Sounds of Thai

Updated by Raz:

6/10/2006

Number of visits:

Source:

http://www.geocities.com/raz_h_h

Following are some letters and symbols used in Raz’s Thai dictionary with comparison to the Thai official Romaniation (used on Thai official signs and names’ transliteration) and to the international phonetic script (by IPA), example words with sound (audio files) and explanation for pronunciation.

For proper display of the international phonetic symbols please download and install the IPA's Phonetic font.

Raz’s dictionary	Thai official	International phonetic			Sound example	Consonants
k_h	kh	kú			k_hā:n	Like the c in the English word cat.
k_g	k	k¦			k_gā:n	Non-aspirated voiced k, similar to kg. Almost silent at the end of a syllable.
p_h	ph	pú			p_hā:n	Like the p in the English word pen.
p_b	p	p¦			p_bā:n	Non-aspirated voiced p, similar to pb. Almost silent at the end of a syllable.
t_h	th	tú			t_hā:n	Like the t in the English word town.
t_d	t	t°¦			t_dā:n	Non-aspirated voiced dental t, similar to dental td. Almost silent at the end of a syllable.
ch	ch	t‚ú	(≈ t§)		chā:n	Similar to the English ch but more palatal
ch_j	ch (!)	t‚¦	(≈ t×/t½)		ch_jā:n	Like the above, but non-aspirated and more voiced, similar to something between English ch and j but more palatal.
ñ_g	ng	÷			ñ_gā:n (compare: nā:n)	Similar to the ng in the English word sing (No g sound).
r	r	r			rá:n (compare: lá:n)	Lingual (alveolar) trill, similar to the Italian r. Close to L but different.
w	w	w [ù]			wà:n	Like the w in the English word way. Sometimes a bit closer to v at the beginning of a syllable, but different than v.
’	(none)	Ö	(glottal-stop)		’ā:n , p_háe’	Like the glottal stop at the beginning of the English words: am, egg, ill, owe, up. May also close a short syllable.

Raz’s dictionary	Thai official	International phonetic			Sound example	Vowels
a, a, a:	a	a¡Ö, a, aÉ			fǎn , fǎ:n	Like a common a sound of Latin (ante) or German (Bach); very short closed, short and long vowels.
e, e:	e	e, eÉ			’en , ’e:n	Like the ea in the English word head; short and long vowels.
i, i:	i	i, iÉ			k_grìt_d , k_grì:t_d	Like the ee in the English word sheep; short and long vowels.
o, o:	o	o, oÉ			k_hôn , k_hô:n	Like a common o sound of Latin (octet) or German (Bonn); short and long vowels.
u, u:	u	u, uÉ			sùt_d , sù:t_d	Like the oo in the English word coo; short and long vowels.
ae, ae:	ae	«, «É			p_háe’ , p_háe:	Similar to the a in the English word cat but a bit closer to e; short and long vowels.
o_a, o_a:	o (!)	¿, ¿É			k_glò_an_ý , k_glo_a:n_g	Like the o in the English word horse; short and long vowels.
oe, oe:	oe	\, \É			n_gōen , dōe:n	Similar to the a in English above; short and long vowels.
ue, ue:	ue	¸, ¸É			k_hûen , k_hlûe:n	Similar to the ü in German (Günter) or u in French (Dumas) but closer to i; short and long vowels.
i:a	ia	ÇiÉa		(iÉ+a)	rī:an	A long stressed i (English ee) plus a short unstressed a.
ue:a	uea	Ç¸Éa		(¸É+a)	rūe:an	A long stressed ue (~French u) plus a short unstressed a.
u:a	ua	ÇuÉa		(uÉ+a)	rū:an	A long stressed u (English oo) plus a short unstressed a.
ay, a:y	ai	aö, aÉö				Like the English word eye; short and long vowels.
aw,a:w	ao	a¬, aÉ¬				Like the ou in the English word out; short and long vowels.

Intl. phonetic	Examples of use in Raz’s dictionary *				Sound example	Tones
ˉ	ā: , āe: , ā:w , ū:a				k_hā:	“mid tone” (no sound change)
`	à: , àe: , à:w , ù:a				k_hà:	“low tone” (like a sigh sound)
ˆ	â: , âe: , â:w , û:a				k_hâ:	“falling tone” (like a doubt sound – e.g. in “really”)
΄	á: , áe: , á:w , ú:a				k_há:	“high tone” (like a question sound)
ˇ	ǎ: , ǎe: , ǎ:w , ǔ:a				k_hǎ:	“rising tone” (like a wondering question sound – “really?”)

* No tonal marks in Thai official Romanization (unfortunately).

* The following Thai consonant sounds can appear either at the beginning or at the end of a syllable:
k_g ; p_b ; t_d ; n ; ñ_g , m , w , y , ’ .

* The following Thai consonant sounds can appear only at the beginning of a syllable (and never at the end):
k_h ; b , f , p_h ; ch , ch_j , d , s , t_h ; l , r ; h .

* Other consonant sounds than the above (for example English g, j, r, sh, th, v, z) do not appear in Thai.

* The following consonant groupings can appear only at the beginning of Thai syllables:
k_gl , k_gr , k_gw ; k_hl , k_hr , k_hw ; p_bl , p_br ; p_hl , p_hr ; t_dr .

Other consonant groupings do not appear in Thai.

No consonant groupings appear at the end of Thai syllables.

* Thai short vowels will be always closed by a glottal-stop (Ö) or another consonant.
The very-short vowel is always closed by a brief glottal-stop (Xa for Xa¡Ö).

* Thai has no other vowels and vowel combinations than those appear in the table above.

* The stress of Thai words is on the last syllable.

Sounds of Thai

khā:n

Like the c in the English word cat.

Like the p in the English word pen.

Like the t in the English word town.

Similar to the English ch but more palatal

Like the glottal stop at the beginning of the English words:

“low tone” (like a sigh sound)

k_hā:n