Thai ภาษาไทย phasa thai
Pronunciation:	pʰāːsǎːtʰāj
Spoken in:	Thailand, North Malaysia
Total speakers:	60-65 million
Ranking:	39
Language family:	Tai-Kadai  Kam-Tai   Be-Tai    Tai-Sek     Tai      Southwestern       East Central        Chiang Saeng         Thai
Official status
Official language in:	Thailand
Regulated by:	The Royal Institute
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	th
ISO 639-2:	tha
ISO 639-3:	tha
This page contains Indic text. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Tai-Kadai languages, also known as Kadai, Kradai, or Kra-Dai languages and in China as Zhuang-Dong languages are a tonal The Kam-Tai languages, or Be-Kam-Tai, are a proposed primary branch of the Tai-Kadai language family, and include all major languages of that family The Tai languages (ภาษาไต are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai Language family. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language The Royal Institute of Thailand ( Thai ราชบัณฑิตยสถาน RTGS Ratchabandittayasathan IPA râːt-ʧa-ban-dìt-ta-já-sa-tʰăːn ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More...

Thai (ภาษาไทย, transcription: phasa thai, transliteration: p̣hās̄ʹāthịy; IPA: [pʰāːsǎːtʰāj]), is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. The Royal Thai General System of Transcription ( RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet. ISO 11940 is an ISO standard for the Romanization of the Thai alphabet, published in 1998 (updated September 2003 A national language is a Language (or language variant, ie Dialect) which has some connection - de facto or de jure - with An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth The Thai (or Tai) are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai-Kadai language family. The Tai languages (ภาษาไต are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai Language family. The Tai-Kadai languages, also known as Kadai, Kradai, or Kra-Dai languages and in China as Zhuang-Dong languages are a tonal List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Tai-Kadai languages are thought to have originated in what is now southern China, and some linguists have proposed links to the Austroasiatic, Austronesian, or Sino-Tibetan language families. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large Language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The Sino-Tibetan languages form a Language family composed of at least the Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages, including some 250 languages of It is a tonal and analytic language. A tonal language is a language that uses tone to distinguish words In morphological typology (in linguistics an isolating language (also analytic language) is any Language in which words are composed of The combination of tonality, a complex orthography, relational markers and a distinctive phonology can make Thai difficult to learn for those who do not already speak a related language. The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language For other meanings see the disambiguation page Marker In Linguistics, a marker is a free or bound Morpheme that indicates Phonology ( Greek φωνή (phōnē voice sound + λόγος (lógos word speech subject of discussion is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning

Languages and dialects

Standard Thai, also known as Central Thai or Siamese, is the official language of Thailand, spoken by about 65 million people (1990) including speakers of Bangkok Thai (although the latter is sometimes considered as a separate dialect). An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory Khorat Thai is spoken by about 400,000 (1984) in Nakhon Ratchasima; it occupies a linguistic position somewhere between Central Thai and Isan on a dialect continuum, and may be considered a variant or dialect of either. Khorat Thai refers to an Ethnic group that lives mainly in Khorat Province, Thailand. Nakhon Ratchasima (นครราชสีมา naˡkʰon ˡraːtʃasiːˈmaː is a city ( thesaban nakhon) in the north-east ( Isan (Isan ภาษาอีสาน RTGS: phasa isan IPA: pʰaːsaː iːsaːn is the principal language of the Isan (northeastern region of A dialect continuum is a range of Dialects spoken across a large geographical area differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close and gradually decreasing A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of

In addition to Standard Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages, including:

• Isan (Northeastern Thai), the language of the Isan region of Thailand, considered by some to be a dialect of the Lao language, which it very closely resembles (although it is written in the Thai alphabet). The Tai languages (ภาษาไต are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai Language family. Isan (Isan ภาษาอีสาน RTGS: phasa isan IPA: pʰaːsaː iːsaːn is the principal language of the Isan (northeastern region of Isan ( Isan /อีสาน also written as Isaan Isarn Issan or Esarn is the northeast region of Thailand. Lao or Laotian (BGN/PCGN phasa lao IPA: pʰaːsaː laːw is a Tonal Language of the Tai-Kadai language family The Thai Alphabet (อักษรไทย àksŏn thai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand It is spoken by about 15 million people (1983).
• Nyaw language, spoken mostly in Nakhon Phanom Province, Sakhon Nakhon Province, Udon Thani Province of Northeast Thailand. The Nyaw or Tai Nyaw (Thai/Isan ไทญ่อ IPA tʰɑj ɲɔː are an Ethnic group of Thailand and Laos scattered throughout the provinces of Isan Sakon Nakhon (สกลนคร is one of the north-eastern provinces ( changwat) of Thailand. Udon Thani (อุดรธานี is one of the north-eastern provinces ( changwat) of Thailand.
• Galung language, spoken in Nakhon Phanom Province of Northeast Thailand. The Galung language is a distinct dialect of the Isan language of northeastern Thailand.
• Lü (Tai Lue, Dai), spoken by about 78,000 (1993) in northern Thailand. Tai Lü (or Tai Lue, Tai Le tai51 lɯ11 Xishuangbanna Dai Chinese 傣仂语 Dǎilèyǔ Vietnamese Lự or Lữ is a language spoken by
• Northern Thai (Lanna, Kam Meuang, or Thai Yuan), spoken by about 6 million (1983) in the formerly independent kingdom of Lanna (Chiang Mai). The Northern Thai language or Kham Mueang (คำเมือง or Lanna is the language of the Thai Yuan people of Lannathai, Thailand.
• Phuan, spoken by an unknown number of people in central Thailand and Isan. Phuan, also known as Thai Phuan or Lao Phuan (ไทยพวน are a Theravada Buddhist Tai people spread out in small pockets over most of the northeastern Isan
• Phu Thai, spoken by about 156,000 around Nakhon Phanom Province (1993). The Phu Thai language is a dialect of the Isan or Lao language with a few Isanvocabulary tonal and pronunciation differences
• Shan (Thai Luang, Tai Long, Thai Yai), spoken by about 56,000 in north-west Thailand along the border with the Shan States of Burma (1993). The Shan language is related to the Thai language and is called Tai-Yai, or Tai Long in the Tai languages
• Song, spoken by about 20,000 to 30,000 in central and northern Thailand (1982).
• Southern Thai (Pak Dtai), spoken about 5 million (1990). Southern Thai or Dambro (Thai ภาษาไทยใต้ IPA pʰaːsaː tʰajɗaj Thai ภาษาตามโปร IPA pʰaːsaː ɗaːmbro is a Tai
• Thai Dam, spoken by about 20,000 (1991) in Isan and Saraburi Province. Tai Dam is a Tai language spoken in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and China (mostly in Jinping 金平 Saraburi (สระบุรี is one of the central provinces ( changwat) of Thailand.

Statistics are from Ethnologue 2003-10-4.

Many of these languages are spoken by larger numbers outside of Thailand. Most speakers of dialects and minority languages speak Central Thai as well, since it is the language used in schools and universities all across the kingdom.

Numerous languages not related to Thai are spoken within Thailand by ethnic minority hill tribespeople. Hill tribe is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from China and Tibet over the past few centuries These languages include Hmong-Mien (Yao), Karen, Lisu, and others. The Hmong-Mien or Miao-Yao languages are a small Language family of southern China and Southeast Asia. The Karen languages are Tonal languages spoken by the Karen people and are classified as part of the Tibeto-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan language Lisu is a Sino-Tibetan Tonal language spoken in Yunnan (southwestern China) northern Burma, and Thailand and a small

Standard Thai is composed of several distinct registers, forms for different social contexts:

• Street Thai (ภาษาพูด, spoken Thai): informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.
• Elegant Thai (ภาษาเขียน, written Thai): official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers. A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint.
• Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
• Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India.
• Royal Thai (ราชาศัพท์): (influenced by Khmer) used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities. Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia.

Many Thais can speak at only the first and second levels, though they will understand the others.

