Thai Vowels

Listing of Thai Vowels

Thai vowels might seem overwhelming at first, especially when pupils learn that there are sixteen separate vowel symbols that join in various ways.
In Thai phonology, there are nine monophonic vowels. There are a total of eighteen simple vowel sounds, each of which is uttered with either a short or long length.
Note that when talking about vowels in English, the terms "short" and "long" sometimes refer to a certain grouping of vowel qualities. This difference is better described by the terms "lax" and "tense." However, "long" and "short" will refer to the relative length of time the vowel is pronounced.
Each basic vowel sound can also appear in an open or closed syllable.

IPA	Short (closed)	Short (open)	Long (closed)	Short (open)
a	อั- \| -รร- (-a-)	-ะ \| [unwritten] (-a)	-า- (-aa)	-า (-aa)
ɛ	แอ็- \| แ-- (-ae-)	แ-ะ (-ae)	แ-- (-aae)	แ- (-aae)
ɔ	อ็อ- (-aw-)	เ-าะ (-aw)	-อ- (-aaw-)	-อ (-aaw)
e	เอ็- \| เ-- (-e-)	เ-ะ (-eh)	เ-- (-aeh-)	เ- (-aeh)
ɤ	เอิ- (-er-)	เ-อะ (-uh)	เอิ- (-eer-)	เ-อ (-uuhr)
o	[unwritten] (-oh-)	โ-ะ (-o)	โ-- (-o:h-)	โ- (-o:h)
i	อิ- (-i-)	อิ (-i)	อี- (-ee-)	อี (-ee)
ɯ	อึ- (-eu-)	อึ (-eu)	อื- (-euu-)	อือ (-euu)
u	อุ- (-oo-)	อุ (-oo)	อู- (-uu-)	อู (-uu)

IPA	Short (open)	Long (closed)	Short (open)
ia	เอียะ (-ia)	เอีย- (-iia-)	เอีย (-iia)
ɯa	เอือะ (-eua)	เอือ- (-euua)	เอือ (-euua)
ua	อัวะ \| -ว (-ua)	-ว- (-uaa)	อัว (-uaa)

IPA	Short (closed)	Short (open)	Long (closed)	Short (open)
am	อำ (-am)		อำ (-aam)
rɯ	ฤ- (ri-)
rɯ	-ฤ- (-ri-) \| (-reu-)	ฤ (reu)	ฤ (reer-)	ฤๅ (reuu)

รร is a special-case way of writing /a/.
When any tone mark appears with เ--, or in some rare cases, such as เพชร , the syllable has a short vowel sound.
When the ไม้เอก tone mark appears in a live syllable with แ-- and a mid- or high-class initial, the syllable has a short vowel sound.