Thai alphabet
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| Thai | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type: | Abugida | |
| Languages: | Thai | |
| Created by | King Ramkhamhaeng the Great | |
| Time period: | 1283 A.D. | |
| Parent writing systems: | Khmer script Thai |
|
| Unicode range: | U+0E00–U+0E7F | |
| ISO 15924 code: | Thai | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
| History of the Alphabet |
|---|
|
Middle Bronze Age 19–15th c. BC
|
| Meroitic 3rd c. BC |
| Hangul 1443 |
| Zhuyin 1913 |
| Complete genealogy |
The Thai alphabet (Thai: อักษรไทย) (àk-sŏn tai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand. It has forty-four consonants (Thai: พยัญชนะ) (pa-yan-cha-ná), fifteen vowel symbols (Thai: สระ) (sà-rà) that combine into at least twenty-eight vowel forms, and four tone marks (Thai: วรรณยุกต์ or วรรณยุต) (wan-na-yóok or wan-na-yóot).
- Consonants ฅ (Unicode U+0E3) and ฅ (Unicode U+0E5) are obsolete, but still appear on many keyboards and in character sets. See discussion below.
- Characters ฤ ฤๅ ฦ ฦๅ are also included in character sets. The first two are equivalent to รึ and รือ and follow ร in alphabetical order. The latter two are equivalents for ล but are obsolete and no longer used.
Consonants are written horizontally from left to right, with vowels arranged above, below, to the left or to the right of the corresponding consonant.
- This is an Abugida, so 'consonants' include an inherent vowel sound. Since Abugida is unfamiliar to most students, the inherent vowel is described as an implied 'a' or 'o', below.
Thai letters are neither minuscule nor majuscule. Texts are usually written with no space between words, which is facilitated by the fact that most Thai words have only one syllable.
- Minor pauses in sentences may be marked by a comma (Thai: จุลภาค or ลูกน้ำ) (djoon-la-pâak or lôok-náam), and major pauses by a period (Thai: มหัพภาค or จุด) (ma-hàp-pâak or djòot), but most often are marked by a blank space (Thai: วรรค) (wák).
Thai writing also uses quotation marks (Thai: อัญประกาศ) (an-yá-bprà-gàat) and parentheses (Thai: วงเล็บ (wong lép), but not brackets or braces. A bird's eye (Thai: ตาไก่) (dta-gài) (U+0E4F), officially called (Thai: ฟองมัน) (fong-man), formerly indicated paragraphs, but is obsolete.
Thai has its own set of Thai numerals (ตัวเลขไทย), but Hindu-Arabic numerals (ตัวเลขฮินดูอารบิก) are also commonly used.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Thai alphabet is probably derived from the Old Khmer script (อักขระเขมร), which is a southern Brahmic style of writing called Vatteluttu. Vatteluttu was also commonly known as the Pallava script by scholars of Southeast Asian studies such as George Coedes. According to tradition it was created in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng the Great (พ่อขุนรามคำแหงมหาราช).
[edit] Alphabet listing
You will need a Unicode-capable browser and font that contains the Thai alphabet to view the Thai letters below.
[edit] Consonants
There are 44 consonants representing 21 distinct consonant sounds. Duplicate consonants represent different Sanskrit and Pali consonants pronounced identically in Thai. Their continued use is necessary to differentiate among unrelated loan-words which are Thai homophones. The consonants are divided into three classes - low, middle and high - which determine the tone of the following vowel. There are in addition four consonant-vowel combination characters not included in the tally of 44.
To aid learning, each consonant is traditionally associated with a Thai word that either starts with the same sound, or features it prominently. For example, the name of the letter ข is kho khai (ข ไข่), in which kho is the sound it represents, and khai (ไข่) is a word which starts with the same sound and means "egg".
Two of the consonants (kho khuat and kho khon) aren't used in written Thai anymore. Some say that when the first Thai typewriter was developed by Edwin Hunter McFarland in 1892, there was simply no space for all characters, thus two had to be left out.
Equivalents for romanisation are shown in the table below. Many consonants are pronounced differently at the beginning and at the end of a syllable. The entries in columns initial and final indicate the pronunciation for that consonant in the corresponding positions in a syllable. Where the entry is "-", the consonant may not be used to close a syllable. Where a combination of consonants ends a written syllable, only the first is pronounced; possible closing consonant sounds are limited to 'k', 'm', 'n', 'ng', 'p' and 't'.
Although an official standard for romanisation is defined by the Royal Thai Institute, many publications use different Romanisation systems. In daily practice, a bewildering variety of Romanisations are used, making it difficult to know how to pronounce a word, or to judge if two words (e.g. on a map and a street sign) are actually the same. For more precise information, an equivalent from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is given as well.