Script

Main article: Thai alphabet

The Thai alphabet is derived from the Khmer alphabet (อักขระเขมร), which is modeled after the Brahmic script from the Indic family. The Thai Alphabet (อักษรไทย àksŏn thai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand The Khmer script (អក្ខរក្រមខេមរភាសា âkkhârâkrâm khémârâ phéasa informally aksar Khmer អក្សរខ្មែរ is used to write the Brāhmī script refers to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of alphabets. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, The language and its alphabet are closely related to the Lao language and alphabet. Lao or Laotian (BGN/PCGN phasa lao IPA: pʰaːsaː laːw is a Tonal Language of the Tai-Kadai language family The Lao script is used mainly to write the Lao language. The minority languages of Laos are also written in the Lao script and officially it is the only script Most Laotians are able to read and understand Thai, as more than half of the Thai vocabulary, grammar, intonation, vowels and so forth are common with the Lao language. Much like the Burmese adopted the Mon script (which also has Indic origins), the Thais adopted and modified Khmer script to create their own writing system. While the oldest known inscription in the Khmer language dates from 611 CE, inscriptions in Thai writing began to appear around 1292 CE. Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. Notable features include:

1. It is an abugida script, in which the implicit vowel is a short /a/ in a syllable without final consonant and a short /o/ in a syllable with final consonant. An abugida ( from Ge‘ez አቡጊዳ ’äbugida or Amharic አቡጊዳ ’abugida is a segmental Writing system which An inherent vowel is part of an Abugida script It is the vowel sound which is used with each unmarked or basic Consonant symbol In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal
2. Tone markers are placed above the consonant just before the vowel sound of the syllable.
3. Vowels sounding after a consonant are nonsequential: they can be located before, after, above or below the consonant, or in a combination of these positions. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract

Transcription

There is no universal standard for transcribing Thai into the Latin alphabet. For example, the name of King Rama IX, the present monarch, is transcribed variously as Bhumibol, Phumiphon, phuu^M mi^H phohn^M, or many other versions. Guide books, text books and dictionaries may each follow different systems. For this reason, most language courses recommend that learners master the Thai alphabet.

What comes closest to a standard is the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS), published by the Thai Royal Institute only in Thai at [1]. The Royal Thai General System of Transcription ( RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet. This system is increasingly used in Thailand by central and local governments, especially for road signs. Its main drawbacks are that it does not indicate tone or vowel length. It is not possible to reconstruct the Thai spelling from the RTGS transcriptions.

Transliteration

The ISO published an international standard for the transliteration of Thai into Roman script in September 2003 (ISO 11940) [2]. ISO 11940 is an ISO standard for the Romanization of the Thai alphabet, published in 1998 (updated September 2003 ISO 11940 is an ISO standard for the Romanization of the Thai alphabet, published in 1998 (updated September 2003 By adding diacritics to the Latin letters, it makes the transcription reversible, making it a true transliteration. Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice This system is intended for academic use and is hardly ever used in Thailand for the common public.

Grammar

From the perspective of linguistic typology, Thai can be considered to be an analytic language. Linguistic Typology is an international Peer-reviewed journal in the field of Linguistic typology, founded in 1997 In morphological typology (in linguistics an isolating language (also analytic language) is any Language in which words are composed of The word order is Subject Verb Object, although the subject is often omitted. In Linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the different ways in which languages arrange the constituents of their sentences relative to each other and the systematic In Linguistic typology, subject-verb-object ( SVO) is a sentence structure where the subject comes first the Verb second and the object The Thai pronominal system varies according to the sex and relative status of speaker and audience.

Adjectives and adverbs

There is no morphological distinction between adverbs and adjectives. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the Many words can be used in either function. They follow the word they modify, which may be a noun, verb, or another adjective or adverb. Intensity can be expressed by a duplicated word, which is used to mean "very" (with the first occurrence at a higher pitch) or "rather" (with both at the same pitch) (Higbie 187-188). Usually, only one word is duplicated per clause.

• คนอ้วน (khon uan, IPA: [kʰon uan ]) a fat person
• คนอ้วนๆ (khon uan uan, IPA: [kʰon uan uan]) a very/rather fat person
• คนอ้วนไว (khon uan wai) a person who becomes/became fat quickly
• คนอ้วนไวๆ (khon uan wai wai) a person who becomes/became fat very/rather quickly

Comparatives take the form "A X กว่า B" (kwa, IPA: [kwaː]), A is more X than B. In Grammar, the comparative is the form of an Adjective or Adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person thing or other entity has a property The superlative is expressed as "A X ที่สุด" (thi sut, IPA: [tʰiːsut]), A is most X. In Grammar the superlative of an Adjective or Adverb is the greatest form of adjective or adverb which indicates that something has some feature

• เขาอ้วนกว่าฉัน (kao uan kwa chan) S/he is fatter than I.
• เขาอ้วนที่สุด (kao uan thi sut) S/he is the fattest (of all).

