Thai language
Category:Use dmy dates from November 2022
| Thai | |
|---|---|
| Central Thai, Siamese | |
| ภาษาไทยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, Phasa ThaiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | |
.svg) "Phasa ThaiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text" (literally meaning "Thai language") written in Thai script | |
| Pronunciation | [pʰāːsǎːtʰāj]Category:Pages with Thai IPA |
| Region |
|
| Ethnicity | Central Thai, Thai Chinese, Mon, Lao Wiang, Phuan |
| Speakers | L1: 27 million (2024)[1] |
| |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Thailand |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Royal Society of Thailand |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | th |
| ISO 639-2 | tha |
| ISO 639-3 | tha |
| Glottolog | thai1261 |
| Linguasphere | 47-AAA-bCategory:Language articles with Linguasphere code |
 Majority
Minority | |
Thai,[a] or Central Thai[b] (historically Siamese;[c][d] Thai: ภาษาไทยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text), is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai language family spoken by the Central Thai, Mon, Lao Wiang, Phuan people in Central Thailand and the vast majority of Thai Chinese enclaves throughout the country. It is the sole official language of Thailand.[3][4]
Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon[5] and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language. Thai has a complex orthography and system of relational markers. Spoken Thai, depending on standard sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender, class, spatial proximity, and the urban/rural divide, is partly mutually intelligible with Lao, Isan, and some fellow Thai topolects. These languages are written with slightly different scripts, but are linguistically similar and effectively form a dialect continuum.[6]
The Thai language is spoken by over 70 million people in Thailand as of 2024.[1] Moreover, most Thais in the northern (Lanna) and the northeastern (Isan) parts of the country today are bilingual speakers of Central Thai and their respective regional dialects because Central Thai is the language of television, education, news reporting, and all forms of media.[7] A recent research found that the speakers of the Northern Thai language (also known as Phasa Mueang or Kham Mueang) have become so few, as most people in northern Thailand now invariably speak Standard Thai, so that they are now using mostly Central Thai words and only seasoning their speech with the "Kham Mueang" accent.[8] Standard Thai is based on the register of the educated classes by Central Thai and ethnic minorities in the area along the ring surrounding the Metropolis.[9][10]
In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages. Although most linguists classify these dialects as related but distinct languages, native speakers often identify them as regional variants or dialects of the "same" Thai language, or as "different kinds of Thai".[11] As a dominant language in all aspects of society in Thailand, Thai initially saw gradual and later widespread adoption as a second language among the country's minority ethnic groups from the mid-late Ayutthaya period onward.[12][13] Ethnic minorities today are predominantly bilingual, speaking Thai alongside their native language or dialect.
Classification
Standard Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being Northern Thai, Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form the Southwestern branch of Tai languages. The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family, which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border.
Standard Thai is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout Thailand. The standard is based on the dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai script.
![](./File:"tooth"_in_Kra-Dai_languages.svg)
| Kra-Dai |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2020) |
Thai has undergone various historical sound changes. Some of the most significant changes occurred during the evolution from Old Thai to modern Thai.[14] The Thai writing system has an eight-century history and many of these changes, especially in consonants and tones, are evidenced in the modern orthography.
Early spread
According to a Chinese source, during the Ming dynasty, Yingya Shenglan (1405–1433), Ma Huan reported on the language of the Xiānluó (暹羅) or Ayutthaya Kingdom,[e] saying that it somewhat resembled the local patois as pronounced in Guangdong[15]: 107 Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand from 1351 - 1767 A.D., was from the beginning a bilingual society, speaking Thai and Khmer. Bilingualism must have been strengthened and maintained for some time by the great number of Khmer-speaking captives the Thais took from Angkor Thom after their victories in 1369, 1388 and 1431.[16] Gradually toward the end of the period, a language shift took place. Khmer fell out of use. Both Thai and Khmer descendants whose great-grand parents or earlier ancestors were bilingual came to use only Thai. In the process of language shift, an abundance of Khmer elements were transferred into Thai and permeated all aspects of the language. Consequently, the Thai of the late Ayutthaya Period which later became Ratanakosin or Bangkok Thai, was a thorough mixture of Thai and Khmer. There were more Khmer words in use than Tai cognates. Khmer grammatical rules were used actively to coin new disyllabic and polysyllabic words and phrases. Khmer expressions, sayings, and proverbs were expressed in Thai through transference.
Thais borrowed both the Royal vocabulary and rules to enlarge the vocabulary from Khmer.[17] The Thais later developed the royal vocabulary according to their immediate environment. Thai and Pali, the latter from Theravada Buddhism, were added to the vocabulary. An investigation of the Ayutthaya Rajasap reveals that three languages, Thai, Khmer and Khmero-Indic were at work closely both in formulaic expressions and in normal discourse. In fact, Khmero-Indic may be classified in the same category as Khmer because Indic had been adapted to the Khmer system first before the Thai borrowed.
Old Thai
Old Thai had a three-way tone distinction on "live syllables" (those not ending in a stop), with no possible distinction on "dead syllables" (those ending in a stop, i.e. either /p/, /t/, /k/Category:Pages with plain IPA or the glottal stop that automatically closes syllables otherwise ending in a short vowel).
There was a two-way voiced vs. voiceless distinction among all fricative and sonorant consonants, and up to a four-way distinction among stops and affricates. The maximal four-way occurred in labials (/p pʰ b ʔb/Category:Pages with plain IPA) and denti-alveolars (/t tʰ d ʔd/Category:Pages with plain IPA); the three-way distinction among velars (/k kʰ ɡ/Category:Pages with plain IPA) and palatals (/tɕ tɕʰ dʑ/Category:Pages with plain IPA), with the glottalized member of each set apparently missing.
The major change between old and modern Thai was due to voicing distinction losses and the concomitant tone split. This may have happened between about 1300 and 1600 CE, possibly occurring at different times in different parts of the Thai-speaking area.[14] All voiced–voiceless pairs of consonants lost the voicing distinction:
- Plain voiced stops (/b d ɡ dʑ/Category:Pages with plain IPA) became voiceless aspirated stops (/pʰ tʰ kʰ tɕʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA).[f]
- Voiced fricatives became voiceless.
- Voiceless sonorants became voiced.
However, in the process of these mergers, the former distinction of voice was transferred into a new set of tonal distinctions. In essence, every tone in Old Thai split into two new tones, with a lower-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiced consonant, and a higher-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiceless consonant (including glottalized stops). An additional complication is that formerly voiceless unaspirated stops/affricates (original /p t k tɕ ʔb ʔd/Category:Pages with plain IPA) also caused original tone 1 to lower, but had no such effect on original tones 2 or 3.
