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: