What Do These Letters Have In Common?

[mackayae]

ฃ ผ พ ถ ท ธ ภ ฮ

I do not know the answer. The question was asked of me.

Thanks in advance.

[meadish_sweetball]

The answer wanted is probably that the sounds they represent are all aspirated (take a puff of air after them).

In terms of classification, they are also all non-mid consonants.

[mackayae]

Thank you. I got the non-middle consonants part, but since most letters fall into that category, I did not think that would be the answer. As to the aspirated sound, that is over my head, the subject never came up in Quantum Physics.

[meadish_sweetball]

I did describe what 'aspirated' means, but to break it down further:

What is the difference between the sound of ต and ท, ป and พ, and ก and ค ?

The first in each pair is non-aspirated, the other isn't.

Pronounce them with a vowel after and if you get it right, there is a puff of air after the second letter in each pair, but not after the first.

ตา ทา

ปา พา

กา คา

That's the difference.

[rgs2001uk]

i was shown an easy way to see if you pronouncing these letters correctly.

put an a4 piece of paper a few inches in front of your mouth.

pronounce the letter, if the paper doesnt flutter you are pronouncing it incorrectly, if the paper flutters you are pronouncing it correctly.

try it , it works.

[ajarnmark]

i was shown an easy way to see if you pronouncing these letters correctly.

put an a4 piece of paper a few inches in front of your mouth.

pronounce the letter, if the paper doesnt flutter you are pronouncing it incorrectly, if the paper flutters you are pronouncing it correctly.

try it , it works.

What if the aircon is on?

[eefoo]

I did describe what 'aspirated' means, but to break it down further:

What is the difference between the sound of ต and ท, ป and พ, and ก and ค ?

The first in each pair is non-aspirated, the other isn't.

Pronounce them with a vowel after and if you get it right, there is a puff of air after the second letter in each pair, but not after the first.

ตา ทา

ปา พา

กา คา

That's the difference.

WILD!! Never thought of it like that. Seems I've been pronouncing the letters correctly but not knowing exactly why. There again I've been using English correctly for more years than I care to remember but I still can't explain the difference between an adverb and an adjective. I'm an engineer not a cunning linguist!

As to the OP - I couldn't see any link between the letters. If Meadish came up with the correct answer in 6 minutes he deserves an award.

[eefoo]

BTW - what exactly is a non-mid consonant?

[meadish_sweetball]

The Thai consonants are divided into three classes, Low, Mid and High.

The class of the initial consonant in a syllable affects tone formation (in combination with the final sound of the syllable, and also taking into account vowel length as well as any tone marks.). There is a historical explanation to why they were divided into these classes which I cannot recall.

A non-mid consonant, then, is a consonant that does not belong to the Mid consonant class - i.e. a consonant from the low or high group.

More about the consonant classes: http://www.thai-language.com/lessons/?les=841623

[eefoo]

Ah - right, I'm with you now. I was thinking along different lines perhaps and I didn't link (quote)In terms of classification, they are also all non-mid consonants(unquote) with "none of them are middle class consonants". Hands up. Mea Culpa.