Thai Consonants and Their Transcription
There are
44 consonant symbols in the Thai alphabet which produce
21 initial consonant sounds when used at the
beginning of a syllable and
6 final consonant sounds when used at the end of a syllable. There are 24
low class consonants
(shown in green below), 9
middle class consonants (yellow), and 11
high class consonants (red); the classes are important for determining
the tone which a syllable should be spoken with. Since many of the consonants produce the same sound, each consonant has an
acrophonic word that is
conventionally used to uniquely identify it.
The initial and final phonemic transcriptions given below are used consistently throughout Thai-language.com when the default transcription
option is selected in the site
control panel.
1 Our system uses /g-/ instead of /k-/
or /kh-/ for the Thai consonant
ก, but remember, in Thai, a /g-/ sound is always hard. In English it can be
either soft (as in
gentle) or hard (as in
grapple).
Listing of Consonants in Alphabetical Order |
class |
initial |
final |
1 |
ก กอ gaawM |
ไก่ gaiL (chicken) |
mid |
g- | -k |
2 |
ข ขอ khaawR |
ไข่ khaiL (egg) |
high |
kh- | -k |
3 |
ฃ ฃอ khaawR |
ขวด khuaatL 2 (bottle) |
high |
kh- | -k |
4 |
ค คอ khaawM |
ควาย khwaaiM (water buffalo) |
low |
kh- | -k |
5 |
ฅ ฅอ khaawM |
คน khohnM 2 (person) |
low |
kh- | -k |
6 |
ฆ ฆอ khaawM |
ระฆัง raH khangM (temple bell) |
low |
kh- | -k |
7 |
ง งอ ngaawM |
งู nguuM (snake) |
low |
ng- | -ng |
8 |
จ จอ jaawM |
จาน jaanM (plate) |
mid |
j- | -t |
9 |
ฉ ฉอ chaawR |
ฉิ่ง chingL (small cymbal) |
high |
ch- | n/a |
10 |
ช ชอ chaawM |
ช้าง chaangH (elephant) |
low |
ch- | -t |
11 |
ซ ซอ saawM |
โซ่ so:hF (chain for animals) |
low |
s- | -s only used in foreign loanwords |
12 |
ฌ ฌอ chaawM |
เฌอ chuuhrM (small tree) |
low |
ch- | -t |
13 |
ญ ญอ yaawM |
หญิง yingR (woman) |
low |
y- | -n |
14 |
ฎ ฎอ daawM |
ชฎา chaH daaM (dance hat) |
mid |
d- | -t |
15 |
ฏ ฏอ dtaawM |
ปฏัก bpaL dtakL (harpoon) |
mid |
dt- | -t |
16 |
ฐ ฐอ thaawR |
ฐาน thaanR (pedestal) |
high |
th- | -t |
17 |
ฑ ฑอ thaawM |
มณโฑ mohnM tho:hM (Ramayana character) |
low |
th- | -t |
18 |
ฒ ฒอ thaawM |
ผู้เฒ่า phuuF thaoF (old man) |
low |
th- | -t |
19 |
ณ ณอ naawM |
เณร naehnM (buddhist monk) |
low |
n- | -n |
20 |
ด ดอ daawM |
เด็ก dekL (child) |
mid |
d- | -t |
21 |
ต ตอ dtaawM |
เต่า dtaoL (turtle) |
mid |
dt- | -t |
22 |
ถ ถอ thaawR |
ถุง thoongR (shopping bag) |
high |
th- | -t |
23 |
ท ทอ thaawM |
ทหาร thaH haanR (soldier) |
low |
th- | -t |
24 |
ธ ธอ thaawM |
ธง thohngM (flag) |
low |
th- | -t |
25 |
น นอ naawM |
หนู nuuR (mouse) |
low |