Each consonant is assigned to a "class" (Low, Middle, High), which plays a role in determining the tone with which the syllable is pronounced.
| Symbol | Name | Royal Thai | IPA | Class | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial | Final | Initial | Final | Class | ||
| ก | ko kai (chicken) | k | k | k | k | M |
| ข | kho khai (egg) | kh | k | kʰ | k | H |
| ฃ | kho khuat (bottle) [obsolete] | kh | k | kʰ | k | H |
| ค | kho khwai (water buffalo) | kh | k | kʰ | k | L |
| ฅ | kho khon (person) [obsolete] | kh | k | kʰ | k | L |
| ฆ | kho ra-khang (bell) | kh | k | kʰ | k | L |
| ง | ngo ngu (snake) | ng | ng | ŋ | ŋ | L |
| จ | cho chan (plate) | ch | t | tɕ | t | M |
| ฉ | cho ching (cymbals) | ch | - | tɕʰ | - | H |
| ช | cho chang (elephant) | ch | t | tɕʰ | t | L |
| ซ | so so (chain) | s | t | s | t | L |
| ฌ | cho choe (bush) | ch | - | tɕʰ | - | L |
| ญ | yo ying (woman) | y | n | j | n | L |
| ฎ | do cha-da (headdress) | d | t | d | t | M |
| ฏ | to pa-tak (goad) | t | t | t | t | M |
| ฐ | tho san-than (base) | th | t | tʰ | t | H |
| ฑ | tho nangmon-tho (dancer) | th | t | tʰ | t | L |
| ฒ | tho phu-thao (old person) | th | t | tʰ | t | L |
| ณ | no nen (novice monk) | n | n | n | n | L |
| ด | do dek (child) | d | t | d | t | M |
| ต | to tao (turtle) | t | t | t | t | M |
| ถ | tho thung (sack) | th | t | tʰ | t | H |
| ท | tho thahan (soldier) | th | t | tʰ | t | L |
| ธ | tho thong (flag) | th | t | tʰ | t | L |
| น | no nu (mouse) | n | n | n | n | L |
| บ | bo baimai (leaf) | b | p | b | p | M |
| ป | po plaa (fish) | p | p | p | p | M |
| ผ | pho phueng (bee) | ph | - | pʰ | - | H |
| ฝ | fo fa (lid) | f | - | f | - | H |
| พ | pho phan (tray) | ph | p | pʰ | p | L |
| ฟ | fo fan (teeth) | f | p | f | p | L |
| ภ | pho sam-phao (sailboat) | ph | p | pʰ | p | L |
| ม | mo ma (horse) | m | m | m | m | L |
| ย | yo yak (ogre) | y | y | j | j | L |
| ร | ro ruea (boat) | r | n | r | n | L |
| ฤ | ro rue (short) * | rue | - | rɯ | - | - |
| ฤๅ | ro rue (long) * | rue | - | rɯː | - | - |
| ล | lo ling (monkey) | l | n | l | n | L |
| ฦ | lo lue (short) * | lue | - | lɯ | - | - |
| ฦๅ | lo lue (long) * | lue | - | lɯː | - | - |
| ว | wo waen (ring) | w | w | w | w | L |
| ศ | so sala (pavilion) | s | t | s | t | H |
| ษ | so rue-si (hermit) | s | t | s | t | H |
| ส | so suea (tiger) | s | t | s | t | H |
| ห | ho hip (chest) | h | - | h | - | H |
| ฬ | lo chu-la (kite) | l | n | l | n | L |
| อ | o ang (basin) | ** | - | ʔ | - | M |
| ฮ | ho nok-huk (owl) | h | - | h | - | L |
* Consonant-vowel combination characters, not members of any group.
** อ is a special case in that at the beginning of a word it is used as a silent initial for syllables that start with a vowel (all vowels are written relative to a consonant — see below). The same symbol is used as a vowel in non-initial position.
[edit] Vowels
Thai vowel sounds and diphthongs are written using a mixture of vowel symbols, consonants, and combinations of vowel symbols. Each vowel is shown in its correct position relative to an initial consonant (indicated by a dash "–") and sometimes a final consonant as well (second dash). Note that vowels can go above, below, left of or right of the consonant, or combinations of these places. If a vowel has parts before and after the initial consonant, and the syllable starts with a consonant cluster, the split will go around the whole cluster.
The pronunciation is indicated by the International Phonetic Alphabet and the Romanisation according to the Royal Thai Institute as well as several variant Romanisations often encountered. A very approximate equivalent in Northeastern US English is given.
