Thai Alphabet

ม

Maw ma = consonant = m = horse = live ending

น

Naw noo = consonant = ‘n’ = “rat”

Live ending

ง

Ngaw ngoo = consonant = ‘ng’ in sing = “snake”

ย

Yaw yak = consonant = “giant”

Initial consonant = y in yes

Final consonant = y in boy

• blends w vowel, + ‘ee’

ว

Waah waeen = consonant = “ring”

W in water

Final consonant = blends with vowel, + ‘uh’

ก

Gaw gai = consonant = “chicken”

Hard ‘g’ or unaspirated ‘k’

Only Thai letter with no “head”

ด

Daw dik = consonant = “child”

D in diamond

Dead ending

บ

Baw bi Mai = consonant = “leaf”

Initial consonant = b in boy

Final consonant = unaspirated ‘p’ or p stop

ี

sara ee = vowel = long e sound

ee in “green”

Written above consonant

ช

Chaaw Chaang = “elephant”, low class/dead final syllable

Initial = ch

Final = t stop

ซ

Saaw soo = chain

In = s in sun

Fn = t stop

Dead sound

ะ

Sara a - short vowel