Because adjectives can be used as complete predicates, many words used to indicate tense in verbs (see Verbs:Tense below) may be used to describe adjectives.

• ฉันหิว (chan hiw) I am hungry.
• ฉันจะหิว (chan ja hiw) I will be hungry.
• ฉันกำลังหิว (chan kamlang hiw) I am becoming hungry. or I am hungry right now.
• ฉันหิวแล้ว (chan hiw laeo) I am already hungry.

Verbs

Verbs do not inflect (i. For English usage of verbs see the wiki article English verbs. For fusion in Word formation, see Compound (linguistics. A fusional language (also called inflecting language) is a e. do not change with person, tense, voice, mood, or number) nor are there any participles. In Linguistics, a participle (from Latin participium, a Calque of Greek μετοχη "partaking" is a derivative of a non-finite Duplication conveys the idea of doing the verb intensively.

The passive voice is indicated by the insertion of ถูก (thuk, IPA: [tʰuːk])) before the verb. In Grammar, the voice (also called gender or diathesis of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state that the verb expresses and the participants identified For example:

• เขาถูกตี (khao thuk ti, IPA: [kʰǎw tʰuːk tiː]), He is hit. This describes an action that is out of the receiver's control and, thus, conveys suffering.

To convey the opposite sense, a sense of having an opportunity arrive, ได้ (dai, IPA: [daj], can) is used. For example:

• เขาจะได้ไปเที่ยวเมืองลาว (khao cha dai pai thiao mueang lao, IPA: [kʰǎw tɕaʔ dâj paj tʰîow mɯːaŋ laːw]), He gets to visit Laos.

Note, dai (IPA: [daj] and IPA: [daːj]), though both spelled ได้ , convey two separate meanings. The short vowel dai (IPA: [daj]) conveys an opportunity has arisen and is placed before the verb. The long vowel dai (IPA: [daːj]) is placed after the verb and conveys the idea that one has been given permission or one has the ability to do something. Also see the past tense below.

• เขาตีได้ (khao ti dai, IPA: [kʰǎw tiː dâːj]), He is/was allowed to hit or He is/was able to hit

Negation is indicated by placing ไม่ (mai, not) before the verb.

• เขาไม่ตี, (khao mai ti) He is not hitting. or He doesn't hit.

Tense is conveyed by tense markers before or after the verb.

Present can be indicated by กำลัง (kamlang, IPA: [kamlaŋ], currently) before the verb for ongoing action (like English -ing form), by อยู่ (yu, IPA: [juː]) after the verb, or by both. Present Tense is the first Sagittarius album released in 1968 by Columbia Records. For example:

• เขากำลังวิ่ง (khao kamlang wing, IPA: [kʰǎw kamlaŋ wiŋ]), or
• เขาวิ่งอยู่ (khao wing yu, IPA: [kʰǎw wiŋ juː]), or
• เขากำลังวิ่งอยู่ (khao kamlang wing yu, IPA: [kʰǎw kamlaŋ wiŋ juː]), He is running.

Future can be indicated by จะ (cha, IPA: [tɕaʔ], will) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the future. In Grammar, the future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet but expected to happen in the future (in an Absolute tense For example:

• เขาจะวิ่ง (khao cha wing, IPA: [kʰǎw tɕaʔ wiŋ]), He will run or He is going to run

Past can be indicated by ได้ (dai, IPA: [daːj]) before the verb or by a time expression indicating the past. The past tense is a Verb tense expressing action activity state or being in the past of the current moment (in an Absolute tense system or prior However, แล้ว (laeo, :IPA: [lɛːw], already) is more often used to indicate the past tense by being placed behind the verb. Or, both ได้ and แล้ว are put together to form the past tense expression, i. e. Subject + ได้ + Verb + แล้ว. For example:

• เขาได้กิน (khao dai kin, IPA: [kʰǎw daːj kin]), He ate
• เขากินแล้ว (khao kin laeo, IPA: [kʰǎw kin lɛːw], He (already) ate or He's already eaten
• เขาได้กินแล้ว (khao dai kin laeo, IPA: [kʰǎw daːj kin lɛːw]), He (already) ate or He's already eaten

Nouns and pronouns

Nouns are uninflected and have no gender; there are no articles. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong

Nouns are neither singular nor plural. SINGULAR is a Computer algebra system for Polynomial computations with special emphasis on the needs of Commutative algebra, Algebraic geometry Plural is a Grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the Referent in the real world Some specific nouns are reduplicated to form collectives: เด็ก (dek, child) is often repeated as เด็กๆ (dek dek) to refer to a group of children. Reduplication, in Linguistics, is a morphological Process by which the root or stem of a Word, or part of it is repeated In Linguistics, singulative number and collective number are terms used when the Grammatical number for multiple items is the unmarked form The word พวก (phuak, [pʰûak]) may be used as a prefix of a noun or pronoun as a collective to pluralize or emphasise the following word. (พวกผม, phuak phom, [pʰûak pʰǒm], we, masculine; พวกเรา phuak rao, [pʰûak raw], emphasised we; พวกหมา phuak ma, (the) dogs) Plurals are expressed by adding classifiers, used as measure words (ลักษณนาม), in the form of noun-number-classifier (ครูห้าคน, "teacher five person" for "five teachers"). A classifier, in Linguistics, is a Word or Morpheme used in some languages to classify a Noun according to its meaning In Linguistics, measure words, known more formally as numeral classifiers and also called counters, count words, counter words, or While in English, such classifiers are usually absent ("four chairs") or optional ("two bottles of beer" or "two beers"), a classifier is almost always used in Thai (hence "chair four item" and "beer two bottle").

Subject pronouns are often omitted, while nicknames are often used where English would use a pronoun. In Linguistics and Grammar, a pronoun is a Pro-form that substitutes for a (including a noun phrase consisting of a single Noun) with or A nickname is a Name of an entity or thing that is not its Proper name. There are specialised pronouns in the royal and sacred Thai languages. The following are appropriate for conversational use:

Particles

The particles are often untranslatable words added to the end of a sentence to indicate respect, a request, encouragement or other moods (similar to the use of intonation in English), as well as varying the level of formality. The Royal Thai General System of Transcription ( RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet. In Linguistics, the term particle is a word lacking a strict definition but has the function of changing the relation of the parts of the sentence to one another and is therefore In Linguistics, intonation is variation of pitch whilst speaking which is not used to distinguish words They are not used in elegant (written) Thai. The most common particles indicating respect are ครับ (khrap, IPA: [kʰráp], with a high tone) for a man, and ค่ะ (kha, [kʰâ], with a falling tone) for a woman; these can also be used to indicate an affirmative.

Other common particles are:

Phonology

Tones

There are five phonemic tones: middle, low, high, rising and falling. The Royal Thai General System of Transcription ( RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet. Tone is the use of pitch in Language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is to distinguish or inflect words The table shows an example of both the phonemic tones and their phonetic realization, in the IPA. The phoneME project is Sun Microsystems reference implementation of Java virtual machine and associated libraries of Java ME with source licensed under the GNU Phonetics (from the Greek φωνή ( phonê) "sound" or "voice" is the study of the physical sounds of human speech The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic

Consonants

Thai distinguishes among three voice/aspiration patterns for plosive consonants:

• unvoiced, unaspirated
• unvoiced, aspirated
• voiced, unaspirated

Where English has only a distinction between the voiced, unaspirated /b/ and the unvoiced, aspirated /p/, Thai distinguishes a third sound which is neither voiced nor aspirated, which occurs in English only as an allophone of /p/, approximately the sound of the p in "spin. " There is similarly an alveolar /t/, /tʰ/, /d/ triplet. In the velar series there is a /k/, /kʰ/ pair and in the postalveolar series the /tɕ/, /tɕʰ/ pair.

In each cell below, the first line indicates International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the second indicates the Thai characters in initial position (more letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation).

^* ฑ can be pronounced as [tʰ] or [d] depended on Thai words. In Phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a Consonant articulated with both Lips The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet In Phonetics, labiodentals are Consonants articulated with the lower Lip and the upper Teeth. Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together Affricate Consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or) but release as a fricative (such as or or occasionally into In Phonetics, a trill is a Consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the Place of articulation. Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants Laterals are "L"-like Consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both

^** The glottal plosive is implied after a short vowel without final, or the silent อ before a vowel.

Vowels

The basic vowels of the Thai language, from front to back and close to open, are given in the following table. The top entry in every cell is the symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet, the second entry gives the spelling in the Thai alphabet, where a dash (–) indicates the position of the initial consonant after which the vowel is pronounced. The Thai Alphabet (อักษรไทย àksŏn thai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand A second dash indicates that a final consonant must follow.

