slice-of-thai.com → Thai Language → Consonant Shape Learning Aid

Consonant Shape Learning Aid

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Choose Your Own Thai Font and Size
• Choose Your Favorite Pronunciation Guide Systems
• The Chart
• Some Useful Patterns

Introduction

As you are learning the Thai consonants, you will no doubt notice that many of them have similar shapes. On this page we'll show you a handy chart that shows the 44 consonants in their mid, low and high classes, arranged to highlight letters with similar shapes.

Choose Your Own Thai Font and Size

One of my biggest frustrations when trying to learn or use Thai language on the web is that I can never read the microscopic Thai letters that everyone seems to use on their web pages!

At slice-of-thai.com, we proudly present to you the buttons that every site should have. Choose your Thai font and font size and we will remember your setting and instantly apply it to all pages on slice-of-thai.com

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Font:	Note: Nicer Font Available The Thai fonts that come with Windows and MacOS are pretty hard to read, and differ a lot from typical Thai book fonts. There is a very easy-to-read, familiar, free, public-domain Thai font called Garuda which you can download to your computer and use to read the pages of this website. Here is what Garuda looks like at one particular font size: Cannot Choose Fonts Our website was unable to check or select fonts on your web browser. Usually this is because you have made a setting on your web browser to force the use of one particular font, either for all text or just for Thai text. You can find out more about how to check your browser's settings here.
Sample:	คุณ เก็บ เสื้อ ไว้ ไหน

Choose Your Favorite Pronunciation Guide Systems

As you've probably noticed, nearly every book and website uses a different guide system (known as "romanization," "transliteration," or "phonemic transcription" systems) for helping you learn the pronunciation of native Thai words.

Here at slice-of-thai.com, we let you choose the system(s) you want to see. Check your favorite system(s) below, and we will remember your setting and instantly apply it to all pages on slice-of-thai.com.

Pronunciation guides are a useful crutch, but they have hidden pitfalls which may surprise you: learn more about this, as well as how each system differs, at Pronunciation Guide Systems for Thai. Also, you can click on any system below for more information.

	System	Description	Example คุณ เก็บ เสื้อ ไว้ ไหน
	Paiboon	Benjawan Poomsan Becker's Thai for Beginners	[kun-gèp-sʉ̂a-wái-nǎi]
	Paiboon+	Adds a few extra sound distinctions	[kun-gÈp-sʉ̂ʉa-wái-nǎi]
	TLC	From the fantastic thai-language.com	[khoonM-gepL-seuuaF-waiH-naiR]
	Tiger	Thai learning books from Tiger Press	[koon-gèp-sûea-wái-nǎi]
	LP	System from the Lonely Planet guidebooks	[khun-kèp-sêua-wái-nǎi]
	Thai Govt+	Lame system used for Thai road signs + tones	[khun-kèp-sûea-wái-nǎi]
	IPA	International Phonetic Alphabet: nerds love it	[kʰūn-kèp̚-sɯ̂ːa-wáj-nǎj]
	Easy Thai	Spells out each syllable using simple Thai	[คุน-เก็บ-เซื่อ-ไว้-ไหฺน]
Example of how it will look: [sʉ̂a, sʉ̂ʉa, seuuaF, sûea, sêua, sûea, sɯ̂ːa, เซื่อ] You should check at least one system!

The Chart

For a spiffy, printable PDF version (558k, Paiboon system only), click here.

For a printable HTML version with your chosen font and pronunciation guide system (but no grey highlights), click here.

Some Useful Patterns

Immediately you can see a few patterns that can help you learn the alphabet:

• Amongst the "W-like" letters on the right of the chart,
  • No tail (ผ [pɔ̌ɔ pʉ̂ng, pɔ̌ɔ pʉ̂ng, phaawR pheungF, pǎw pêung, phǎw phêung, phǒ phûeng, pʰɔ̌ː pʰɯ̂ŋ, ผอ พึ่ง] and พ [pɔɔ paan, pɔɔ paan, phaawM phaanM, paw pahn, phaw phaan, pho phan, pʰɔ̄ː pʰāːn, พอ พาน]) indicates a [p, p, ph, p, ph, ph, pʰ, ผ/พ] sound.
  • Long tail (ฝ [fɔ̌ɔ fǎa, fɔ̌ɔ fǎa, faawR faaR, fǎw fǎh, fǎw fǎa, fǒ fǎ, fɔ̌ː fǎː, ฝอ ฝา] and ฟ [fɔɔ fan, fɔɔ fan, faawM fanM, faw fan, faw fan, fo fan, fɔ̄ː fān, ฟอ ฟัน]) indicates an [f, f, f, f, f, f, f, ฝ/ฟ] sound.
  • Curly tail (ฬ [lɔɔ jù-laa, lɔɔ jù-laa, laawM jooL-laaM, law jòo-lah, law jù-laa, lo chù-la, lɔ̄ː tɕù-lāː, ลอ จุ-ลา] is a [l, l, l, l, l, l, l, ล] sound.