The above consonant mergers and tone splits account for the complex relationship between spelling and sound in modern Thai. Modern "low"-class consonants were voiced in Old Thai, and the terminology "low" reflects the lower tone variants that resulted. Modern "mid"-class consonants were voiceless unaspirated stops or affricates in Old Thai—precisely the class that triggered lowering in original tone 1 but not tones 2 or 3. Modern "high"-class consonants were the remaining voiceless consonants in Old Thai (voiceless fricatives, voiceless sonorants, voiceless aspirated stops). The three most common tone "marks" (the lack of any tone mark, as well as the two marks termed mai ek and mai tho) represent the three tones of Old Thai, and the complex relationship between tone mark and actual tone is due to the various tonal changes since then. Since the tone split, the tones have changed in actual representation to the point that the former relationship between lower and higher tonal variants has been completely obscured. Furthermore, the six tones that resulted after the three tones of Old Thai were split have since merged into five in standard Thai, with the lower variant of former tone 2 merging with the higher variant of former tone 3, becoming the modern "falling" tone.[g]
Old Thai (Sukhothai) consonant inventory
Historical Sukhothai pronunciation
| Letters | IPA | Word in Sukhothai (in Modern Thai script) | Pronunciation in IPA (excluding tone) | Meaning and Definitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| วรรค ก | Varga Kor | ||||
| ก | k | เกิด | kɤːt | v. to be born |
| ข | kʰ | ของ | kʰɔːŋ | n. thing |
| ฃ | x | ฃึ้น (ขึ้น) | xɯn | v. to go up |
| ค | g | ครู | gruː | n. teacher |
| ฅ | ɣ | ฅวาม (ความ) | ɣwaːm | n. affair; matter; content |
| ฆ | g | ฆ่า | gaː | v. to kill |
| ง | ŋ | งก | ŋok | adj. greedy |
| หง | ŋ̊ | หงอก | ŋ̊ɔːk | v. to whiten (hair) |
| วรรค จ | Varga Jor | ||||
| จ | tɕ | ใจ | tɕaɯ | n. heart |
| ฉ | tɕʰ | ฉาย | tɕʰaːj | v. to shine (on something) |
| ช | dʑ | ชื่อ | dʑɯː | n. name |
| ซ | z - ʑ | ซ้ำ | zam | adv. repeatedly |
| ญ | ɲ | ญวน | ɲuan | n. Vietnam (archaic) |
| หญ | ɲ̊ | หญิง | ɲ̊iŋ | n. woman |
| วรรค รฏ | Varga Ra Tor | ||||
| ฎ | ʔd | ฎีกา | ʔdiː.kaː | n. petition notice |
| ฏ | t | ฏาร | taː.raʔ | n. Ganymede |
| ฐ | tʰ | ฐาน | tʰaːn | n. base, platform |
| ณ | n | เณร | neːn | n. novice monk |
| วรรค ต | Varga Tor | ||||
| ด | ʔd | ดาว | ʔdaːw | n. star |
| ต | t | ตา | taː | n. eye |
| ถ | tʰ | ถอย | tʰɔj | v. to move back |
| ท | d | ทอง | dɔːŋ | n. gold |
| ธ | d | ธุระ | du.raʔ | n. business; affairs; errands |
| น | n | น้ำ | naːm | n. water |
| หน | n̊ | หนู | n̊uː | n. mouse |
| วรรค ป | Varga Por | ||||
| บ | ʔb | บ้าน | ʔbaːn | n. house |
| ป | p | ปลา | plaː | n. fish |
| ผ | pʰ | ผึ้ง | pʰɯŋ | n. bee |
| ฝ | f | ฝัน | fan | n. dream |
| พ | b | พ่อ | bɔː | n. father |
| ฟ | v | ฟัน | van | n. tooth |
| ภ | b | ภาษา | baː.saː | n. language |
| ม | m | แม่ | mɛː | n. mother |
| หม | m̊ | หมา | m̊aː | n. dog |
| อวรรค | Avarga | ||||
| อย | ʔj | อย่า | ʔjaː | adv. do not |
| ย | j | เย็น | jen | adj. cold |
| หย | j̊ | เหยียบ | j̊iap | v. to step on |
| ร | r | รัก | rak | v. to love |
| หร | r̊ | หรือ | r̊ɯː | conj. or |
| ล | l | ลม | lom | n. wind |
| หล | l̥ | หล่อ | l̥ɔː | adj. handsome |
| ว | w | วัน | wan | n. day |
| หว | ẘ | หวี | ẘiː | n. comb |
| ศ | s | ศาล | saːn | n. court of law |
| ษ | s | ฤๅษรี (ฤๅษี) | rɯː.siː | n. hermit |
| ส | s | สวย | suaj | adj. beautiful |
| อ | ʔ | อ้าย | ʔaːj | n. first born son |
Early Old Thai
Early Old Thai also apparently had velar fricatives /x ɣ/Category:Pages with plain IPA as distinct phonemes. These were represented by the now-obsolete letters ฃ kho khuat and ฅ kho khon, respectively. During the Old Thai period, these sounds merged into the corresponding stops /kʰ ɡ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, and as a result the use of these letters became unstable.
At some point in the history of Thai, an alveolo-palatal nasal phoneme /ɲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA also existed, inherited from Proto-Tai. A letter ญ yo ying also exists, which is used to represent an alveolo-palatal nasal in words borrowed from Sanskrit and Pali, and is currently pronounced /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA at the beginning of a syllable but /n/Category:Pages with plain IPA at the end of a syllable. Most native Thai words that are reconstructed as beginning with /ɲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA are also pronounced /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA in modern Thai, but generally spelled with ย yo yak, which consistently represents /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA. This suggests that /ɲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA > /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA in native words occurred in the pre-literary period. It is unclear whether Sanskrit and Pali words beginning with /ɲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA were borrowed directly with a /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA, or whether a /ɲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA was re-introduced, followed by a second change /ɲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA > /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA. The northeastern Thai dialect Isan and the Lao language still preserve the phoneme /ɲ/, which is represented in the Lao script by ຍ, such as in the word ຍຸງ (/ɲúŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, mosquito). This letter is distinct from the phoneme /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA and its Lao letter ຢ, such as in the word ຢາ (/jàː/Category:Pages with plain IPA, medicine). The distinction in writing has been lost in the informal writing of the Isan language with the Thai script and both sounds are represented by ย /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA (See: Comparison of Lao and Isan).
Proto-Tai also had a glottalized palatal sound, reconstructed as /ʔj/Category:Pages with plain IPA in Li Fang-Kuei (1977Category:All articles with incomplete citationsCategory:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012[full citation needed]). Corresponding Thai words are generally spelled หย, which implies an Old Thai pronunciation of /hj/Category:Pages with plain IPA (or /j̊/Category:Pages with plain IPA), but a few such words are spelled อย, which implies a pronunciation of /ʔj/Category:Pages with plain IPA and suggests that the glottalization may have persisted through to the early literary period.
Vowel developments
The vowel system of modern Thai contains nine pure vowels and three centering diphthongs, each of which can occur short or long. According to Li (1977Category:All articles with incomplete citationsCategory:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012[full citation needed]), however, many Thai dialects have only one such short–long pair (/a aː/Category:Pages with plain IPA), and in general it is difficult or impossible to find minimal short–long pairs in Thai that involve vowels other than /a/Category:Pages with plain IPA and where both members have frequent correspondences throughout the Tai languages. More specifically, he notes the following facts about Thai:
- In open syllables, only long vowels occur. (This assumes that all apparent cases of short open syllables are better described as ending in a glottal stop. This makes sense from the lack of tonal distinctions in such syllables, and the glottal stop is also reconstructible across the Tai languages.)
- In closed syllables, the long high vowels /iː ɯː uː/Category:Pages with plain IPA are rare, and cases that do exist typically have diphthongs in other Tai languages.
- In closed syllables, both short and long mid /e eː o oː/Category:Pages with plain IPA and low /ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː/Category:Pages with plain IPA do occur. However, generally, only words with short /e o/Category:Pages with plain IPA and long /ɛː ɔː/Category:Pages with plain IPA are reconstructible back to Proto-Tai.
- Both of the mid back unrounded vowels /ɤ ɤː/Category:Pages with plain IPA are rare, and words with such sounds generally cannot be reconstructed back to Proto-Tai.
Furthermore, the vowel that corresponds to short Thai /a/Category:Pages with plain IPA has a different and often higher quality in many of the Tai languages compared with the vowel corresponding to Thai /aː/Category:Pages with plain IPA.
This leads Li to posit the following:
- Proto-Tai had a system of nine pure vowels with no length distinction, and possessing approximately the same qualities as in modern Thai: high /i ɯ u/Category:Pages with plain IPA, mid /e ɤ o/Category:Pages with plain IPA, low /ɛ a ɔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA.
- All Proto-Tai vowels were lengthened in open syllables, and low vowels were also lengthened in closed syllables.
