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About Thai Consonants Chart
Would like to know which are the consonants in Thai language? In articulatory phonetics, a Thai consonant is a speech sound which is articulated with full as well as partial closure within the vocal tract. The term consonant can be used to refer to a letter of a Thai alphabet which implies a consonant sound. Learn More
Thai Consonants Chart
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Thai Consonants in Alphabet
| Thai distinguishes between aspirated ("with a puff of air") and unaspirated ("without a puff of air") consonants. Unaspirated consonants exist in English too, but never alone: compare the sound of 'p' in "pot" (aspirated) and "spot" (unaspirated). Many English speakers find it helpful to pronounce an imperceptible little "m" in front to 'stop' the puff. | |
| In Thai romanized with the Royal Thai General System (used on Wikitravel), the distinction is usually represented by writing aspirated consonants with "h" and unaspirated ones without it. In particular, "ph" represents a hard aspirated 'p' and not a soft 'f', and Phuket is thus pronounced "Poo-ket". Likewise, "th" is a hard aspirated 't' and hence Thailand is pronounced "Tie-land". | |
| Other systems of romanization may use 'bp', 'dt' and 'g' for the unaspirated sounds, and 'p', 't', and 'k' for the aspirated sounds. This is not used in this guide. | |
| b บ | like 'b' in "bed" |
| bp | not used here, but in other romanizations may represent unaspirated 'p' |
| ch ฉ ช ฌ | like 'ch' in "chop" |
| d ฎ ด | like 'd' in "dog" |
| dt | not used here, but in other romanizations may represent unaspirated 't' |
| f ฝ ฟ | like 'f' in "fun" |
| g | not used here, but in other romanizations may represent unaspirated 'k' |
| h ห ฮ | like 'h' in "help" |
| j จ | like 'j' or 'dg' in "judge" |
| k ก | like 'k' in "skate" (unaspirated) |
| kh ข ฃ ค ฅ ฆ | like 'c' in "Kate" (aspirated) |
| l ล ฦ ฬ | like 'l' in "love" |
| m ม | like 'm' in "mother" |
| n ณ น | like 'n' in "nice" |
| ng ง | like 'ng' in "sing", but can also be used at the beginning of words |
| p ป | like 'p' in "spit" (unaspirated) |
| ph ผ พ ภ | like 'p' in "pit" (aspirated) |
| r ร ฤ | very light 'r', often pronounced as 'l' or omitted entirely |
| s ซ ศ ษ ส | like 'ss' in "hiss", |
| t ฏ ต | like 't' in "stop" |
| th ฐ ฑ ฒ ถ ท ธ | like 't' in "top" |
| v | not used here, but in other romanizations may represent 'w' |
| w ว | like 'w' in "weight" |
| y ญ ย | like 'y' in "yes" |
Thai Diphthongs in Alphabet
Click on the hyperlinks directly below to see a list of helpful Thai travel words which you’ll find sorted by theme. For every holiday word or phrase in Thai, there’ll be the English translation.
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