| Symbol | Name | IPA | Royal | Variants | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | implied a | a | a | u | u in "nut" |
| – – | implied o | o | o | oa in "boat" | |
| –รร– | ro han * | ɑ | a | u | u in "nut" |
| –ว– | wo waen * | ua | ua | uar | ewe in "newer" |
| –วย | sara uai | uɛj | uai | uay | uoy in "buoy" |
| –อ | sara o | ɔː | o | or, aw | aw in "saw" |
| –อย | sara oi | ɔːj | oi | oy | oy in "boy" |
| –ะ | sara a | aʔ | a | u | u in "nut" |
| –ั – | mai han-akat | ɑ | a | u | u in "nut" |
| –ัย | sara ai | ɑj | ai | i in "hi" | |
| –ัว | sara ua | ua | ua | ewe in "newer" | |
| –ัวะ | sara ua | uaʔ | ua | ewe in "sewer" | |
| –า | sara a | aː | a | ah, ar, aa | a in "father" |
| –าย | sara ai | aːj | ai | aai, aay, ay | ye in "bye" |
| –าว | sara ao | aːw | ao | au | ow in "now" |
| –ำ | sara am | ɑm | am | um | um in "sum" |
| –ิ | sara i | i | i | y in "greedy" | |
| –ิว | sara io | iw | io | ew | ew in "new" |
| –ี | sara i | iː | i | ee, ii, y | ee in "see" |
| –ึ | sara ue | ɯ | ue | eu, u, uh | u in French "du" (short) |
| –ื | sara ue | ɯː | ue | eu, u | u in French "dur" (long) |
| –ุ | sara u | u | u | oo | oo in "look" |
| –ู | sara u | uː | u | oo, uu | ue in "sue" |
| เ– | sara e | eː | e | ay, a, ae, ai | a in "lame" |
| เ–็ – | sara e | e | e | e in "neck" | |
| เ–ะ | sara e | eʔ | e | eh | e in "neck" |
| เ–ย | sara oei | ɤːj | oei | oey | u in "burn" + y in "boy" |
| เ–อ | sara oe | ɤː | oe | er, eu, ur | u in "burn" |
| เ–อะ | sara oe | ɤʔ | oe | eu | e in "the" |
| เ–ิ – | sara oe | ɤ | oe | eu, u | e in "the" |
| เ–ว | sara eo | eːw | eo | eu, ew | ai + ow in "rainbow" |
| เ–า | sara ao | aw | ao | aw, ow | ow in "cow" |
| เ–าะ | sara o | ɔʔ | o | orh, oh, or | o in "not" |
| เ–ีย | sara ia | iːa | ia | ear, ere, ie | ea in "ear" |
| เ–ียะ | sara ia | iaʔ | ia | iah, ear, ie | ea in "ear" with glottal stop |
| เ–ียว | sara iao | io | iao | eaw, iew, iow | io in "trio" |
| เ–ือ | sara uea | ɯːa | uea | eua, ua, ue | ure in "pure" |
| เ–ือะ | sara uea | ɯaʔ | uea | eua, ua | ure in "pure" |
| แ– | sara ae | ɛː | ae | a | a in "ham" |
| แ–ะ | sara ae | ɛʔ | ae | aeh, a | a in "at" |
| แ–็ – | sara ae | ɛ | ae | aeh, a | a in "at" |
| แ–ว | sara aeo | ɛːw | aeo | aew, eo | a in "ham" + ow in "low" |
| โ– | sara o | oː | o | or, oh | o in "go" |
| โ–ะ | sara o | oʔ | o | oh | o in "poke" |
| ใ– | sara ai mai muan | ɑj | ai | ay, y | i in "I" |
| ไ– | sara ai mai malai | ɑj | ai | ay, y | i in "I" |
* vowels or diphthongs written with consonant symbols
[edit] Diacritics
Each mark is shown in its correct location relative to the consonant ko kai. The names of the tones are derived from the numbers one, two, three and four in an Indic language.
| Symbol | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ก่ | mai ek | first tone mark |
| ก้ | mai tho | second tone mark |
| ก๊ | mai tri | third tone mark |
| ก๋ | mai chattawa | fourth tone mark |
| ก็ | mai taikhu | shortens vowel |
| ก์ | thanthakhat, mai karan | indicates silent letter |
[edit] Other symbols
| Symbol | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ฯ | paiyaan noi | preceding word is abbreviated |
| ฯลฯ | paiyaan yai | etc. |
| ๆ | mai yamok | preceding word or phrase is repeated |
[edit] Thai in computing
TIS-620 is the best-established character set and character encoding for the Thai alphabet. TIS-620 has been adopted verbatim in the Unicode range for Thai, U+0E00 ... U+0E7F.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | ||
| E00 | | ก | ข | ฃ | ค | ฅ | ฆ | ง | จ | ฉ | ช | ซ | ฌ | ญ | ฎ | ฏ | |
| E10 | ฐ | ฑ | ฒ | ณ | ด | ต | ถ | ท | ธ | น | บ | ป | ผ | ฝ | พ | ฟ | |
| E20 | ภ | ม | ย | ร | ฤ | ล | ฦ | ว | ศ | ษ | ส | ห | ฬ | อ | ฮ | ฯ | |
| E30 | ะ | ั | า | ำ | ิ | ี | ึ | ื | ุ | ู | ฺ | | | | | ฿ | |
| E40 | เ | แ | โ | ใ | ไ | ๅ | ๆ | ็ | ่ | ้ | ๊ | ๋ | ์ | ํ | ๎ | ๏ | |
| E50 | ๐ | ๑ | ๒ | ๓ | ๔ | ๕ | ๖ | ๗ | ๘ | ๙ | ๚ | ๛ | | | | | |
| E60 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E70 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
[edit] See also
- Royal Thai General System of Transcription
- Thai language
- Thai language: Script: Transliteration
- Thai numerals
- Thailand
[edit] External links