- Modern Thai largely preserved the original lengths and qualities, but lowered /ɤ/Category:Pages with plain IPA to /a/Category:Pages with plain IPA, which became short /a/Category:Pages with plain IPA in closed syllables and created a phonemic length distinction /a aː/Category:Pages with plain IPA. Eventually, length in all other vowels became phonemic as well and a new /ɤ/Category:Pages with plain IPA (both short and long) was introduced, through a combination of borrowing and sound change. Li believes that the development of long /iː ɯː uː/Category:Pages with plain IPA from diphthongs, and the lowering of /ɤ/Category:Pages with plain IPA to /a/Category:Pages with plain IPA to create a length distinction /a aː/Category:Pages with plain IPA, had occurred by the time of Proto-Southwestern-Tai, but the other missing modern Thai vowels had not yet developed.
Not all researchers agree with Li. Pittayaporn (2009Category:All articles with incomplete citationsCategory:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012[full citation needed]), for example, reconstructs a similar system for Proto-Southwestern-Tai, but believes that there was also a mid back unrounded vowel /ə/Category:Pages with plain IPA (which he describes as /ɤ/Category:Pages with plain IPA), occurring only before final velar /k ŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA. He also seems to believe that the Proto-Southwestern-Tai vowel length distinctions can be reconstructed back to similar distinctions in Proto-Tai.
Phonology
Consonants
Initials
Standard Thai distinguishes three voice-onset times among plosive and affricate consonants:
Where English makes a distinction between voiced /b/Category:Pages with plain IPA and unvoiced aspirated /pʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, Thai distinguishes a third sound – the unvoiced, unaspirated /p/Category:Pages with plain IPA that occurs in English only as an allophone of /pʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, for example after an /s/Category:Pages with plain IPA as in the sound of the p in "spin". There is similarly a laminal denti-alveolarCategory:All articles with unsourced statementsCategory:Articles with unsourced statements from April 2024[citation needed] /d/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /t/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /tʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA triplet in Thai. In the velar series there is a /k/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /kʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA pair and in the postalveolar series a /tɕ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /tɕʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA pair, without the corresponding voiced sounds /ɡ/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /dʑ/Category:Pages with plain IPA. (In loanwords from English, English /ɡ/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /d͡ʒ/Category:Pages with plain IPA are borrowed as the tenuis stops /k/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /tɕ/Category:Pages with plain IPA.)
In each cell below, the first line indicates International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the second indicates the Thai characters in initial position. Note that several letters appearing in the same box have identical pronunciation. In such cases, one of the letters may serve as the "default", being more common and/or preferred for borrowings from English and such; for example, น in the case of "n" and ส for "s". The letter ห, the default "h" letter, is also used to help write certain tones (described below).
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
(Alveolo-) Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | /m/ ม |
/n/ ณ, น |
/ŋ/ ง |
|||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiced | /b/ บ |
/d/ ฎ, ด |
|||
| tenuis | /p/ ป |
/t/ ฏ, ต |
/tɕ/ จ |
/k/ ก |
/ʔ/ อ[h] | |
| aspirated | /pʰ/ ผ, พ, ภ |
/tʰ/ ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ถ, ท, ธ |
/tɕʰ/ ฉ, ช, ฌ |
/kʰ/ ข, ฃ, ค, ฅ, ฆ[i] |
||
| Fricative | /f/ ฝ, ฟ |
/s/ ซ, ศ, ษ, ส |
/h/ ห, ฮ | |||
| Approximant | /w/ ว |
/l/ ล, ฬ |
/j/ ญ, ย |
|||
| Rhotic/Liquid | /r/ ร |
|||||
Finals
Although the overall 44 Thai consonant letters provide 21 sounds in case of initials, the case for finals is different. For finals, only eight sounds, as well as no sound, called mātrā (มาตรา) are used. To demonstrate, at the end of a syllable, บ (/b/Category:Pages with plain IPA) and ด (/d/Category:Pages with plain IPA) are devoiced, becoming pronounced as /p/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /t/Category:Pages with plain IPA respectively. Additionally, all plosive sounds are unreleased. Hence, final /p/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /t/Category:Pages with plain IPA, and /k/Category:Pages with plain IPA sounds are pronounced as [p̚]Category:Pages with plain IPA, [t̚]Category:Pages with plain IPA, and [k̚]Category:Pages with plain IPA respectively.
Of the consonant letters, excluding the disused ฃ and ฅ, six (ฉ ผ ฝ ห อ ฮ) cannot be used as a final and the other 36 are grouped as following.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | /m/ ม |
/n/ ญ, ณ, น, ร, ล, ฬ |
/ŋ/ ง |
||
| Plosive | /p/ บ, ป, พ, ฟ, ภ |
/t/ จ, ช, ซ, ฌ, ฎ, ฏ, ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ด, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ, ษ, ส |
/k/ ก, ข, ค, ฆ |
/ʔ/[j] | |
| Approximant | /w/ ว |
/j/ ย |
Clusters
In Thai, each syllable in a word is articulated independently, so consonants from adjacent syllables (i.e. heterosyllabic) show no sign of articulation as a cluster. Thai has specific phonotactical patterns that describe its syllable structure, including tautosyllabic consonant clusters, and vowel sequences. In core Thai words (i.e. excluding loanwords), only clusters of two consonants occur, of which there are 11 combinations:
- /kr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (กร), /kl/Category:Pages with plain IPA (กล), /kw/Category:Pages with plain IPA (กว)
- /kʰr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ขร, คร), /kʰl/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ขล, คล), /kʰw/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ขว, คว)
- /pr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ปร), /pl/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ปล)
- /pʰr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (พร), /pʰl/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ผล, พล)
- /tr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ตร)
The number of clusters increases in loanwords such as /tʰr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ทร) in อินทรา (/ʔīn.tʰrāː/Category:Pages with plain IPA, from Sanskrit indrā) or /fr/Category:Pages with plain IPA (ฟร) in ฟรี (/frīː/Category:Pages with plain IPA, from English free); however, these usually only occur in initial position, with either /r/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /l/Category:Pages with plain IPA, or /w/Category:Pages with plain IPA as the second consonant sound and not more than two sounds at a time. In addition, ก may be Romanized as "g" and ป as "b" in those specific clusters to distinguish them from the corresponded aspirated stops.
Vowels
The vowel nuclei of the Thai language are given in the following table. The top entry in every cell is the symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet, the second entry gives the spelling in the Thai script, where a dash (–) indicates the position of the initial consonant after which the vowel is pronounced. A second dash indicates that a final consonant follows.
.svg)
.png)
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | /i/ -ิ |
/iː/ -ี |
/ɯ/ -ึ |
/ɯː/ -ื- |
/u/ -ุ |
/uː/ -ู |
| Mid | /e/ เ-ะ |
/eː/ เ- |
/ɤ/ เ-อะ |
/ɤː/ เ-อ |
/o/ โ-ะ |
/oː/ โ- |
| Open | /ɛ/ แ-ะ |
/ɛː/ แ- |
/a/ -ะ, -ั- |
/aː/ -า |
/ɔ/ เ-าะ |
/ɔː/ -อ |
Each vowel quality occurs in long-short pairs: these are distinct phonemes forming distinct words in Thai.[18]
The long-short pairs are as follows:
There are also opening and closing diphthongs in Thai, which Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993) analyze as /Vj/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /Vw/Category:Pages with plain IPA. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:
| Long | Short | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Thai script | IPA | Thai script | IPA |
| –าย | /aːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | ไ–*, ใ–*, ไ–ย, -ัย | /aj/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| –าว | /aːw/Category:Pages with plain IPA | เ–า* | /aw/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| เ–ีย | /ia/Category:Pages with plain IPA | เ–ียะ | /iaʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| – | – | –ิว | /iw/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| –ัว | /ua/Category:Pages with plain IPA | –ัวะ | /uaʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| –ูย | /uːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | –ุย | /uj/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| เ–ว | /eːw/Category:Pages with plain IPA | เ–็ว | /ew/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| แ–ว | /ɛːw/Category:Pages with plain IPA | – | – |
| เ–ือ | /ɯa/Category:Pages with plain IPA | เ–ือะ | /ɯaʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| เ–ย | /ɤːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | – | – |
| –อย | /ɔːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | – | – |
| โ–ย | /oːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | – | – |
Additionally, there are three triphthongs. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:
| Thai script | IPA |
|---|---|
| เ–ียว* | /iaw/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| –วย* | /uaj/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
| เ–ือย* | /ɯaj/Category:Pages with plain IPA |
Tones
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
There are five phonemic tones: mid, low, falling, high, and rising, sometimes referred to in older reference works as rectus, gravis, circumflexus, altus, and demissus, respectively.[19] The table shows an example of both the phonemic tones and their phonetic realization, in the IPA. Moren & Zsiga (2006)[20] and Zsiga & Nitisaroj (2007)[21] provide phonetic and phonological analyses of Thai tone realization.
