Thong Lo is the spelled name at the BTS but I've only heard it pronounced otherwise. I guess when in Bkk...

Pronounce it tong (as in kitchen utensil) law (as in legal).

Umm I thought you were meant to have studied Thai for 3 years according to another post you made! The Thai spelling shows you how to pronounce it. English transliterations of Thai are not phonetic, ie a guide to pronounciation, as you will realise if you see On Nut written as On Nuch on your travels.

The vowel in Thong and in Lor are the same. The letter is called 'or ahng' and is pronounced phonetically as "or", thus both thORng and lOR contain the same vowel sound.

Sounds a bit like the o in lot, but longer and with no t. A bit like law, but not the same. Thong Lo isn't an English spelling, but is romanised Thai.

Umm I thought you were meant to have studied Thai for 3 years according to another post you made! The Thai spelling shows you how to pronounce it. English transliterations of Thai are not phonetic, ie a guide to pronounciation, as you will realise if you see On Nut written as On Nuch on your travels.

The vowel in Thong and in Lor are the same. The letter is called 'or ahng' and is pronounced phonetically as "or", thus both thORng and lOR contain the same vowel sound.

Does the pronunciation of อ change depending on the position of the letter?

Thai language and pronunciation in the the Thai Language forum please.

Moved.

The correct pronunciation is tawng law. Partington is correct: it is the same vowel in both words (aw). I think the concept behind this particular transliteration system is that when you see an "or", you pronounce it like the English word or, but don't say the "r" at the end, hence "aw". I know it's a bit confusing.

There are many different transliteration systems of course and none of them is perfect. The best bet, of course, is to learn to read Thai. I have found it very helpful indeed.

Soy hah sip hah.

Why don't you listen to the announcer on the BTS as it arrives at Thong Lo? She says it perfectly as it should be said in Thai.

Umm I thought you were meant to have studied Thai for 3 years according to another post you made! The Thai spelling shows you how to pronounce it. English transliterations of Thai are not phonetic, ie a guide to pronounciation, as you will realise if you see On Nut written as On Nuch on your travels.

The vowel in Thong and in Lor are the same. The letter is called 'or ahng' and is pronounced phonetically as "or", thus both thORng and lOR contain the same vowel sound.

Does the pronunciation of อ change depending on the position of the letter?

No, but อ is also a "dummy" consonant. Like some other other asian languages (e.g. Korean) all written syllables must start with a consonant, even if, when spoken, the syllable actually starts with a vowel.

So อ serves as a completely silent unsounded consonant when at the beginning of a syllable before another vowel, or even before itself. So if you see อ followed by a vowel you only pronounce the vowel after it. So a syllable beginning ออ tells you the syllable starts with the 'OR' sound (when spoken), which is the second letter, the first อ being silent.

BTW the way I speak, the phonetic english syllables 'aw' and 'or' sound the same, but maybe I don't speak properly....

Edited December 19, 201213 yr by partington

Excellent commentary and explanation. I also wondered about the BTS spelling.

Umm I thought you were meant to have studied Thai for 3 years according to another post you made! The Thai spelling shows you how to pronounce it. English transliterations of Thai are not phonetic, ie a guide to pronounciation, as you will realise if you see On Nut written as On Nuch on your travels.

The vowel in Thong and in Lor are the same. The letter is called 'or ahng' and is pronounced phonetically as "or", thus both thORng and lOR contain the same vowel sound.

Does the pronunciation of อ change depending on the position of the letter?

No, but อ is also a "dummy" consonant. Like some other other asian languages (e.g. Korean) all written syllables must start with a consonant, even if, when spoken, the syllable actually starts with a vowel.

So อ serves as a completely silent unsounded consonant when at the beginning of a syllable before another vowel, or even before itself. So if you see อ followed by a vowel you only pronounce the vowel after it. So a syllable beginning ออ tells you the syllable starts with the 'OR' sound (when spoken), which is the second letter, the first อ being silent.

BTW the way I speak, the phonetic english syllables 'aw' and 'or' sound the same, but maybe I don't speak properly....

A little confusing because we don't call vowels letters in a Thai. I know you know what you say but just for the record.

The tone mark goes above the first consonent อ่อน so what you have there is; a consonent, a vowel and a final consonent.

Here อ่าง you have consonent, vowel, final consonent.

It is a bit confusing because อ used as a consonent to start a vowel อือ อี etc. and a vowel to finish a consonent กอ ขอ etc. So to say อ as a vowel you need ออ . consonent, vowel.

Edited December 23, 201213 yr by tgeezer