n- | -n |
26 |
บ บอ baawM |
ใบไม้ baiM maaiH (leaf) |
mid |
b- | -p |
27 |
ป ปอ bpaawM |
ปลา bplaaM (fish) |
mid |
bp- | -p |
28 |
ผ ผอ phaawR |
ผึ้ง pheungF (bee) |
high |
ph- | n/a |
29 |
ฝ ฝอ faawR |
ฝา faaR (lid) |
high |
f- | n/a |
30 |
พ พอ phaawM |
พาน phaanM (offering tray) |
low |
ph- | -p |
31 |
ฟ ฟอ faawM |
ฟัน fanM (tooth) |
low |
f- | -p |
32 |
ภ ภอ phaawM |
สำเภา samR phaoM (small Chinese boat) |
low |
ph- | -p |
33 |
ม มอ maawM |
ม้า maaH (horse) |
low |
m- | -m |
34 |
ย ยอ yaawM |
ยักษ์ yakH (demon) |
low |
y- | [vowel] |
35 |
ร รอ raawM |
เรือ reuuaM (boat) |
low |
r- | -n |
36 |
ล ลอ laawM |
ลิง lingM (monkey) |
low |
l- | -n |
37 |
ว วอ waawM |
แหวน waaenR (ring) |
low |
w- | [vowel] |
38 |
ศ ศอ saawR |
ศาลา saaR laaM (gazebo) |
high |
s- | -t |
39 |
ษ ษอ saawR |
ฤๅษี reuuM seeR (hermit) |
high |
s- | -t |
40 |
ส สอ saawR |
เสือ seuuaR (tiger) |
high |
s- | -t |
41 |
ห หอ haawR |
หีบ heepL (box, trunk) |
high |
h- | n/a |
42 |
ฬ ฬอ laawM |
จุฬา jooL laaM (kite) |
low |
l- | -n |
43 |
อ ออ aaawM |
อ่าง aangL (tub, bucket) |
mid |
- | [vowel] |
44 |
ฮ ฮอ haawM |
นกฮูก nohkH huukF (owl) |
low |
h- | n/a |
School-aged kids in Thailand learn the alphabet by memorizing the
Thai Alphabet Poem.
Initial Consonant Phones
In Thai, there are twenty-one consonant sounds which may occur at the beginning of a syllable. Any one of the forty-four Thai consonant
graphemes can be used in syllable-initial position. The
21 sounds can be divided into three types according to their phonetic characterics:
sonorant,
plain, and
aspirate. As you can see in the following table, doing so will help you remember the
consonant class of each consonant grapheme. This information is required for applying the Thai
tone rules.
21 Initial Consonant Sounds |
type | sound | low | mid | high |
plain | g- |
  |
ก |
  |
j- |
  |
จ |
  |
d- |
  |
ด,ฎ |
  |
dt- |
  |
ฏ,ต |
  |
b- |
  |
บ |
  |
bp- |
  |
ป |
  |
- |
  |
อ |
  |
sonorant | ng- |
ง |
  |
  |
n- |
ณ,น |
  |
  |
m- |
ม |
  |
  |
y- |
ญ,ย |
  |
  |
r- |
ร |
  |
  |
l- |
ล,ฬ |
  |
  |
w- |
ว |
  |
  |
aspirate | kh- |
ค,ฅ,ฆ |
  |
ข,ฃ |
ch- |
ช,ฌ |
  |
ฉ |
th- |
ฑ,ฒ,ท,ธ |
  |
ฐ,ถ |
ph- |
พ,ภ |
  |
ผ |
f- |
ฟ |
  |
ฝ |
s- |
ซ |
  |
ศ,ษ,ส |
h- |
ฮ |
  |
ห |
Final Consonant Phones
In the
alphabetical listing above, note that the following consonants never appear at the end of a syllable:
ฉ, ซ, ผ, ฝ, ห, ฮ. These are marked with
n/a in the "final sound" column. Three others act as vowels
or dipthongs (combination vowels) when they occur at the end of a syllable, and they are marked with
vowel in the "final sound"
column:
ย, ว, อ.
