อู /o/ e: เซ se:1
ae และ lae4
เอะ, เอ็
เอ ae: แบ bae:1

แอะ, แอ็ o โตะ to4

แอ

โอะ

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โอ /oː/ o: โต to:1

เอาะ, อ็ /ɔ/ or เลาะ lor4

ออ /ɔː/ or: รอ ror:1

เออะ, เอิ /ɤ/ er เลอะ ler4

เออ /ɤː/ er: เธอ ther1

Combined Vowels

เอียะ /ia/ ia เผียะ phia2

เอีย /iːa/ ia เลยี lia1

เออื ะ /ɯa/ uea เออื ะ uea2

เออื /ɯːa/ uea เรอื ruea1

อัวะ /ua/ ua อวั ะ ua2

อวั /uːa/ ua วัว wua1

Extra Vowels

อำ /am/ am จำ jam1

ใอ, ไอ, ไอย /aj/ ai ใจ jai1

เอา /aw/ ao เรา rao1

Other Vowel Sounds

ฤ (pronounced รึ) /rɯʔ/ rue ฤษี rue4 si:5

 /rɯː/ rue: ษี rue:1
si:5

ฤ (pronounced ริ) /ri/ ri ฤทธ์ิ rit4

ฤ (pronounced เรอ) /rɤː/ rer ฤกษ rerk3

ฦ /lɯʔ/ lue ฦ lue4

 /lɯː/ lue:  lue:1

Note. 1The IPA scripts are derived from International Phonetic Association (1999) and 2the
Romanized alphabets used in this book are derived from Geerativudhipong (2021)
3Number 1-5 representing Thai tones.

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1). This book employs the symbol [:] to represent the long sound of Thai vowels.
2). In this book, the sounds of [ɤ] and [ɤː] are represented by the Roman
alphabet of [er] and [er:]

2.3 Thai tones
There are 5 phonemic tones in Thai language such as mid, low, falling, high, and

rising, but there are 4 tone marks to be placed above the initial consonant letters. It is
not all Thai words that the tone marks are presented, some words have phonemic tones
without tone marks. It is due to the tone modulation system. Please note that the
meaning of a word would be changed if you pronounce wrongly. Have a look on a
minimal pair word below.

For example,
(1) “สวย” /suay5/, where number 5 is represented rising tone, means beautiful.
(2) “ซวย” /suay1/, where number 1 is represented mid tone, means unlucky.
These two words differ in only one phonological element, that is tone, and have distinct
meanings.

Figure 8: Thai tones

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References

Baker, C., & Phongpaichit, P. (2014). A History of Thailand (3rd ed.). Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press.

Diller, A. (2002). What makes Central Thai a national language? In R. C. J., National
Identity and Its Defenders: Thailand Today (pp. 71-107). Chiang Mai, Thailand:
Silkworm Books.

Diller, A., Edmondson, J., & Luo, Y. (2008). The Tai-Kadai languages. London, England:
Routledge.

Draper, J. (2019). Language education policy in Thailand. In K. A., & L. A.J., The
Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia (pp.
229-242). London, England: Taylor & Francis.

Geerativudhipong, O. (2021). The development of the I4PAT instructional model based
on situational-communicative language teaching approaches for the online
course of Thai for survival for the TFL learners, [Doctoral dissertation, Mahidol
University].

International Phonetic Association. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic
Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

วไิ ลศักด์ิ กิ่งคำ. (2556). ภาษาไทยถน่ิ . กรุงเทพฯ : มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร.
สุวฒั นา เลยี่ มประวตั .ิ (2551). การศึกษาภาษาถ่นิ : ภาษาตระกลู ไท. กรุงเทพฯ : มหาวทิ ยาลัยศลิ ปากร.

THAI IN EVERYDAY LIFE I ORRATHIP GEERATIVUDHIPONG