I Am Confused About The Thai Alphabet

[TravelTeach]

Hi all,

It's about time I learn the Thai alphabet. But I am confused about one point.

I have an app that teaches the Thai script. But let's take the example of "Kho Khai". This is a single character. Yet Kho Khai is two words. I'm sure that when this character is written down it is only pronounced as one character, not two. So what is the point of the name Kho Khai? Is it some kind of classification? Why does it have two names and should I bother to learn both of them?

Thanks,

TT

[Slip]

It's the name of the letter. The letter's sound is the sound of the beginning of the first word K-or.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Slip

[kikenyoy]

The first "word" is the sound of the letter. The second is a word that begins with it. Like learning A apple, B bat, etc. Together they form the name of the letter.

I suppose it would be possible to teach yourself using only the first sound but it would be very confusing becasue there are multiple letters that make the same sound and would therefore have the same name. For example, there are 4 Sor's, 2 Lor's, 3 Por's, etc.

I thought the same thing when I started but quickly realized it would be easier to just learn them. Good luck.

[midasthailand]

The first is an indication of the sound Gor Gai, Hor Heap, Sor Sua, Lor Ling, Tor Taharn Etc...and the second is the item in the picture Such as Chicken, Box, Tiger, Monkey, Soldier Etc..

[doggie888888]

It's also useful to see how the letter is used. For example if I study the letter Gor gai, I know how to spell gai (chicken). Like A is for apple.

[TravelTeach]

Like A is for apple.

I think you just gave me that "Ah-ha" moment. It makes sense then to learn the full term.

Just to be fully sure of what you guys are saying, the first letter of any term is the actual sound I'll be saying, correct? So why are there multiple "s" sounds? From my understanding Thai came down from an Indian script. Why would they use, jeez, four different ways to make the same sound?

[doggie888888]

Like A is for apple.

I think you just gave me that "Ah-ha" moment. It makes sense then to learn the full term.

Just to be fully sure of what you guys are saying, the first letter of any term is the actual sound I'll be saying, correct? So why are there multiple "s" sounds? From my understanding Thai came down from an Indian script. Why would they use, jeez, four different ways to make the same sound?

I believe it affects the tones. The consonants are classified into high, low or middle consonants. So for example, S can be a high or low consonant and I suppose ordinarily in English it does not matter since they both make an S sound, but for Thai it can affect the tone of the word. That's my basic understanding as a beginner.

[Richard W]

So why are there multiple "s" sounds? From my understanding Thai came down from an Indian script. Why would they use, jeez, four different ways to make the same sound?

Three of the four letters are accounted for by the fact that there are three s-like sounds in Sanskrit, but only one in Thai (or Pali, for that matter). Secondly, most sounds come in pairs according to the tone they take. The different members of the pairs used to have different sounds, but the difference is now manifested in the tones - Thai went from having three tones to, roughly speaking, having six tones which have now been reduced to five. The Thais made the extra letter for /s/ by putting a kink in the letter for Indic /j/.

Other duplications are caused by the fact that Sanskrit and Pali distinguish retroflex and ordinary dental sounds but Thai never has, Sanskrit and Pali distinguish /d/ (as in dukkha) and /dh/ (as in dharma), but Thai has /th/ for both, and the two obsolete consonants were made obsolete by Thai losing the syllable-initial distinction between the German ach-laut and /kh/ as in the polite particle khrap.