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Learn to read Thai - Tutorial 11

The Zero Consonant

I've been mentioning this frequently and have used it in a few examples but haven't explained it properly yet. The same character is used as a vowel in Thai (but called sara or). As a vowel it is used on its own or as part of a vowel combination.

The sound is more of an 'aw' than an 'or' if used on its own. Some of the vowel combinations it is used in are quite complex and I will cover them later.

It is also used as a 'zero consonant' (or aang). I actually explained this earlier but will explain it again here in more detail.

Some Thai vowels are written above or below the preceding consonant. But what if you want to start a syllable or word with a vowel sound? What can you write the vowel above or below if there is no preceding consonant?

That's where the 'zero consonant' comes in. You can use it at the start of a word that begins with a vowel sound. You now have something to write your vowel above or below but because it is a 'zero consonant' it makes no sound.

Technically speaking, the 'zero consonant' is only required for vowels that get written above or below a consonant but Thai uses the same convention for all vowels so that there is consistency.

It is also used at the beginning of four Thai words for similar reasons to why hor heep is used as a silent consonant. The Thai character hor heep changes the following consonant to high-class.

When the silent consonant is used this way it always precedes the low-class consonant yor yuk and changes it to mid-class.

It is also used on its own at the start of some words to make a short uh sound. Logically speaking, sara uh should be used for this purpose and because it is a vowel the 'zero consonant' should be used before it. However, the 'zero consonant' is just used on it own.

The examples below should start to make more sense.

อ

Name in Thai: อ อ่าง
Name in English: Or Aang (bowl)
Initial: -
Final: -
Class: Mid
Usage: Very common
Comments: See notes above and examples below.

Reading practice

อร่อย

The character here at the beginning of the word acts like the short vowel sara uh, and makes a short 'uh' sound (confusing, eh?). It is followed by ror reua, and then the same character again. The final consonant is yor yuk. The combination of this character and yor yuk makes an 'oy' sound.

The word uh-roy means delicious in Thai. If you eat with Thais you will hear this word thousands of times.

Tone first syllable: According to the tone rules this is a low-tone but in normal, everyday speech the first syllable of poly-syllabic words is pronounced with a mid-tone.

Tone second syllable: Low-class initial consonant, first tone mark = Low tone (Tutorial 14)

ก่อน

Hopefully, this is becoming quite easy for you now. The initial consonant is the hard 'g' sound gor gai. It is followed by sara or and finishes with nor noo. The character in this position is a vowel, rather than a zero consonant.

The pronunciation is more gawn than gorn but the best way to learn is to listen to a native speaker. It means before, ahead of, earlier, first.

Tone: Mid-class initial consonant, first tone mark = Low tone (Tutorial 14)

อยาก

This is one of the words where the zero consonant is used only for tone purposes. It makes no sound, unlike the 'uh' sound it makes at the beginning of uh-roy. The consonant yor yuk is low-class but adding the zero consonant before it makes yor yuk mid-class for tone rule purposes. The word begins with a 'y' sound, is followed by the long 'aa' vowel, and ends with an unreleased 'k' sound.

The Thai word yaak is used when you want to do something. Another verb is used when you want something.

Tone: Mid-class initial consonant, dead syllable, long vowel = Low tone (Tutorial 14)

Here's another example, this time of a real sign:

This is exactly the same as what I have described above where the zero consonant is used before yor yuk only for tone purposes. Also, like the example above, the long 'aa' vowel is used. However, this word ends with the 'ng' consonant (Tutorial 4) and the first tone mark is used.

We therefore get yaang. This is difficult to translate directly into English but kind of means thing. The sign is a price list for food and these are the prices depending on whether you have 1, 2 or 3 dishes (things) with your rice.

Tone: Mid-class initial consonant, first tone mark = Low tone (Tutorial 14)

อิ่ม

This word begins with the short vowel 'i' (which is always written above the preceding consonant) but there is no initial consonant to write it above. What do we do now? We use the zero consonant! The word ends with mor maa.

The Thai word im is the adjective 'to be full' from eating.

Tone: Mid-class initial consonant, first tone mark = Low tone (Tutorial 14)

อาหาร

This is another word that starts with a vowel sound - a long 'aa' vowel. Did you remember the rule? If a word or syllable starts with a vowel sound, we must write the zero consonant first. The first syllable is a long 'aa'.

The second syllable starts with hor heep, continues with another long 'aa' vowel and ends with ror reua. If you remember what I taught you in Tutorial 2 you will know that as a final consonant ror reua makes an 'n' sound.

The Thai word aa-haan means food.

Tone first syllable: Tone first syllable: According to the tone rules this is a low-tone but in normal, everyday speech the first syllable of poly-syllabic words is pronounced with a mid-tone.

Tone second syllable: High-class initial consonant, live syllable = Rising tone (Tutorial 14)

Important note about tones in poly-syllabic words

I have been using standard tone rules in these examples and for many poly-syllabic words the first tone, according to the tone rules, is low.

However, Benjawan Poomsan Becker advises that in normal speech the first syllable is mid tone. Written Thai is quite logical and follows set rules most of the time but there are some anomalies and this appears to be one of them.

Thai Alphabet Soundboard

To hear the sound of the Thai alphabet, click on individual consonants using the Thai Alphabet Soundboard. Thanks to David Tang for creating this.

Recommended books

If you are serious about learning how to read Thai, I highly recommend the following two books. These two books taught me almost everything I know and I still use them almost every day for reference purposes.

Most of the phrase books and text books for beginners that I have bought sit on my bookshelf accumulating dust. They are next to useless and good only to fuel the fire, except that it is never cold enough here to need a fire. However, if a sudden cold snap happens to descend, I will be grateful to Lonely Planet.

If you want to learn how to speak Thai, learning to read Thai will assist your pronunciation enormously. If you are trying to learn to speak Thai from books that use hopeless transliteration systems you are wasting your time because Thais won't be able to understand you.