Learn more about familiar Thai consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Thai Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 9 Thai consonant sounds. |
| These consonant sounds are identical to the ones in English, so they'll likely be familiar to you. |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| บ |
| ใบ Leaf |
| บ้าน House |
| บน Above" |
| It sounds like a hard B sound, like in the word 'buy'. |
| บ, บ (slowly) |
| บ, บ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ป |
| ปลา Fish |
| ปู Crab |
| เป็ด Duck" |
| This sound is in-between a B and P sound. It's not as hard as a B, nor is it as soft as a P. Technically speaking, this is an *unaspirated* P sound. This means that you should pronounce a P sound without releasing a big puff of air like you would normally in words like 'pet' or 'post'. Instead, it should be pronounced *without* a burst of air, like in the words 'spin' or 'spike'. Listen to Jay. |
| ป, ป (slowly) |
| ป, ป (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ผ/พ/ภ |
| ผม Hair |
| เพลง Song |
| ภาพ Picture |
| This is an *aspirated* P sound. It's like the P in 'pet', or 'post'. With this sound, ensure that you're releasing a big puff of air to better differentiate it from the previous sound. |
| ผ/พ/ภ, ผ/พ/ภ (slowly) |
| ผ/พ/ภ, ผ/พ/ภ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ฎ/ด |
| ดู Looking |
| เดิน Walking |
| ดม Smelling" |
| It sounds like a hard D sound, like in the word 'dad'. |
| ฎ/ด, ฎ/ด (slowly) |
| ฎ/ด, ฎ/ด (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ฏ/ต |
| ตา Eye |
| เตะ Kick |
| เต่า Tortoise" |
| This sound is in-between a D and T sound. It's not as hard as a D, nor is it as soft as a T. Technically speaking, this is an *unaspirated* T sound. Similar to the previous unaspirated P sound, you want to pronounce this T *without* releasing a big puff of air, like in the words 'stop' or 'stand'. Listen to Jay. |
| ฏ/ต, ฏ/ต (slowly) |
| ฏ/ต, ฏ/ต (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ฐ/ฑ/ฒ/ถ/ท/ธ |
| ธง Flag |
| ทาน Eat |
| เทา Grey |
| This is an *aspirated* T sound. It's like the T in 'tan', or 'take'. With this sound, ensure that you're releasing a big puff of air to better differentiate it from the previous sound. |
| ฐ/ฑ/ฒ/ถ/ท/ธ, ฐ/ฑ/ฒ/ถ/ท/ธ (slowly) |
| ฐ/ฑ/ฒ/ถ/ท/ธ, ฐ/ฑ/ฒ/ถ/ท/ธ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ก |
| ไก่ Chicken |
| กลับ Going back |
| กา Crow" |
| This is an unaspirated K sound. It's like the K in 'ski' or 'skip'. Similar to the previous unaspirated P and T sounds, you want to pronounce this K *without* releasing a big puff of air. Listen to Jay. |
| ก, ก (slowly) |
| ก, ก (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ข/ฃ/ค/ฅ/ฆ |
| ไข่ Egg |
| คน Human/person/people |
| ใคร Who/whom |
| This is an aspirated K sound. It's like the K in 'kite' or 'koala'. With this sound, ensure that you're releasing a big buff of air. |
| ข/ฃ/ค/ฅ/ฆ, ข/ฃ/ค/ฅ/ฆ (slowly) |
| ข/ฃ/ค/ฅ/ฆ, ข/ฃ/ค/ฅ/ฆ (slowly) |
| The final consonant sound for this lesson is... |
| อ |
| อา Uncle |
| อุ่น Warm |
| อ่าน Reading |
| This sound, or one can argue, lack of sound, is the abrupt pause that takes place before the next sound is released suddenly. |
| You can pronounce it by contracting your throat muscles quickly to obstruct the airflow, and then releasing the pressure abruptly. |
| Because the vocal cords are held tightly together, this prevents them from vibrating, so you should not hear anything for a short period of time. |
| Some English speakers may produce this sound when pronouncing the word 'button' for example, or when they say 'uh-oh!' |
| Listen to Jay. |
| อ, อ (slowly) |
| อ, อ (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned another 9 Thai consonants. |
| Were there more familiar sounds than you though? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn 3 consonant sounds that are unfamiliar to English speakers. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Thai Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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