Thai vowels

[Kanga Japan]

I understand that there are 32 Thai vowels, however lists I have come across differ from this number. In a Thai Forum post dated October 22, 2004, it was stated that there are:

18 single vowels

6 compound vowels

8 consonant-like vowels

Links to these were provided (www.learningthai.com), however these no longer open.

Is there any definitive chart available, showing all the vowels and their closest 'English' pronunciation? There are so many sites out there, that it is confusing.

Also, my text book separates some of them into the following divisions:

sara siiangsan

sara siiangyaaw

sara prasom siiangsan

sara prasom siiangyaaw

sara phiseet

I have no idea what these mean and there is no Thai script for them, which would allow me to look them up.

Thanks for your help.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Kanga Japan

[Catweazel]

I have been using the app from http://www.nagarajarivers.com for years already, giving me all the vowels and consonants and tone marks and special diphthongs. Very handy app. Helpful when learning the script, and for quick checks when writing or reading.

sara siiangsan short vowels

sara siiangyaaw long vowels

sara prasom siiangsan mixed short vowels

sara prasom siiangyaaw mixed long vowels

sara phiseet special vowels

[Derek M]

Slightly off topic.

Can anyone tellme how to say/ask for Thai vowel flash cards? I want some. I have flash cards for the alphabet, Want some for the vowels also. Thanks/

[Kanga Japan]

Dear Catweazel,

Thank you very much for those English meanings.

The app you mentioned seems very helpful - I have never seen that one before.

Actually, however I am looking for a printed chart, so that I can copy and paste.

[AyG]

sara prasom siiangsan mixed short vowels

"Diphthongs" would be a more natural translation of "mixed".

A pretty good summary (but a bit hard to grasp) is at http://thai-language.com/ref/vowels

[Kanga Japan]

Thanks for that information AyG.

The site looks good and it may take some time, but I think can work it out.

[Seligne2]

Dear Catweazel,

Thank you very much for those English meanings.

The app you mentioned seems very helpful - I have never seen that one before.

Actually, however I am looking for a printed chart, so that I can copy and paste.

Go to a large Thai bookstore (like DK in Chiang Mai). Go to the children's section. Somewhere you will find a sub-section with all manner of posters and learning aids for Thai children. You will be able to find posters of alphabet and vowels there.

[Seligne2]

I have been using the app from http://www.nagarajarivers.com for years already, giving me all the vowels and consonants and tone marks and special diphthongs. Very handy app. Helpful when learning the script, and for quick checks when writing or reading.

sara siiangsan short vowels

sara siiangyaaw long vowels

sara prasom siiangsan mixed short vowels

sara prasom siiangyaaw mixed long vowels

sara phiseet special vowels

You might have mentioned this app is iOS only

[Kanga Japan]

Thanks Seligne2,

I wish I could go to a Thai bookshop, but unfortunately I live in Japan.

Sorry, I think now that you may be directing your remarks to Derek M.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Kanga Japan

[SlyAnimal]

Slightly off topic.

Can anyone tellme how to say/ask for Thai vowel flash cards? I want some. I have flash cards for the alphabet, Want some for the vowels also. Thanks/

I got some from Asiabooks a while back, they had consonants, vowels & another 2x sets which I think were Thai foods.

As another poster mentioned, there are also large posters which you can put on your wall or similar that have all of the Thai consonants & another one which has all of the vowels, I had them hanging on my walls for quite a long time as a reference material. I got mine just from random markets I think, or 20 Baht stores, I can't remember.

Regarding the types of vowels which the OP mentioned:

sara siiangsan

sara siiangyaaw

sara prasom siiangsan

sara prasom siiangyaaw

sara phiseet

Below would be the names in Thai, as you weren't sure about them:

สระเสียงสั้น

สระเสียงยาว

สระประสมสั้น

สระประสมยาว

สระพิเศษ

Hopefully that'll help you to find a meaning for them which makes sense for what you're doing. Although there are other ways to name these categories as well, e.g. With a quick search in google, I found another guide to the Thai vowels which had different names for the same categories:

สระเดี่ยว

สระประสม

สระเกิน

And then I assume they'd divide the first 2x categories up into long and short as well.

I'm not sure which names would be the most correct.

[Kanga Japan]

Dear SlyAnimal,

Thank you for the Thai script for the words I sent. Catweazel and AyG provided me with the English translation.

I also appreciate the additional names which you sent. Thanks so much.

[Richard W]

sara prasom siiangsan mixed short vowels

"Diphthongs" would be a more natural translation of "mixed".

A pretty good summary (but a bit hard to grasp) is at http://thai-language.com/ref/vowels

The 'mixed' vowels are those that could be analysed as a combination of vowel and consonant, and with one exception, the sounds are be so written in a few words. Diphthongs like /ia/ are not written using 'mixed vowels'.

The exception is the short /ao/ sound, which can only be represented by the odd-seeming combination in เอา. The explanation for the combination is that it doesn't really contain เ; a more complicated symbol was simplified until we got the current 2-part vowel. The า sort of belongs there - it is just a length mark, and those who know Sanskrit well will understand why there should be a length mark. I've a feeling the actual length mark actually dropped off. The corresponding 'short' vowel symbol got simplified to โ. Again, why these are in any sense 'long' and 'short' lies in the history of Sanskrit.