• Amongst consonants which have both a circle-in and circle-out version,
  • Circle-in (ถ [tɔ̌ɔ tǔng, tɔ̌ɔ tǔng, thaawR thoongR, tǎw tǒong, thǎw thǔng, thǒ thǔng, tʰɔ̌ː tʰǔŋ, ถอ ถุง], ผ [pɔ̌ɔ pʉ̂ng, pɔ̌ɔ pʉ̂ng, phaawR pheungF, pǎw pêung, phǎw phêung, phǒ phûeng, pʰɔ̌ː pʰɯ̂ŋ, ผอ พึ่ง], ฝ [fɔ̌ɔ fǎa, fɔ̌ɔ fǎa, faawR faaR, fǎw fǎh, fǎw fǎa, fǒ fǎ, fɔ̌ː fǎː, ฝอ ฝา]) is a high consonant
  • Circle-out (ภ [pɔɔ sǎm-pao, pɔɔ sǎm-pao, phaawM samR-phaoM, paw sǎm-pow, phaw sǎm-phao, pho sǎm-phao, pʰɔ̄ː sǎm-pʰāw, พอ สัม-เพา], พ [pɔɔ paan, pɔɔ paan, phaawM phaanM, paw pahn, phaw phaan, pho phan, pʰɔ̄ː pʰāːn, พอ พาน], ฟ [fɔɔ fan, fɔɔ fan, faawM fanM, faw fan, faw fan, fo fan, fɔ̄ː fān, ฟอ ฟัน]) is a low consonant
  Sadly this is not true of all consonants with circles.

• The two mid consonants ต [dtɔɔ dtào, dtɔɔ dtào, dtaawM dtaoL, dtaw dtòw, taw tào, to tào, tɔ̄ː tàw, ตอ เต่า] and ด [dɔɔ dèk, dɔɔ dÈk, daawM dekL, daw dèk, daw dèk, do dèk, dɔ̄ː dèk̚, ดอ เด็ก] spin clockwise
• The two low consonants ฅ [kɔɔ kon, kɔɔ kon, khaawM khohnM, kaw kon, khaw khon, kho khon, kʰɔ̄ː kʰōn, คอ คน] and ค [kɔɔ kwaai, kɔɔ kwaai, khaawM khwaayM, kaw kwaai, khaw khwai, kho khwai, kʰɔ̄ː kʰwāːj, คอ คฺวาย] spin counter-clockwise

