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Thai Alphabet


dcfc2007

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Ive been learning the Thai alphabet from langhub but ive come across a stumblin block.

 

it states there is three consonants classes high, middle and low but what do they mean by this?

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I suggest you read the book "thai for beginners with 3 CDs" available in all bookstores in Thailand and of course in Pattaya. All explanations are inside.

Thai language is more difficult than chinese mandarin.

 

Good luck

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I suggest you read the book "thai for beginners with 3 CDs" available in all bookstores in Thailand and of course in Pattaya. All explanations are inside.

Thai language is more difficult than chinese mandarin.

 

Good luck

 

thing is im stuck here in rainy old belfast.

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Pat, I really don't think Thai is more difficult that chinese.

 

dcfc2007 - http://www.thai-language.com/ref/tone-rules

 

I would take it easy with stressing about that stuff it won't immediately stick and remembering the tone rules is akin to remembering codes, works itself over time otherwise you'd have to do like a maths equation before each syllable you speak, at least that's how I found it.

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Ive been learning the Thai alphabet from langhub but ive come across a stumblin block.

 

it states there is three consonants classes high, middle and low but what do they mean by this?

 

The consonants are just arbitrarily divided into the three classes, each consonant being assigned to one of the classes. Most of them (24 of the 44 consonants) are low class. There are 11 high class consonants and 9 middle class consonants. The function of the class of a consonant is to indicate the tone (one of the five tones) used when the consonant is combined with a vowel,depending on the length of the vowel (or with a tone mark).

 

I agree with pat300. You should get a good beginning Thai book and "Thai for Beginners" by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is a great one which is available almost everywhere (maybe even in Belfast).

 

Bakwan

Edited by Bakwan
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The consonants are just arbitrarily divided into the three classes, each consonant being assigned to one of the classes. Most of them (24 of the 44 consonants) are low class. There are 11 high class consonants and 9 middle class consonants. The function of the class of a consonant is to indicate the tone (one of the five tones) used when the consonant is combined with a vowel,depending on the length of the vowel (or with a tone mark).

 

I agree with pat300. You should get a good beginning Thai book and "Thai for Beginners" by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is a great one which is available almost everywhere (maybe even in Belfast).

 

Bakwan

 

so a consonant in the high class is spoken with a high tone? a consonant in the middle class has a mid tone and the lower class consonant is spoken with a fallen tone? or am i way off the mark?

 

does the thai for beginners book cover reading and writing because i have a pretty good understanding of spoken thai and being able to speak thai, as for reading and writing i am totally lost.

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so a consonant in the high class is spoken with a high tone? a consonant in the middle class has a mid tone and the lower class consonant is spoken with a fallen tone? or am i way off the mark?

 

does the thai for beginners book cover reading and writing because i have a pretty good understanding of spoken thai and being able to speak thai, as for reading and writing i am totally lost.

 

No, the tone rules are not that simple. The tone depends not only on the class of the consonant but also on what vowel(s) it's used with and any tone marks used. Did you look at the link provided by Herds (above)? That should help you to understand the relation of consonant class (along with other factors) and tone.

 

Yes, "Thai for Beginners" covers a bit about reading and writing. It's a good book but fairly basic. If you're already able to understand and speak Thai, you may need some more advanced material. Take a look at www.paiboonpublishing.com or amazon.com. There are many good books and also there's a lot of information on the Internet (e.g., http://www.learningthai.com/). Try a google search on "learn thai."

 

Bakwan

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No, the tone rules are not that simple. The tone depends not only on the class of the consonant but also on what vowel(s) it's used with and any tone marks used. Did you look at the link provided by Herds (above)? That should help you to understand the relation of consonant class (along with other factors) and tone.

 

Yes, "Thai for Beginners" covers a bit about reading and writing. It's a good book but fairly basic. If you're already able to understand and speak Thai, you may need some more advanced material. Take a look at www.paiboonpublishing.com or amazon.com. There are many good books and also there's a lot of information on the Internet (e.g., http://www.learningthai.com/). Try a google search on "learn thai."

 

Bakwan

 

ive got it now i now understand the majority of rules surrounding consonants, vowels and tones.

 

going to have a good look online for some books.

 

1 other thing i dont understand is why does the consonant ก - gaw gai mean chicken when chicken is infact spelt ไก่ ?

 

this goes for all consonants.

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They're kinda tacted on, makes them easier to remember and for some words you kinda have to say them for clarity as there are few s's etc. On youtube and the like there is a kinda song that links all the words of the alphabet together, might be useful if you're trying to remember them all.

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They're kinda tacted on, makes them easier to remember and for some words you kinda have to say them for clarity as there are few s's etc. On youtube and the like there is a kinda song that links all the words of the alphabet together, might be useful if you're trying to remember them all.

 

do you know the link?

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sure if you just typed in 'thai alphabet song' a few links would pop up. It's like the Aaa Beee Ceee Dee that we have but with pictures and things to make it easier to remember.

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As well as the good advice you have been givin in this thread already may I suggesgt a book called ''teach yourself thai'' by david smith its the best book by a mile in my opinion out there about reading and writing thai you can order it on amazon for about a tenner comes with a audio cd as well .. here is a link to it on amazon ...

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Yourself-Thai-Complete-Courses/dp/0340868570/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267385250&sr=8-2

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try youtube

learn thai abc

lot good stuff there

works for me

thai is hard

to many letters,vowles,tones

no gaps between words

keep at it ,crack it one day

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one consonant i simply cant get my mouth around ง how would you prounounce it, to me it sounds like nyaww noo but others give it as ngaww ngor?

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Pat, I really don't think Thai is more difficult that chinese.

 

dcfc2007 - http://www.thai-language.com/ref/tone-rules

 

I would take it easy with stressing about that stuff it won't immediately stick and remembering the tone rules is akin to remembering codes, works itself over time otherwise you'd have to do like a maths equation before each syllable you speak, at least that's how I found it.

I don't want to scare foreign thai learners but unfortunately the tone rules don't work for all words but only with most of the words. That is already a good thing of course.

There are many exceptions that do not follow the tones rules.

For example, the word for "police; policeman" [tam ruat] don't follow the rules.

My thai teacher said me yesterday that is because it is a Khmer word ...

When I read chinese characters I don't have to check the tones rules. For me it is easier.

Edited by pat300
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one consonant i simply cant get my mouth around ง how would you prounounce it, to me it sounds like nyaww noo but others give it as ngaww ngor?

[/quote

 

try this link ngor noo

 

http://www.thai-language.com/id/196777

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