Notes:
- Five-level tone value: Mid [33], Low [21], Falling [41], High [45], Rising [214]. Traditionally, the high tone was recorded as either [44] or [45]. This remains true for the older generation, but the high tone is changing to [334] among youngsters.[22][23]
- For the diachronic changes of tone value, see Pittayaporn (2007).[24]
- The full complement of tones exists only in so-called "live syllables", those that end in a long vowel or a sonorant (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /j/, /w/Category:Pages with plain IPA).
- For "dead syllables", those that end in a plosive (/p/, /t/, /k/Category:Pages with plain IPA) or in a short vowel, only three tonal distinctions are possible: low, high, and falling. Because syllables analyzed as ending in a short vowel may have a final glottal stop (especially in slower speech), all "dead syllables" are phonetically checked, and have the reduced tonal inventory characteristic of checked syllables.
Unchecked syllables
Checked syllables
| Tone | Thai | Example | Phonemic | Phonetic | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (short vowel) | เอกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | หมักCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /màk/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [mäk̚˨˩]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'marinate' |
| Low (long vowel) | เอกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | หมากCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /màːk/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [mäːk̚˨˩]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'areca nut, areca palm, betel, fruit' |
| High | ตรีCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | มักCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /mák/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [mäk̚˦˥]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'habitually, likely to' |
| Falling | โทCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | มากCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /mâːk/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [mäːk̚˦˩]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'a lot, abundance, many' |
In some English loanwords, closed syllables with a long vowel ending in an obstruent sound have a high tone, and closed syllables with a short vowel ending in an obstruent sound have a falling tone.
| Tone | Thai | Example | Phonemic | Phonetic | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | ตรีCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | มาร์กCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /máːk/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [mäːk̚˦˥]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'Marc, Mark' |
| High | ตรีCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | ชาร์จCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /tɕʰáːt/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [tɕʰäːt̚˦˥]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'charge' |
| Falling | โทCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | เมกอัปCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /méːk.ʔâp/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [meːk̚˦˥.ʔäp̚˦˩]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'make-up' |
| Falling | โทCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | แร็กเกตCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /rɛ́k.kêt/Category:Pages with plain IPA | [rɛk̚˦˥.ket̚˦˩]Category:Pages with plain IPA | 'racket' |
Grammar
From the perspective of linguistic typology, Thai can be considered to be an analytic language. The word order is subject–verb–object,[25] although the subject is often omitted. Additionally, Thai is an isolating language lacking any form of inflectional morphology whatsoever.[26] Thai pronouns are selected according to the gender and relative status of speaker and audience.
Adjectives and adverbs
There is no morphological distinction between adverbs and adjectives. Many words can be used in either function. They follow the word they modify, which may be a noun, verb, or another adjective or adverb.
'a person who becomes fat quickly'
Comparatives take the form "A X กว่าCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text B" (kwaCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /kwàː/Category:Pages with plain IPA), 'A is more X than B'. The superlative is expressed as "A X ที่สุดCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text" (thi sutCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /tʰîː sùt/Category:Pages with plain IPA), 'A is most X'.
'S/he is fatter than me.'
'S/he is the fattest (of all).'
Adjectives in Thai can be used as complete predicates. Because of this, many words used to indicate tense in verbs (see Verbs:Tense below) may be used to describe adjectives.
'I will be hungry.'
'I am hungry right now.'
'I am already hungry.'
- Remark ฉันหิวแล้วCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text mostly means 'I am hungry right now' because normally, แล้วCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (/lɛ́ːw/Category:Pages with plain IPA) marks the change of a state, but แล้วCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text has many other uses as well. For example, in the sentence, แล้วเธอจะไปไหนCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (/lɛ́ːw tʰɤ̄ː tɕàʔ pāj nǎj/Category:Pages with plain IPA): 'So where are you going?', แล้วCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (/lɛ́ːw/Category:Pages with plain IPA) is used as a discourse particle.
Verbs
Verbs do not inflect. They do not change with person, tense, voice, mood, or number; nor are there any participles. The language being analytic and case-less, the relationship between subject, direct and indirect object is conveyed through word order and auxiliary verbs. Transitive verbs follow the pattern subject-verb-object.
'I hit him.'
'S/He hit me.'
In order to convey tense, aspect and mood (TAM), the Thai verbal system employs auxiliaries and verb serialization.[27][26] TAM markers are however not obligatory and often left out in colloquial use. In such cases, the precise meaning is determined through context.[27] This results in sentences lacking both TAM markers and overt context being ambiguous and subject to various interpretations.
'I eat there.'
'I ate there yesterday.'
'I'll eat there tomorrow.'
The sentence chan kin thi nanCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text can thus be interpreted as 'I am eating there', 'I eat there habitually', 'I will eat there' or 'I ate there'. Aspect markers in Thai have been divided into four distinct groups based on their usage.[27] These markers could appear either before or after the verb. The following list describes some of the most commonly used aspect markers. A number of these aspect markers are also full verbs on their own and carry a distinct meaning. For example yuCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (อยู่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text) as a full verb means 'to stay, to live or to remain at'. However, as an auxiliary it can be described as a temporary aspect or continuative marker.[27]
- Imperfective
- อยู่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text yuCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text /jùː/Category:Pages with plain IPA
- ไปCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text paiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text /pāj/Category:Pages with plain IPA
- ยังCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text yangCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text /jāŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA
- กำลังCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text kamlangCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text /kām.lāŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA
- เคยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text khoeyCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text /kʰɤ̄ːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA
- Perfective
- Perfect
- Prospective/Future
The imperfective aspect marker กำลังCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (kamlangCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /kām lāŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, currently) is used before the verb to denote an ongoing action (similar to the -ing suffix in English). KamlangCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text is commonly interpreted as a progressive aspect marker.[28][29] Similarly, อยู่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (yuCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /jùː/Category:Pages with plain IPA) is a post-verbal aspect marker which corresponds to the continuative or temporary aspect.[27]
'He is running.'
Comparably ยังCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (yangCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /jāŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, still) which is used in an incompleted action, and usually cognates in phrase with yuCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (อยู่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text) or any second marker in common use.
He is still writing.
The marker ได้Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (daiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /dâːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA) is usually analyzed as a past tense marker when it occurs before the verb.[26] As a full verb, daiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text means 'to get or receive'. However, when used after a verb, daiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text takes on a meaning of potentiality or successful outcome of the main verb.[27]
He visited Laos. (Past/Perfective)
'He is/was allowed to hit' or 'He is/was able to hit.' (Potentiality)
แล้วCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (laeoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /lɛ́ːw/Category:Pages with plain IPA; 'already') is treated as a marker indicating the perfect aspect.[28] That is to say, laeoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text marks the event as being completed at the time of reference. LaeoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text has two other meanings in addition to its use as a TAM marker. LaeoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text can either be a conjunction for sequential actions or an archaic word for 'to finish'.
He ate.
He has eaten.
He's already eaten.
Future can be indicated by จะCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (chaCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /tɕàʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA; 'will') before the verb or by a time expression indicating the future. For example:
'He will run' or 'He is going to run.'
Dative marker ให้Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (haiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /hâj/Category:Pages with plain IPA; 'give') often used in a sentence as prepositional or double objects.[30]
'He reads book for (us).'
'He obligates (us) to read book.'
