|
|
|
Photo: Thai Sign Links to other tutorials |
Learn to read Thai - Tutorial 9Easy or difficult so far? Thais tell me that English is difficult and Thai is easy, which is strange because most foreigners have an opposing view. Easy and difficult are relative terms. What we already know seems easy and what we don't know can seem difficult. As I've been writing these tutorials they have seemed incredibly easy. First, I show you a letter and then tell you what sound it makes. When we have enough letters to make a short word we put all the sounds together to make the sound of the word. If I was teaching a two-year Thai child how to read English I would do the same. First, I would explain the sounds of the letters and then show how the letters make short words: d-o-g dog; c-a-t cat. Thai characters are different to English ones, consonants change sound depending whether they begin or end a syllable, and vowels are not always written after the consonant, but it is basically the same concept. Perhaps I have been doing this for too long though and have forgotten what it is like to be a beginner? If something isn't clear, please tell me what isn't clear - and more importantly, tell me why. Feedback is important. Maybe then I can work out a different way of explaining something. Review We have now covered 14 consonants and nine vowels. Already, with that small subset of characters we can read hundreds of Thai words. We just need to remember what sound each consonant and vowel makes, and we need to remember a few basic rules. There are some strange rules about written Thai but so far we have only come across one example. We found that with some words there is a short vowel sound written as the final character that isn't pronounced. Apart from that, everything has been very straightforward and logical. I'm only going to add three new consonants today and one is so rarely used that you needn't bother learning it at the moment. However, the other two are quite important. With these characters and the ones we have already covered in previous tutorials you will be amazed at how much Thai you can read. ว
Name in Thai: ว แหวน As a final consonant it is very important. We have already covered the short 'ao' sound but there are many words in Thai that use this same basic sound. Some use the long 'aa' vowel followed by wor wairn to make a slightly longer 'aaw' sound. It is also used in conjunction with other Thai vowels, and it appears as a kind of 'oo-uh' vowel sound when used on its own in a mid position even though it isn't a vowel. ห
Name in Thai: ห หีบ With each word we have covered so far I have also explained the tone rules, and you will have seen that the class of the initial consonant (Low, Mid, High) is very important when determining the tone of the syllable or word (low, rising, mid, falling, high). The hor heep character is often used purely for tone rule purposes. When it is written before the initial consonant its only purpose is to turn the following consonant into a high class consonant but it isn't voiced. ฮ
Name in Thai: ฮ นกฮูก It is used for some words that have been imported from other languages, and it is used for words that describe the sound of things, eg, the sound of displeasure, the sound of sneezing, the sound of approval, the sound of merriness, etc. Reading practice หวาน The first two characters are ones we covered today but the hor heep character is only there for tone rule purposes. The consonant wor wairn is the actual initial consonant. The Thai letter wor wairn is a low class consonant but because of the presence of hor heep it becomes a high class consonant for tone rule purposes. It is followed by the long 'aa' vowel and the final consonant is nor noo. The word waan with a very distinct rising tone is the Thai word for 'sweet' (adjective). Tone: High-class initial consonant and live syllable = Rising tone (Tutorial 14) หมา This word also begins with hor heep but just like the previous example, it is only used for tone rule purposes. It is followed by mor maa (the actual initial consonant) and the long 'aa' vowel. The Thai letter mor maa is a low class consonant but because of the presence of hor heep it becomes a high class consonant for tone rule purposes. The word maa with a rising tone is one of the Thai words for 'dog'. Tone: High-class initial consonant and live syllable = Rising tone (Tutorial 14) มา Without hor heep the basic word sound remains the same but the tone changes. The word maa with a mid tone is the Thai verb 'to come'. Tone: Low-class initial consonant and live syllable = Mid tone (Tutorial 14) Because Thai is a tonal language there are various way of changing the tone of a basic sound. Adding hor heep before the initial consonant is one way, and/or adding a tone mark above the initial consonant is another. ม้า You should be able to read this word quite easily now in order to get the basic sound, but you can see the second tone mark written above the initial consonant. The word maa with a high tone is the Thai word for 'horse'. Tone: Low-class initial consonant and second tone mark = High tone (Tutorial 14) วิ่ง The initial consonant is wor wairn and from previous tutorials you can see it is followed by the short 'i' sound (written above the consonant). The final consonant is the 'ng' sound which is easy to pronounce as a final consonant. You should also see that the first tone mark is used. The word wing is the Thai verb 'to run'. Tone: Low-class initial consonant and first tone mark = Falling tone (Tutorial 14) ข้าว The initial consonant is one of the 'k' consonants (kor kai). It is followed by the long 'aa' vowel and ends with wor wairn. This creates an 'aaw' sound. You will also see the second tone mark above the initial consonant. This word is one of the most common words in Thailand and if you browse a Thai menu you will see this everywhere. The word kaaw with a falling tone is the Thai word for 'rice', the staple food of Asia. Tone: High-class initial consonant and second tone mark = Falling tone (Tutorial 14) หัว The initial consonant is hor heep and it is followed by mai-hun-aagaat (written above the consonant) and then wor wairn. When we see this combination it makes an 'oo-uh' sound. The word hoo-uh with a rising tone is the Thai word for 'head'. The mai-hun-aagaat character is only used if there is no following consonant after the 'oo-uh' sound. If there is a following consonant, there is no need to use mai-hun-aagaat and wor wairn can be used on its own. The next example will illustrate this. Tone: High-class initial consonant and live syllable = Rising tone (Tutorial 14) ขวบ The initial consonant is one of the 'k' consonants (kor kai). It is followed by wor wairn and then bor bai mai. As a final consonant bor bai mai makes a 'p' sound. This word doesn't actually contain a vowel but wor wairn acts as an 'oo-uh' sound vowel. In this example there is a final consonant after wor wairn, and so there is no need to use mai-hun-aagaat. The word koo-up is the Thai word for 'year' when referring to the age of a young child. Tone: High-class initial consonant, dead syllable, long vowel = Low tone (Tutorial 14) ปวด This word is the same structure as the one above except that instead of the initial and final consonants making 'k' and 'p' sounds, they make 'bp' and 't' sounds. We have covered both of these consonants in previous tutorials. The word bpoo-ut is the Thai word for 'ache' or to be in pain. If we combine this with one of the words above, we get bpoo-ut hoo-uh (ache head) which you should be able to work out means 'headache'. Tone: Mid-class initial consonant, dead syllable, long vowel = Low tone (Tutorial 14) กลัว First you should see that this word starts with the consonant cluster 'gl' and that the rest of the word (mai-hun-aagaat and wor wairn) is the same as the word for 'head'. The word gloo-uh in Thai means 'afraid'. Tone: Mid-class initial consonant, live syllable = Mid tone (Tutorial 14) หมวก When you see hor heep followed by mor maa at the beginning of a word you know that the initial consonant sound is really 'm' and hor heep is only there for tone rule purposes. It turns low class hor heep into a high class consonant. There is no vowel in this word but wor wairn in a mid position indicates the word has an 'oo-uh' sound. The final consonant is gor gai which has an unreleased 'k' sound when used as a final consonant. The word moo-uk means 'hat'. Tone: High-class initial consonant, dead syllable, long vowel = Low tone (Tutorial 14) ไม่ This word consists of the consonant mor maa and the vowel ai mai-muh-laay. This particular vowel is written before the consonant. You can also see that the first tone mark is used. The Thai word mai with a falling tone means 'no', or 'not'. Tone: Low-class initial consonant, first tone mark = Falling tone (Tutorial 14) ไม้ This example is exactly the same as the one above except the second tone mark has been used. The Thai word mai with a high tone means 'wood'. Tone: Low-class initial consonant, second tone mark = High tone (Tutorial 14) ใหม่ This word is similar but there are a couple of differences. Instead of ai mai-muh-laay, the other 'ai' vowel ai mai-muan has been used. It's a different letter but sounds exactly the same. You will also notice that hor heep has been used in front of mor maa. This letter isn't voiced but just used for tone rule purposes. It turns the low-class consonant into a high class one. The Thai word mai with a low tone means 'new'. Tone: High-class initial consonant, first tone mark = Low tone (Tutorial 14) ไหม้ This word goes back to using ai mai-muh-laay but it makes no difference if ai mai-muh-laay or ai mai-muan is used. It uses hor heep again for tone rule purposes and the second tone mark. The Thai word mai with a falling tone means 'to be burned' or 'to be on fire'. Tone: High-class initial consonant, second tone mark = Falling tone (Tutorial 14) ไหม This should be straightforward now. hor heep is again used for tone rule purposes and there is no tone mark. The Thai word mai with a rising tone is a question particle. Tone: High-class initial consonant, live syllable = Rising tone (Tutorial 14) มั้ย I sometimes see the question particle written this way as well but it has a different tone to the word above. Benjawan Poomsan Becker attributes this to evolution of the language. It was originally a rising tone but as the language has evolved, the question particle has turned into a falling tone. The combination of mai-hun-aagaat and yor yuk also makes an 'ai' sound, and this word uses the second tone mark. Tone: Low-class initial consonant, second tone mark = Falling tone (Tutorial 14) We now have enough letters for our first short phrase. Just like the pharmacy sign from a previous tutorial, this is a phrase you will see the length and breadth of Thailand. เรารักในหลวง It consists of three words and we have already learnt the first two words. The first word rao was explained in Tutorial 7 and the second word ruk was explained in Tutorial 6. These two words translate to 'we love'. Now, on to the third word. The first character is ai mai-muan and it is followed by nor noo, so the first syllable is nai (low class initial consonant + live syllable = Mid tone (Tutorial 14)). The first two consonants in the second syllable of the third word are hor heep and lor ling but hor heep is only used here for tone rule purposes - it turns low-class lor ling into high-class. It is followed by wor wairn which in this position makes an 'oo-uh' sound and the final consonant is the 'ng' character. It sounds like loo-ung (high class initial consonant + live syllable = Rising tone (Tutorial 14)). We get nai-loo-ung which is the colloquial word for king. There is no definite or indefinite grammar article in Thai. Therefore, this Thai phrase translates to 'We love the King'. This is a very popular sentiment in Thailand and you will see this phrase on clothes and stickers absolutely everywhere.
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.
| |||||||||
