nagiewont Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 I am just starting to learn Thai, and I can't figure out why the word น้ำ is pronounced /naam/ and not /naa/. Where does the /m/ sound come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchis Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 (edited) ำ = aam, it's something you have to learn/memorize Edited July 24, 2020 by orchis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagiewont Posted July 24, 2020 Author Share Posted July 24, 2020 Thank you. I know the vowel ำ but I didn't see the little circle above the consonant - I thought there was only a tone mark there. It's so obvious now when I enlarged the text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxx Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 "น้ำ is pronounced /naam/" Normally the vowel is short, so /nam/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhuh Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 In isolation it's long. In compounds it's supposed to be short, but i do know speakers who even in compounds use a long /a/ (they are not native speakers of Central Thai) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdd Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 I think I've never heard anybody pronounce น้ำ with a short "a". Either there is a rule of which I'm not aware or this is just an irregularity in Thai language. Just ask any Thai to say ดำน้ำ (diving), the first a is short, the second is long, even though it's ำ in both syllables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 (edited) In น้ำส้ม (orange juice/vinegar etc) the น้ำ sounds short to my ear. Agree, in ดำน้ำ, the น้ำ sounds long to my ear, as it does when it's on its own น้ำ - water. Edited July 26, 2020 by katana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puccini Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, katana said: In น้ำส้ม (orange juice/vinegar etc) the น้ำ sounds short to my ear. Agree, in ดำน้ำ, the น้ำ sounds long to my ear, as it does when it's on its own น้ำ - water. I believe that in a compound word the pronunciation of the vowel is long if น้ำ is the last syllable, otherwise it is short. Edited July 26, 2020 by Puccini 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgeezer Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 น้ำ is normally said long as a single word. Compare อยู่นานไหม and ขายน้ำไหม I don’t think that นำ้ is any longer than ไหม whereas นาน definitely is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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