'He gives book to student.'
The passive voice is indicated by the insertion of ถูกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (thukCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /tʰùːk/Category:Pages with plain IPA) before the verb. For example:
'He got hit.'
- This describes an action that is out of the receiver's control and, thus, conveys suffering.
Negation is indicated by placing ไม่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (maiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /mâj/Category:Pages with plain IPA; not) before the verb.
- เขาไม่ตีCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, (khao mai tiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) 'He is not hitting' or 'He doesn't hit'.
Thai exhibits serial verb constructions, where verbs are strung together. Some word combinations are common and may be considered set phrases.
'He went out to eat'
'I don't understand what was said'
'Come in'
'Leave!' or 'Get out!'
Nouns
Nouns are uninflected and have no gender; there are no articles. Thai nouns are bare nouns and can be interpreted as singular, plural, definite or indefinite.[31] Some specific nouns are reduplicated to form collectives: เด็กCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (dekCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, 'child') is often repeated as เด็ก ๆCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (dek dekCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) to refer to a group of children. The word พวกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (phuakCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /pʰûa̯k/Category:Pages with plain IPA) may be used as a prefix of a noun or pronoun as a collective to pluralize or emphasise the following word. (พวกผมCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, phuak phomCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /pʰûa̯k pʰǒm/Category:Pages with plain IPA, 'we', masculine; พวกเราCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text phuak raoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /pʰûa̯k rāw/Category:Pages with plain IPA, emphasised 'we'; พวกหมาCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text phuak maCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, '(the) dogs'). Plurals are expressed by adding classifiers, used as measure words (ลักษณนามCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text), in the form of noun-number-classifier:
"five teachers"
While in English, such classifiers are usually absent ("four chairs") or optional ("two bottles of beer" or "two beers"), a classifier is almost always used in Thai (hence "chair four item" and "beer two bottle").
Possession in Thai is indicated by adding the word ของCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (khongCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) in front of the noun or pronoun, but it may often be omitted. For example:
|
"mother's child" |
"uncle's field"[32]
|
Nominal phrases
Nominal phrases in Thai often use a special class of words classifiers. As previously mentioned, these classifiers are obligatory for noun phrases containing numerals e.g.
two women[33]
Unlike any numeral, หนึ่งCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text ('one') can mark on both positions of classifier, but in different functions. The post-head one potentially marks a referent as indefinite article.
|
"one glass" (quantificational) |
"a glass" (referential)
|
In the previous example khonCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (คนCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) acts as the classifier in the nominal phrase. This follows the form of noun-cardinal-classifier mentioned above. Classifiers are also required to form quantified noun phrases in Thai with some quantifiers such as ทุกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text ('all'), บางCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text ('some'). The examples below are demonstrated using the classifier khonCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, which is used for people.
|
"every student" |
"some teacher"
|
However, classifiers are not utilized for negative quantification. Negative quantification is expressed by the pattern ไม่มีCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (mai miCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /mâj mīː/Category:Pages with plain IPA) + NOUN.
Demonstratives
Thai has three of its distinctions. Proximal นี่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (niCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /nîː/Category:Pages with plain IPA; 'this/these'), medial นั่นCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (nanCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /nân/Category:Pages with plain IPA; 'that/those'), and distal โน่นCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (nonCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /nôːn/Category:Pages with plain IPA; 'that/those over there') which is rarely used.
It also has different usage of distinguishing the demonstratives by changing tones. In which the pronoun itself used for นี่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (niCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /nîː/Category:Pages with plain IPA); while นี้Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (niCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /níːCategory:Pages with plain IPA) refers to be modifier placed after the noun, prepositions, classifiers, etc. For example:
"this is a new table"
"put a bowl on there"
Following the word ไหนCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (naiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /nǎj/Category:Pages with plain IPA) which plays role as interrogative determiner or pronoun.
|
"where to park?"Category:Articles with ambiguous glossing abbreviations |
"when to rest?"Category:Articles with ambiguous glossing abbreviations
|
The syntax for demonstrative phrases, however, differ from that of cardinals and follow the pattern noun-classifier-demonstrative. For example, the noun phrase "this dog" would be expressed in Thai as หมาตัวนี้Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (literally 'dog (classifier) this').[33]
Pronouns
Subject pronouns are often omitted, with nicknames used where English would use a pronoun. See Thai name#Nicknames for more details. Pronouns, when used, are ranked in honorific registers, and may also make a T–V distinction in relation to kinship and social status. Specialised pronouns are used for royalty, and for Buddhist monks. The following are appropriate for conversational use:
The reflexive pronoun is ตัวเองCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (tua engCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text), which can mean any of: myself, yourself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves. This can be mixed with another pronoun to create an intensive pronoun, such as ตัวผมเองCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (tua phom engCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, lit: I myself) or ตัวคุณเองCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (tua khun engCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, lit: you yourself). Thai also does not have a separate possessive pronoun. Instead, possession is indicated by the particle ของCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (khongCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text). For example, "my mother" is แม่ของผมCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (mae khong phomCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, lit: mother of I). This particle is often implicit, so the phrase is shortened to แม่ผมCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (mae phomCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text). Plural pronouns can be easily constructed by adding the word พวกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (phuakCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) in front of a singular pronoun as in พวกเขาCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (phuak khaoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) meaning 'they' or พวกเธอCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (phuak thoeCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) meaning the plural sense of 'you'. The only exception to this is เราCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (raoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text), which can be used as singular (informal) or plural, but can also be used in the form of พวกเราCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (phuak raoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text), which is only plural.
Thai has many more pronouns than those listed above. Their usage is full of nuances. For example:
- "ผม เรา ฉัน ดิฉัน หนู กู ข้า กระผม ข้าพเจ้า กระหม่อม อาตมา กัน ข้าน้อย ข้าพระพุทธเจ้า อั๊ว เขาCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text" all translate to "I", but each expresses a different gender, age, politeness, status, or relationship between speaker and listener.
- เราCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (raoCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) can be first person (I), second person (you), or both (we), depending on the context.
- Children or younger female could use or being referred by word หนูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (nuCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) when talking with older person. The word หนูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text could be both feminine first person (I) and feminine second person (you) and also neuter first and neuter second person for children.
- หนูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text commonly means rat or mouse, though it also refers to small creatures in general.
- The second person pronoun เธอCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (thoeCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) (lit: you) is semi-feminine. It is used only when the speaker or the listener (or both) are female. Males usually do not address each other by this pronoun.
- Both คุณCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (khunCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) and เธอCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (thoeCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) are polite neuter second person pronouns. However, คุณเธอCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (khun thoeCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) is a feminine derogative third person.
- Instead of a second person pronoun such as คุณCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text ('you'), it is much more common for unrelated strangers to call each other พี่ น้อง ลุง ป้า น้า อา ตาCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text or ยายCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (brother, sister, aunt, uncle, granny).
- To express deference, the second person pronoun is sometimes replaced by a profession, similar to how, in English, presiding judges are always addressed as "your honor" rather than "you". In Thai, students always address their teachers by ครูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, คุณครูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text or อาจารย์Category:Articles containing Thai-language text (each meaning 'teacher') rather than คุณCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text ('you'). Teachers, monks, and doctors are almost always addressed this way.
Particles
The particles are often untranslatable words added to the end of a sentence to indicate respect, a request, encouragement or other moods (similar to the use of intonation in English), as well as varying the level of formality. They are not used in elegant (written) Thai. The most common particles indicating respect are ครับCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (khrapCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /kʰráp/Category:Pages with plain IPA, with a high tone) when the speaker is a man, and ค่ะCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (khaCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, /kʰâʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, with a falling tone) when the speaker is a woman. Used in a question or a request, the particle ค่ะCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (falling tone) is changed to a คะCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (high tone).
Other common particles are:
Register
Central Thai is composed of several distinct registers, forms for different social contexts:
- Street or Common Thai (ภาษาพูด, phasa phutCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, spoken Thai): informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.