Monophthongs of Thai. From Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:25)

The vowels each exist in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming unrelated words in Thai,^[1] but usually transliterated the same: เขา (khao) means he or she, while ขาว (khao) means white. Thai (th ภาษาไทย, transcription: phasa thai, transliteration:; pʰāːsǎːtʰāj is the national and A front vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward A back vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as A close vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in many spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as A close-mid vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds The open-mid vowels make a class of Vowel sounds used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned An open vowel is a Vowel sound of a type used in most spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as In Linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a Vowel sound The phoneME project is Sun Microsystems reference implementation of Java virtual machine and associated libraries of Java ME with source licensed under the GNU

The long-short pairs are as follows:

Diphthongs of Thai. From Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:25)

The basic vowels can be combined into diphthongs. Thai (th ภาษาไทย, transcription: phasa thai, transliteration:; pʰāːsǎːtʰāj is the national and In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993) analyze those ending in high vocoids as underlyingly /Vj/ and /Vw/. Thai (th ภาษาไทย, transcription: phasa thai, transliteration:; pʰāːsǎːtʰāj is the national and For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are also classified as long:

Additionally, there are three triphthongs, all of which are long:

For a guide to written vowels, see the Thai alphabet page. In Phonetics, a triphthong (from Greek τρίφθογγος, "triphthongos" literally "with three sounds" or "with three The Thai Alphabet (อักษรไทย àksŏn thai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand

Vocabulary

Other than compound words and words of foreign origin, most words are monosyllabic. In Linguistics, a compound is a Lexeme (less precisely a Word) that consists of more than one stem. A syllable ( Greek:) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds Historically, words have most often been borrowed from Sanskrit and Pāli; Buddhist terminology is particularly indebted to these. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Old Khmer has also contributed its share, especially in regard to royal court terminology. Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the English language has had the greatest influence. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Many Teochew Chinese words are also used, some replacing existing Thai words.

Thailand also uses the distinctive Thai six hour clock in addition to the 24 hour clock. The six hour clock is one of two time systems used by Thais (the other being the 24-hour clock) Description A time of day is written in the 24-hour notation in the form hhmm (for example 0123 or hhmmss (for example 012345 where hh (00 to 23 is the decimal number

References

Bibliography

• Higbie, James and Thinsan, Snea. Thai (th ภาษาไทย, transcription: phasa thai, transliteration:; pʰāːsǎːtʰāj is the national and Thai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken Thai. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2003. ISBN 974-8304-96-5.
• Nanthana Ronnakiat, Dr. (นันทนา รณเกียรติ, ดร. ) Phonetics in Principle and Practical. (สัทศาสตร์ภาคทฤษฎีและภาคปฏิบัติ) Bangkok: Thammasat University, 2005. ISBN 974-571-929-3.
• Segaller, Denis. Thai Without Tears: A Guide to Simple Thai Speaking. Bangkok: BMD Book Mags, 1999. ISBN 974-87115-2-8.
• Smyth, David. Thai: An Essential Grammar. London: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0-415-22614-7.
• Tingsabadh, M. R. Kalaya & Arthur Abramson (1993), "Thai", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (1): 24-28

See also

• Thai numerals

External links

• CONSONANTS | VOWELS | NUMBERS | PECULIARITIES | TONES
• Thai phrasebook in wikitravel
• Ethnologue write-up on Thai
• Thai-language.com Dictionary, forums, and reference material
• Thai2english.com Also gives sound-alike words with different tones
• Slice-of-Thai.com: Consonant/vowel flashcards + detailed pages on Thai tone/vowel/consonant sounds, with spectrogram program to visualize your own voice
• IPA and SAMPA for Thai
• Websters Thai-English Dictionary
• Thai Particles (Large list of Thai particles with explanations and example sentences). Thai numerals (เลขไทย are a set of numerals traditionally used in Thailand, although the Arabic numerals are more common
• Online Keyboard for Thai
• Free Thai Audiolearning Course (Free English - Thai audiofiles with translations of words and phrases to several different topics)
• Spacing in written Thai
• Volubilis Dictionary (Free multilingual Thai dictionary : Thai - Romanized Thai - English - French ~ 26,000 entries)