Learn the remaining half of the Thai consonants
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Ryan: Pronunciation, Lesson 2 - Are there really more Thai consonants to learn? Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Pronunciation Series. |
| Rawinporn: Did you practice the sounds from Lesson 1? |
| Ryan: We have a lot more sounds for you this time. |
| Rawinporn: Ok, grab your PDF file and let’s do this together. |
Lesson focus |
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| Ryan: Here we go. The 23rd Thai consonant is… |
| Rawinporn: [ทอ ทหาร]. [ทหาร] means “soldier”. |
| Ryan: And next [ธอ ธง]. [ธง] means “flag”. |
| Rawinporn: There are three colors in the Thai flag, which are red, white and dark blue. |
| Ryan: I bet those are the three most popular colors for national flags. Moving on to the next letter, we have [นอ หนู]. [หนู] means “mouse”. |
| Rawinporn: Next, [บอ ใบไม้]. [ใบไม้] means “leaf”. |
| Ryan: And next [ปอปลา]. [ปลา] means “fish”. This is the sound that I’ve heard other foreigners pronouncing wrong most often in Thailand. |
| Rawinporn: Well, [ปอ ปลา] is a hot sound between P and B. [ปอ ปลา] |
| Ryan: Next, [ผอ ผึ้ง]. [ผึ้ง] means “bee”. |
| Rawinporn: Next is [ฝอ ฝา]. [ฝา] is “lid”, like a lid for the pot, pan or something like that. |
| Ryan: A-ha! And next is [พอ พาน]. [พาน] is a “tray”. |
| Rawinporn: It is not a normal tray. It’s a special tray that is used only in a ceremony. |
| Ryan: A-ha! You’ll notice this letter and two others we write with, PH. The H indicates an aspirated sound, that is one accompanied by a puff of air. If you put your hand in front of your mouth you can feel a puff of air when you say [พอ พาน], but not when you say [ปอ ปลา]. Go ahead, try it. Repeat after [ปอ ปลา]. |
| Rawinporn: [พอ พาน] |
| Ryan: And next - [ฟอ ฟัน]. [ฟัน] means “teeth”. Unlike English, we don’t have to add S at the end of words to make them plural nouns. So [ฟอ ฟัน] means “tooth” or “teeth” at the same time. |
| Exactly Next is |
| Rawinporn: Exactly! Next is [พอ สำเภา]. [สำเภา] is “sailboat”. |
| Ryan: And next, [มอ ม้า]. [ม้า] is a “horse”. |
| Rawinporn: Next is [ยอ ยักษ์]. [ยักษ์] means “ogre”. |
| Ryan: And if anyone out there knows some Indian mythology, you might recognize this word. It’s just shortened from the Sanskrit [Yaksha]. Ok, the next one is [รอ เรือ]. [เรือ] means “boat”. |
| Rawinporn: Please be careful when you pronounce [รอ เรือ]. You are supposed to roll your tongue like this - Rrr. |
| Ryan: Oh man! I’ve never been very good at rolling my R’s. Ok, let me give it another shot. [รอ เรือ] |
| Rawinporn: The next one, which is [ลอ ลิง], is similar. [ลิง] means “monkey” .For [ลอ ลิง,your tongue just simply touches the roof of your mouth. You do not need to make this sound. |
| Ryan: Getting tired yet? Come one, we’re more than halfway done now. |
| Rawinporn: Yes. And the next one is [วอ แหวน]. [แหวน] means “ring”. |
| Ryan: Then [ศอ ศาลา]. [ศาลา] means a “pavilion”. |
| Rawinporn: The next one has the same sound - [ษอ ฤาษี]. [ฤาษี] means “hermit”. |
| Ryan: And maybe some people will recognize this one too. It’s the Indian word [Rishi]. Then we have one more letter making the same sound - [สอ เสือ]. [เสือ] is a “tiger”. |
| Rawinporn: Yeah. [ศอ ศาลา] [ษอ ฤาษี] and [สอ เสือ] are exactly the same with an S sound. |
| Ryan: But if you recall, they represent three different sounds in Sanskrit. So Thai kept the letters different to preserve the spelling of foreign loan words. Next is [หอ หีบ]. [หีบ] is a “chest” that you can keep your stuff in. |
| Rawinporn: And next [ลอ จุลา]. [จุลา] is a “kite”. Moreover, it is the name of the first university in Thailand. |
| Ryan: A-ha! And next is [ออ อ่าง]. [อ่าง] means “basin”. Now, if you just said, “Hey, that doesn’t sound much like a consonant!” - you're right! When used as a consonant, [ออ อ่าง] doesn’t have its own sound. Since every vowel is written attached to a consonant, this letter can act as a silent consonant for words that start with a vowel. |
| Rawinporn: Last but not least is [ฮอ นกฮูก]. |
| Ryan: [นกฮูก] is an “owl”. |
| Rawinporn: Now you know all 44 Thai consonants. |
| Ryan: That’s right. And keep practicing. |
Outro |
| Rawinporn: It’s not difficult, you just need some practice. I'm sure about that. |
| Ryan: Ok, see you next time. |
| Rawinporn: [สวัสดีค่ะ] |
| Ryan: [สวัสดีครับ] |
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