- Elegant or Formal Thai (ภาษาเขียน, phasa khianCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text, written Thai): official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers.
- Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
- Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks.
- Royal Thai (ราชาศัพท์Category:Articles containing Thai-language text, racha sapCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text): influenced by Khmer, this is used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities. (See Monarchy of Thailand § Rachasap.)
Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts. Street and Elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations.[37]Category:All articles with unsourced statementsCategory:Articles with unsourced statements from March 2009[citation needed] Rhetorical, religious, and royal Thai are taught in schools as part of the national curriculum.
As noted above, Thai has several registers, each having certain usages, such as colloquial, formal, literary, and poetic. Thus, the word 'eat' can be กินCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (kinCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; common), แดกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (daekCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; vulgar), ยัดCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (yatCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; vulgar), บริโภคCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (boriphokCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; formal), รับประทานCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (rapprathanCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; formal), ฉันCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (chanCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; religious), or เสวยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (sawoeiCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text; royal), as illustrated below:
| "to eat" | IPA | Transliteration | Usage | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| กินCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kīn/Category:Pages with plain IPA | kin | common | |
| แดกCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /dɛ̀ːk/Category:Pages with plain IPA | daek | vulgar | |
| ยัดCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /ját/Category:Pages with plain IPA | yat | vulgar | Original meaning is 'to cram' |
| บริโภคCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /bɔ̄ː.ríʔ.pʰôːk/Category:Pages with plain IPA | boriphok | formal, literary | |
| รับประทานCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /ráp.pràʔ.tʰāːn/Category:Pages with plain IPA | rapprathan | formal, polite | Often shortened to ทานCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text /tʰāːn/. |
| ฉันCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /tɕʰǎn/Category:Pages with plain IPA | chan | religious | |
| เสวยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /sàʔ.wɤ̌ːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | sawoei | royal |
Thailand also uses the distinctive Thai six-hour clock in addition to the 24-hour clock.
Vocabulary
Other than compound words and words of foreign origin, most words are monosyllabic.
Chinese-language influence was strong until the 13th century when the use of Chinese characters was abandoned, and replaced by Sanskrit and Pali scripts. However, the vocabulary of Thai retains many words borrowed from Middle Chinese.[38][39][40]
Khmer was used as a prestige language in the early days of the Thai kingdoms which are believed to have been bilingual societies proficient in Thai and Khmer. There are over 2,500 Thai words derived from Khmer, surpassing the number of Tai cognates. These Khmer words span across all semantic fields. Thai scholar Uraisi Varasarin classified them into over 200 sub-categories. As a result, it is impossible for Thais, past and present, to engage in a conversation without incorporating Khmer loanwords in any given topic. The influence is particularly preponderant in regard to royal court terminology.[14]
Later, most vocabulary was borrowed from Sanskrit and Pāli; Buddhist terminology is particularly indebted to these. Indic words have a more formal register, and may be compared to Latin and French borrowings in English. Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the English language has had the greatest influence, especially for scientific, technical, international, and other modern terms.
| Origin | Example | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native Tai | ไฟ | /fāj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | fire |
| น้ำ | /náːm/Category:Pages with plain IPA | water | |
| เมือง | /mɯ̄aŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | town | |
| รุ่งเรือง | /rûŋ rɯ̄aŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | prosperous | |
| Indic sources: Pāli or Sanskrit |
อัคนี (agni) | /ʔàk.kʰáʔ.nīː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | fire |
| ชล (jala) | /tɕʰōn/Category:Pages with plain IPA | water | |
| ธานี (dhānī) | /tʰāː.nīː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | town | |
| วิโรจน์ (virocana) | /wíʔ.rôːt/Category:Pages with plain IPA | prosperous |
Arabic-origin
| Arabic words | Thai rendition | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| الْقُرْآنCategory:Articles containing Arabic-language text (al-qurʾānCategory:Articles containing Arabic-language text) or قُرْآنCategory:Articles containing Arabic-language text (qurʾānCategory:Articles containing Arabic-language text) | อัลกุรอานCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text or โกหร่านCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /ʔān kùʔ.ráʔ.ʔāːn/Category:Pages with plain IPA or /kōː.ràːn/Category:Pages with plain IPA | Quran |
| رجمCategory:Articles containing Arabic-language text (rajmCategory:Articles containing Arabic-language text) | ระยำCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /ráʔ.jām/Category:Pages with plain IPA | bad, vile (vulgar) |
Chinese-origin
From Middle Chinese or Teochew Chinese.
English-origin
French-origin
Japanese-origin
| Japanese words | Thai rendition | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| カラオケ ([kaɾaoke]Category:Pages with plain IPA) | คาราโอเกะCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kʰāː.rāː.ʔōː.kèʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | karaoke |
| 忍者 ([ɲiꜜɲd͡ʑa]Category:Pages with plain IPA) | นินจาCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /nīn.tɕāː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | ninja |
| 寿司 ([sɯɕiꜜ]Category:Pages with plain IPA) | ซูชิCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /sūː.tɕʰíʔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | sushi |
Khmer-origin
From Old Khmer
Malay-origin
| Malay words | Thai rendition | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| kelasi | กะลาสีCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kàʔ.lāː.sǐː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | sailor, seaman |
| sagu | สาคูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /sǎː.kʰūː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | sago |
| surau | สุเหร่าCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /sùʔ.ràw/Category:Pages with plain IPA | small mosque |
Persian-origin
| Persian words | Thai rendition | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| گلاب (golâbCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text) | กุหลาบCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kùʔ.làːp/Category:Pages with plain IPA | rose |
| کمربند (kamarbandCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text) | ขาวม้าCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kʰǎːw máː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | loincloth |
| ترازو (tarâzuCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text) | ตราชูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /trāː tɕʰūː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | balance scale |
| سقرلات (saqerlâtCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text) | สักหลาดCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /sàk.kàʔ.làːt/Category:Pages with plain IPA | felt |
| آلت (âlatCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text) | อะไหล่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text | /ʔàʔ.làj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | spare part |
Portuguese-origin
The Portuguese were the first Western nation to arrive in what is modern-day Thailand in the 16th century during the Ayutthaya period. Their influence in trade, especially weaponry, allowed them to establish a community just outside the capital and practise their faith, as well as exposing and converting the locals to Christianity. Thus, Portuguese words involving trade and religion were introduced and used by the locals.
| Portuguese words | Thai rendition | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| carta / cartaz | กระดาษCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kràʔ.dàːt/Category:Pages with plain IPA | paper |
| garça | (นก)กระสาCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kràʔ.sǎː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | heron |
| leilão | เลหลังCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /lēː.lǎŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | auction, low-priced |
| padre | บาท(หลวง)Category:Articles containing Thai-language text | /bàːt.lǔaŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | (Christian) priest[41] |
| pão | (ขนม)ปังCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /pāŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA | bread |
| real | เหรียญCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /rǐan/Category:Pages with plain IPA | coin |
| sabão | สบู่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text | /sàʔ.bùː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | soap |
Tamil-origin
| Tamil words | Thai rendition | IPA | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| கறி (kaṟiCategory:Articles containing Tamil-language text) | กะหรี่Category:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kàʔ.rìː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | curry, curry powder |
| கிராம்பு (kirāmpuCategory:Articles containing Tamil-language text) | กานพลูCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /kāːn.pʰlūː/Category:Pages with plain IPA | clove |
| நெய் (neyCategory:Articles containing Tamil-language text) | เนยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text | /nɤ̄ːj/Category:Pages with plain IPA | butter |
Writing system
Thai is written in the Thai script, an abugida written from left to right. The language and its script are closely related to the Lao language and script. Most literate Lao are able to read and understand Thai, as more than half of the Thai vocabulary, grammar, intonation, vowels and so forth are common with the Lao language.