The following chart summmarizes the six final consonant sounds. Three of these are
live consonant endings and three
are
dead consonant endings. This distinction is important for the
tone rules. For more information, see
the
Consonant Endings reference page. (The two obsolete consonants are grayed out)
6 Final Consonant Sounds |
sound | low | mid | high |
dead |
-k |
ค,ฅ,ฆ |
ก |
ข,ฃ |
-p |
พ,ฟ,ภ |
บ,ป |
  |
-t |
ช,ฌ,ฑ,ฒ,ท,ธ |
จ,ฎ,ฏ,ด,ต |
ฐ,ถ,ศ,ษ,ส |
live |
-m |
ม |
  |
  |
-n |
ญ,ณ,น,ร,ล,ฬ |
  |
  |
-ng |
ง |
  |
  |
Notice that the live ending consonants are the same as the initial consonants from the 'sonorant' initial-consonant group (minus
ว and
ย, which are considered live-ending diphthongs).
Learning the Classes of Consonants
Sooner or later, you'll have to memorize which
class every consonant belongs to so that you can apply the
tone rules. There are many
ways to approach this studying task. For example, here's a Thai schoolchild mnemonic for remembering the mid-class consonants:
ไก่จิกเด็กตายบนปากโอ่ง — [a mnemonic for remembering the middle-class consonants in Thai] "Chicken pecks a child to death over the mouth of a clay pot."
Or, for a detailed linguistic treatment, please refer to Richard Wordingham's article,
Phonetic Organization of the Thai Consonants.
The easiest method for me was to study the characteristics of the consonant sounds, as
sonorant,
plain, or
aspirate, as shown
in the
table of initial consonant sounds above. This method is detailed in the following lesson:
Phonemic Approach to the Consonant Classes.
If you prefer a memorization-oriented method, you might practice and memorize the alphabet with the proper tones on the
acrophonic words. Read on to see how to use tone rules to
find the tone of any word by memorizing the tone of some of the sample words
listed above.
What follows are some simple observations about the classes of consonants. Notice that the
อ aaw
sound for
high-class consonants
only is pronounced in a rising tone, as denoted by a superscript 'R.' (The
อ aaw
sound for mid- and low-class consonants is pronounced in a mid tone). By always practicing saying the letter names with the proper tone (even
though the corresponding sample words may have different tones), you will form an association between the letter name and the correct sound. Then
you'll know the high-class consonants by sound. Another clue to the high-class consonants is that none of the
sample words for these
consonants are spoken with a mid or high tone—most have a low or rising tone.
Next, after eliminating the high-class consonants, note that if the
sample word is pronounced in a
low tone,
then the consonant must be
mid-class. The four remaining mid-class consonants, whose sample words are pronounced in the mid tone, can be
memorized:
จ
/jaaw
M jaan
M/ (plate),
ฎ
/daaw
M cha
H daa
M/ (dance hat),
ป
/bpaaw
M bplaa
M/ (fish),
บ
/baaw
M bai
M maai
H/ (leaf). For the latter, note that the second syllable has a
rising tone but it is the first syllable, pronounced in mid tone,
which contains the letter in question.
At this point you could simply remember that the remaining consonants
are
low-class, but we can make some observations about them also.
For one thing, none of the sample words for the low-class consonants
are pronounced with a low tone. Also, of all the sample words,
there are only three which use the falling tone. One of
them is
ผ
/phaaw
R pheung
F/, which we know is high-class. The other
two,
ซ
/saaw
M so:h
F/ (chain) and
ฒ
/thaaw
M phuu
F thao
F/ (old man), are low-class.
For more information on consonant classes and how they affect the tone
of a word, see the section on
tone rules.
1. Transcriptions shown on this page use the 'Thai-language.com enhanced phonemic transcription' scheme regardless of the romanization settings in your site
control panel.
2. The
acrophonic words for the two consonants
ฃ and
ฅ do not include the actual letter itself. This is because these two consonants are considered obsoloete; they are no longer used.