The Easy Way To Remember Consonant Classes

[ashacat]

Hi,

I remember my ex-GF once told me those 3 'sayings' that help you to remember which class (i.e. high, middle or low) a character falls into.

Does anyone know them?

Thanks

[tgeezer]

Hi,

I remember my ex-GF once told me those 3 'sayings' that help you to remember which class (i.e. high, middle or low) a character falls into.

Does anyone know them?

Thanks

ผี สวม ถุง หิ้ว ฉิ่ง และ ฃวด เฝ้า ฐาน ข้าง ศาล ฤษี

อึ่ง กิน ด้วง ตาย ปลาย ใบ จิก

มี คน โฑ โซ่ ล่าม ช้าง ย่าง เนื้อ แพะ แวะ ลง เรือ เมื่อ เธอ ภ้ก ดิ์ ฟ้ก ทองงา จุฬา ว่าว ใหญ่ ไฮ้ ตน เฒ่า เย้า ฆ ฌ ณ

ฏ ฎ seem to be missing from the mids and ฅ from the low group. I hope I got it right, but thanks for that because it showed me I have to refresh my typing course, it took ages to find ฐ ฌ . Do these help anyone remember? I have a better one for the vowels if you want it.

[5tash]

I found another example sentence for remembering the middle-class consonants - ไก่จิกเด็กตายบนปากโอ่ง "Chicken pecks a child to death over the mouth of a clay pot."

Notice there's no ฎ ชฎา or ฏ ปฏัก either... this is probably because there are very few words that begin with those letters.

Edited November 25, 2008 by 5tash

[desi]

I have a better one for the vowels if you want it.

I'd like to see it.

LTFWG has a decent tip for remembering high class...

ข ฉ (ฐ) ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส and ห

Notice that except for the first and last letters, all the rest have circles that are ‘inside.’ You can argue about ฉ, but I consider the tail going up over the circle keeping it inside. So lets make those circles balloons. Balloons float up. Up = high. That's it.

[5tash]

has a decent tip for remembering high class...

ข ฉ (ฐ) ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส and ห

Notice that except for the first and last letters, all the rest have circles that are ‘inside.’ You can argue about ฉ, but I consider the tail going up over the circle keeping it inside. So lets make those circles balloons. Balloons float up. Up = high. That's it.

Unless I've misunderstood somewhere, by using this tip, you'll end up with a lot more than 11 high-class consonants.

[tgeezer]

quote]

I'd like to see it.

อะ อา มาดีดี เจอ อิ อี กับ อึ อื อุ อู คู่กันหรือ พบ เอะ เอ เส แอะ แอ โอะ โอ โย เอาะ ออ เออะ เออ ขออย่าเชืองแช เอียะ เอีย เอือะ เอือ แล มาไประสบพบ อัวะ อัว ฤ ฤๅ อีก ฦ ฦๅ ดูนังสือจนเวียนหัว อำ ไอ ไม่ตองกลัว ถามที่ไรว่า ใอ เอา

you can argue all night as to whether รึ ลึ etc. should be there since they come after ร ล in a standard dictionary but they are not in the alphabet so have to go somewhere.

[desi]

Unless I've misunderstood somewhere, by using this tip, you'll end up with a lot more than 11 high-class consonants.

(scrambling for my flashcards)... you are correct... so at best, it's a start...

I learned mine with a different method, so my bad, I didn't bother to drag out the whole set to compare.

[everydaysthesame]

I have my own method for middle class consonants which is pretty (very) silly but works for me. here it is if anyone is interested:

middle class consonants. think of a middle class dinner party hosted by a child ด and his pet turtle ต. they are eating chicken ก leaves บ and fish ป from bowls อ and plates จ. Instead of cuttlery they are using a spear ฏ. They are wearing party crowns ฎ. note: (they are NOT eating eggs ข)

[rgs2001uk]

The only thing that worked for me was to memorize the high and middle classes only, all the others can only be low class.

Spend 40 or 50 baht and buy a couple of those gor gai posters, i have one on the back of the toilet door and one in front of me as I look at the computer.

[meadish_sweetball]

One of the things I did when trying to memorize the consonant classes was to make my own three charts with big fat letters, and put one set on the wall next to my bed (for practicing before going to sleep) as well as one set on the inside of the bathroom door.

I also used different colours to more easily separate them in my mind.

For me personally, writing something by hand is one of the best methods of memorizing.

[desi]

For me personally, writing something by hand is one of the best methods of memorizing.

Ditto writing by hand.

I found Reading Thai is Fun along with 60 Minutes to Learn the Thai Alphabet the best combo for getting the Thai alphabet with the different classes into my head.

Reading Thai is Fun has easy suggestions for writing Thai script in 'cursive' as well as others (basically, write one letter per sheet of paper, large, then keep tracing over and over the same letter).

60 min uses image linking, which worked for me quite quickly. You can even download before buying...

For carrying around in taxis and skytrain and such... I had the English - Thai Flashcards from buythaibooks.com, then loaded my iPod with the Three Consonant Classes from Langhub.com (hearing it over and over was also helpful).

Edited November 27, 2008 by desi

[Groongthep]

The only thing that worked for me was to memorize the high and middle classes only, all the others can only be low class.

Spend 40 or 50 baht and buy a couple of those gor gai posters, i have one on the back of the toilet door and one in front of me as I look at the computer.

I agree. The simplest advice is usually the best. There are only 44 (modern) Thai consonants. 11 high, 9 mid and 24 low class. Just memorize them, it's not that hard.

[mangkorn]

If the Thai script transmits on this try, here is a simple way to remember high-class consonants:

ผี ฝาก ถุง ข้าว สาร ให้ ฉัน (the ghost left a bag of milled rice for me)

Similar to 5tash's example for middle-class consonants, ฃ is rarely used (and one must remember that ศ and ษ are grouped with ส - which is pretty easy to remember).

(If the script doesn't transmit properly, moderator please delete post)

Edited November 27, 2008 by mangkorn