The Thais adopted and modified the Khmer script to create their own writing system. While in Thai the pronunciation can largely be inferred from the script, the orthography is complex, with silent letters to preserve original spellings and many letters representing the same sound. While the oldest known inscription in the Khmer language dates from 611 CE, inscriptions in Thai writing began to appear around 1292 CE. Notable features include:
- It is an abugida script, in which the implicit vowel is a short /a/Category:Pages with plain IPA in a syllable without final consonant and a short /o/Category:Pages with plain IPA in a syllable with final consonant.
- Tone markers, if present, are placed above the final onset consonant of the syllable.
- Vowels sounding after an initial consonant can be located before, after, above or below the consonant, or in a combination of these positions.
Transcription
There is no universally applied method for transcribing Thai into the Latin alphabet. For example, the name of the main airport is transcribed variably as Suvarnabhumi, Suwannaphum, or Suwunnapoom. Guide books, textbooks and dictionaries follow different systems. For this reason, many language courses recommend that learners master the Thai script.[42][43][44][45]
Official standards are the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS), published by the Royal Institute of Thailand,[46] and the almost identical ISO 11940-2 defined by the International Organization for Standardization. The RTGS system is increasingly used in Thailand by central and local governments, especially for road signs.[47] Its main drawback is that it does not indicate tone or vowel length. As the system is based on pronunciation, not orthography, reconstruction of Thai spelling from RTGS romanisation is not possible.
Transliteration
The ISO published an international standard for the transliteration of Thai into Roman script in September 2005 (ISO 11940).[48] By adding diacritics to the Latin letters it makes the transcription reversible, making it a true transliteration. Notably, this system is used by Google Translate, although it does not seem to appear in many other contexts, such as textbooks and other instructional media.
See also
Explanatory notes
- ↑ In Thai: ภาษาไทยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text Phasa Thai
- ↑ In Thai: ภาษาไทยกลางCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text Phasa Thai Klang; not to be confused with Central Tai
- ↑ In Thai: ภาษาสยามCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text Phasa Sayam
- ↑ Although "Thai" and "Central Thai" have become more common, the older term, "Siamese", is still used by linguists, especially when it is being distinguished from other Tai languages (Diller 2008:6Category:All articles with incomplete citationsCategory:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012[full citation needed]). "Proto-Thai" is, for example, the ancestor of all of Southwestern Tai, not just Siamese (Rischel 1998Category:All articles with incomplete citationsCategory:Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012[full citation needed]).
- ↑ Xiānluó was the Chinese name for Ayutthaya, a kingdom created by the merger of Lavo and Sukhothai or Suvarnabhumi.
- ↑ The glottalized stops /ʔb ʔd/Category:Pages with plain IPA were unaffected, as they were treated in every respect like voiceless unaspirated stops due to the initial glottal stop. These stops are often described in the modern language as phonemically plain stops /b d/Category:Pages with plain IPA, but the glottalization is still commonly heard.
- ↑ Modern Lao, Isan and northern Thai dialects are often described as having six tones, but these are not necessarily due to preservation of the original six tones resulting from the tone split. For example, in standard Lao, both the high and low variants of Old Thai tone 2 merged; however, the mid-class variant of tone 1 became pronounced differently from either the high-class or low-class variants, and all three eventually became phonemic due to further changes, e.g. /kr/Category:Pages with plain IPA > /kʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA. For similar reasons, Lao has developed more than two tonal distinctions in "dead" syllables.
- ↑ Initial อ is silent and therefore considered as a glottal stop.
- ↑ ฃ and ฅ are no longer used. Thus, modern Thai is said to have 42 consonant letters.
- ↑ The glottal plosive appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel
References
Citations
- 1 2 3 Thai language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025)
Category:Language articles citing Ethnologue 28 - ↑ Thai language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025) Category:Language articles citing Ethnologue 28
- ↑ Diller, A.; Reynolds, Craig J. (2002). "What makes central Thai a national language?". In Reynolds (ed.). National identity and its defenders: Thailand today. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books. ISBN 974-7551-88-8. OCLC 54373362.
- ↑ Draper, John (2019). "Language education policy in Thailand". The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia. Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York City: Routledge. pp. 229–242. doi:10.4324/9781315666235-16. ISBN 978-1-315-66623-5. S2CID 159127015.
- ↑ Baker, Christopher (2014). A history of Thailand. Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-1-316-00733-4.
- ↑ Enfield, N. J. "How to define 'Lao', 'Thai', and 'Isan' language? A view from linguistic science". Tai Culture. 3 (1): 62–67.
- ↑ Peansiri Vongvipanond (Summer 1994). "Linguistic Perspectives of Thai Culture". paper presented to a workshop of teachers of social science. University of New Orleans. p. 2. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
The dialect one hears on radio and television is the Bangkok dialect, considered the standard dialect.
- ↑ Kemasingki, Pim; Prateepkoh, Pariyakorn (1 August 2017). "Kham Mueang: the slow death of a language". Chiang Mai City Life: 8.
there are still many people speaking kham mueang, but as an accent, not as a language. Because we now share the written language with Bangkok, we are beginning to use its vocabulary as well
- ↑ Simpson, Andrew (2007). Language and national identity in Asia. Oxford University Press.
Standard Thai is a form of Central Thai based on the variety of Thai spoken earlier by the elite of the court, and now by the educated middle and upper classes of Bangkok. It ... was standardized in grammar books in the nineteenth century, and spread dramatically from the 1930s onwards, when public education became much more widespread
- ↑ Thepboriruk, Kanjana (2010). "Bangkok Thai tones revisited". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society. 3 (1). University of Hawaii Press: 86–105.
Linguists generally consider Bangkok Thai and Standard Thai, the Kingdom's national language, to be one and the same.
- ↑ Rappa, Antonio L.; Wee, Lionel (2006), Language Policy and Modernity in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, Springer, pp. 114–115
- ↑ Lieberman, Victor (2003). Strange Parallels. Studies in Comparative World History. Vol. 1: Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 (Kindle ed.). ISBN 978-0-521-80086-0.Category:CS1: long volume value
- ↑ Wyatt, David K. (2003). Thailand: A Short History. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08475-7.
- 1 2 3 Khanittanan, Wilaiwan (2004). "Khmero-Thai: The Great Change in the History of the Thai Language of the Chao Phraya Basin" (PDF). Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 11.
- ↑ Ying-yai Sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433), Hakluyt Society at the University Press, 1970, ISBN 0-521-01032-2
- ↑ Kasetsiri 1999: 25
- ↑ Varasarin 1984: 91
- ↑ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:25)
- ↑ Frankfurter, Oscar. Elements of Siamese grammar with appendices. American Presbyterian mission press, 1900 (Full text available on Google Books)
- ↑ Morén, Bruce; Zsiga, Elizabeth (2006). "The Lexical and Post-Lexical Phonology of Thai Tones*". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 24 (1): 113–178. doi:10.1007/s11049-004-5454-y. ISSN 0167-806X. S2CID 170764533.
- ↑ Zsiga, Elizabeth; Nitisaroj, Rattima (2007). "Tone Features, Tone Perception, and Peak Alignment in Thai". Language and Speech. 50 (3): 343–383. doi:10.1177/00238309070500030301. ISSN 0023-8309. PMID 17974323. S2CID 18595049.
- ↑ Teeranon, Phanintra. (2007). "The change of Standard Thai high tone: An acoustic study and a perceptual experiment". SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics, 4(3), 1–16.
- ↑ Thepboriruk, Kanjana. (2010). "Bangkok Thai Tones Revisited". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 3(1), 86–105.
- ↑ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. (2007). "Directionality of Tone Change". Proceedings of the 16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS XVI).
- ↑ Warotamasikkhadit, Udom (1972). Thai Syntax. The Hague: Mouton.
- 1 2 3 Bisang, W. (1991), "Verb serialisation, grammaticalisation, and attractor positions in Chinese, Hmong, Vietnamese, Thai and Khmer", Partizipation: das sprachliche Erfassen von Sachverhalten, Tübingen: Narr, pp. 509–562, retrieved 2 May 2021
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jenny, Mathias; Ebert, Karen H.; Zúñiga, Fernando (2001), "The aspect system of Thai", Aktionsart and Aspectotemporality in non-European languages, Zürich: Seminar für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Zürich, pp. 97–140, ISBN 978-3-9521010-8-7, retrieved 2 May 2021
- 1 2 Boonyapatipark, Tasanalai (1983). A study of aspect in Thai. University of London.