• For the several forms of [s, s, s, s, s, s, s, ซ/ส]:
  • Thais will often refer to ษ [sɔ̌ɔ rʉʉ-sǐi, sɔ̌ɔ rʉʉ-sǐi, saawR reuuM-seeR, sǎw rue-sěe, sǎw reu-sǐi, sǒ rue-sǐ, sɔ̌ː rɯ̄ː-sǐː, สอ รือ-สี] as [sɔ̌ɔ bɔɔ rʉʉ-sǐi, sɔ̌ɔ bɔɔ rʉʉ-sǐi, saawR baawM reuuM-seeR, sǎw baw rue-sěe, sǎw baw reu-sǐi, sǒ bo rue-sǐ, sɔ̌ː bɔ̄ː rɯ̄ː-sǐː, สอ บอ รือ-สี] because it looks like บ [bɔɔ bai-máai, bɔɔ bai-máai, baawM baiM-maayH, baw bai-máai, baw bai-mái, bo bai-mái, bɔ̄ː bāj-máːj, บอ ไบ-ม้าย] with an extra swirl. It might help you to memorize it that way too.
  • Thais will often refer to ศ [sɔ̌ɔ sǎa-laa, sɔ̌ɔ sǎa-laa, saawR saaR-laaM, sǎw sǎh-lah, sǎw sǎa-laa, sǒ sǎ-la, sɔ̌ː sǎː-lāː, สอ สา-ลา] as [sɔ̌ɔ kɔɔ sǎa-laa, sɔ̌ɔ kɔɔ sǎa-laa, saawR khaawM saaR-laaM, sǎw kaw sǎh-lah, sǎw khaw sǎa-laa, sǒ kho sǎ-la, sɔ̌ː kʰɔ̄ː sǎː-lāː, สอ คอ สา-ลา] because it looks like ค [kɔɔ kwaai, kɔɔ kwaai, khaawM khwaayM, kaw kwaai, khaw khwai, kho khwai, kʰɔ̄ː kʰwāːj, คอ คฺวาย] with an extra tail. It might help you to memorize it that way too.
  • Why don't Thais refer to ส [sɔ̌ɔ sʉ̌a, sɔ̌ɔ sʉ̌ʉa, saawR seuuaR, sǎw sǔea, sǎw sěua, sǒ sǔea, sɔ̌ː sɯ̌ːa, สอ เสือ] as [sɔ̌ɔ lɔɔ sʉ̌a, sɔ̌ɔ lɔɔ sʉ̌ʉa, saawR laawM seuuaR, sǎw law sǔea, sǎw law sěua, sǒ lo sǔea, sɔ̌ː lɔ̄ː sɯ̌ːa, สอ ลอ เสือ], since it looks like ล [lɔɔ ling, lɔɔ lɪng, laawM lingM, law ling, law ling, lo ling, lɔ̄ː līŋ, ลอ ลิง] with an extra tail? It's a mystery (perhaps Thais think of ส as the "default" [sɔ̌ɔ, sɔ̌ɔ, saawR, sǎw, sǎw, sǒ, sɔ̌ː, สอ]), but why not think of it as [sɔ̌ɔ lɔɔ sʉ̌a, sɔ̌ɔ lɔɔ sʉ̌ʉa, saawR laawM seuuaR, sǎw law sǔea, sǎw law sěua, sǒ lo sǔea, sɔ̌ː lɔ̄ː sɯ̌ːa, สอ ลอ เสือ] since it can help you learn the letter?
  • Thais don't generally refer to ซ [sɔɔ sôo, sɔɔ sôo, saawM sohF, saw sôh, saw sôh, so sô, sɔ̄ː sôː, ซอ โซ่] as anything special because:
    • The syllable [sɔɔ, sɔɔ, saawM, saw, saw, so, sɔ̄ː, ซอ] already has a different tone from the other [s, s, s, s, s, s, s, ซ/ส] consonants, which all begin with [sɔ̌ɔ, sɔ̌ɔ, saawR, sǎw, sǎw, sǒ, sɔ̌ː, สอ], and that's very contrasting already to a Thai person.
    • The consonant it looks like, ฃ [kɔ̌ɔ kùat, kɔ̌ɔ kùuat, khaawR khuaatL, kǎw kòoat, khǎw khùat, khǒ khùat, kʰɔ̌ː kʰùːat̚, ขอ ขวด], is obsolete and Thais are kinda used to ostracizing it whenever possible.
    • What would you call it? [sɔɔ kɔ̌ɔ kùat sôo, sɔɔ kɔ̌ɔ kùuat sôo, saawM khaawR khuaatL sohF, saw kǎw kòoat sôh, saw khǎw khùat sôh, so khǒ khùat sô, sɔ̄ː kʰɔ̌ː kʰùːat̚ sôː, ซอ ขอ ขวด โซ่]? [sɔɔ kɔ̌ɔ sôo, sɔɔ kɔ̌ɔ sôo, saawM khaawR sohF, saw kǎw sôh, saw khǎw sôh, so khǒ sô, sɔ̄ː kʰɔ̌ː sôː, ซอ ขอ โซ่]? Kinda ugly. Up to you!

• The [n, n, n, n, n, n, n, น] consonant ณ [nɔɔ neen, nɔɔ neen, naawM naehnM, naw nayn, naw nehn, no nen, nɔ̄ː nēːn, นอ เนน] kinda contains a copy of the simpler [n, n, n, n, n, n, n, น] consonant น [nɔɔ nǔu, nɔɔ nǔu, naawM nuuR, naw nǒo, naw nǔu, no nǔ, nɔ̄ː nǔː, นอ หฺนู]

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