- ↑ Koenig, Jean-Pierre; Muansuwan, Nuttanart (2005). "The Syntax of Aspect in Thai". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 23 (2): 335–380. doi:10.1007/s11049-004-0488-8. ISSN 0167-806X. JSTOR 4048104. S2CID 170429648.
- ↑ "The Acquisition Of Dative Constructions By Thai" (PDF).
- ↑ Jenks, Peter (2011). The Hidden Structure of Thai Noun Phrases (PDF) (PhD dissertation). Harvard University. ISBN 978-1-267-10767-1. S2CID 118127511. ProQuest 915016895. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2015.
- ↑ "Thailanguage.org". Archived from the original on 11 November 2005. Retrieved 18 September 2010.Category:CS1: unfit URL
- 1 2 Smyth, David (2014). Thai (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-97457-4. OCLC 879025983.
- ↑ "The Many Different Ways To Say "I"". Beginner Thai Speaking. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ↑ Joanne Tan. "How to say You in Thai Language". Learn Thai in Singapore.
- 1 2 "What Do 'krub' And 'ka' Mean In Thai Language & When To Use". 5 October 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ↑ "The Languages spoken in Thailand". Studycountry. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
- ↑ Haspelmath, Martin; Tadmor, Uri (2009). Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook. p. 611.
Thai is of special interest to lexical borrowing for various reasons. The copious borrowing of basic vocabulary from Middle Chinese and later from Khmer indicates that, given the right sociolinguistic context, such vocabulary is not at all immune
- ↑ Haarmann, Harald (1986). Language in Ethnicity: A View of Basic Ecological Relations. p. 165.
In Thailand, for instance, where the Chinese influence was strong until the Middle Ages, Chinese characters were abandoned in written Thai in the course of the thirteenth century.
- ↑ Leppert, Paul A. (1992). Doing Business With Thailand. p. 13.
At an early time the Thais used Chinese characters. But, under the influence of Indian traders and monks, they soon dropped Chinese characters in favor of Sanskrit and Pali scripts.
- ↑ "S̄yām-portukes̄ ṣ̄ụks̄ʹā: Khả reīyk "chā kāfæ" khır lxk khır thịy h̄rụ̄x portukes̄" สยาม-โปรตุเกสศึกษา: คำเรียก "ชา กาแฟ" ใครลอกใคร ไทย หรือ โปรตุเกส [Siam-Portuguese Studies: The term 'tea, coffee'. Who copied someone, Thai or Portuguese?]. 2010.Category:CS1 uses Thai-language script (th)
- ↑ Pronk, Marco (2013). The Essential Thai Language Companion: Reference Book: Basics, Structures, Rules. Schwabe AG. p. v. ISBN 978-3-9523664-9-3.
learn the Thai alphabet as early as possible, and get rid of romanized transcriptions as soon as you can
- ↑ Juyaso, Arthit (2015). Read Thai in 10 Days. Bingo-Lingo. p. xii.
There have been attempts by Thai language schools to create a perfect phonetic system for learners, but none have been successful so far. ... Only Thai script is prevalent and consistent in Thailand.
- ↑ Waites, Dan (2014). "Learning the Language: To Write or Not to Write". CultureShock! Bangkok. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-981-4516-93-8.
you're far better off learning the Thai alphabet
- ↑ Cooper, Robert (2019). "Learning Thai: Writing Thai in English". CultureShock! Thailand: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-981-4841-39-9.
take a bit of time to learn the letters. The time you spend is saved many times over when you begin to really learn Thai.
- ↑ Royal Thai General System of Transcription, published by the Thai Royal Institute only in Thai
- ↑ Handbook and standard for traffic signs (PDF) (in Thai), Appendix ง, archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2017Category:CS1 Thai-language sources (th)
- ↑ ISO 11940 Standard.
General and cited sources
- อภิลักษณ์ ธรรมทวีธิกุล และ กัลยารัตน์ ฐิติกานต์นารา.Category:Articles containing Thai-language text 2549. การเน้นพยางค์กับทำนองเสียงภาษาไทยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text (Stress and Intonation in Thai) วารสารภาษาและภาษาศาสตร์ ปีที่ 24 ฉบับที่ 2 (มกราคม – มิถุนายน 2549) หน้า 59–76.Category:Articles containing Thai-language text ISSN 0857-1406.
- สัทวิทยา : การวิเคราะห์ระบบเสียงในภาษา. 2547. กรุงเทพฯ : สำนักพิมพ์มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์.Category:Articles containing Thai-language text ISBN 974-537-499-7.
- Diller, Anthony van Nostrand, et al. 2008. The Tai–Kadai Languages. ISBN 978-070-071-457-5.
- Gandour, Jack, Tumtavitikul, Apiluck and Satthamnuwong, Nakarin. 1999. Effects of Speaking Rate on the Thai Tones. Phonetica 56, pp. 123–134.
- Li, Fang-Kuei. A handbook of comparative Tai. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1977. Print.
- Rischel, Jørgen. 1998. 'Structural and Functional Aspects of Tone Split in Thai'. In Sound structure in language, 2009.
- Tumtavitikul, Apiluck, 1998. The Metrical Structure of Thai in a Non-Linear Perspective. Papers presented to the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 1994, pp. 53–71. Udom Warotamasikkhadit and Thanyarat Panakul, eds. Temple, Arizona: Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Arizona State University.
- Apiluck Tumtavitikul. 1997. The Reflection on the X′ category in Thai. Mon-Khmer Studies XXVII, pp. 307–316.
- อภิลักษณ์ ธรรมทวีธิกุลCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text. 2539. ข้อคิดเกี่ยวกับหน่วยวากยสัมพันธ์ในภาษาไทยCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text วารสารมนุษยศาสตร์วิชาการ. 4.57–66. ISSN 0859-3485 ISSN 2673-0502.
- Tumtavitikul, Appi. 1995. Tonal Movements in Thai. The Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Vol. I, pp. 188–121. Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University.
- Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1994. Thai Contour Tones. Current Issues in Sino-Tibetan Linguistics, pp. 869–875. Hajime Kitamura et al., eds, Ozaka: The Organization Committee of the 26th Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, National Museum of Ethnology.
- Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1993. FO – Induced VOT Variants in Thai. Journal of Languages and Linguistics, 12.1.34 – 56.
- Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1993. Perhaps, the Tones are in the Consonants? Mon-Khmer Studies XXIII, pp. 11–41.
- Higbie, James and Thinsan, Snea. Thai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken Thai. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2003. ISBN 974-8304-96-5.
- Nacaskul, Karnchana (ศาสตราจารย์กิตติคุณ ดร.กาญจนา นาคสกุลCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) Thai Phonology, 4th printing. (ระบบเสียงภาษาไทย, พิมพ์ครั้งที่ 4Category:Articles containing Thai-language text) Bangkok: Chulalongkorn Press, 1998. ISBN 978-974-639-375-1.
- Nanthana Ronnakiat (ดร.นันทนา รณเกียรติCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) Phonetics in Principle and Practical. (สัทศาสตร์ภาคทฤษฎีและภาคปฏิบัติCategory:Articles containing Thai-language text) Bangkok: Thammasat University, 2005. ISBN 974-571-929-3.
- Segaller, Denis. Thai Without Tears: A Guide to Simple Thai Speaking. Bangkok: BMD Book Mags, 1999. ISBN 974-87115-2-8.
- Smyth, David (2002). Thai: An Essential Grammar, first edition. London: Routledge.
- Smyth, David (2014). Thai: An Essential Grammar, second edition. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-041-551-034-9.
- Tingsabadh, M.R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur (1993), "Thai", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (1): 24–28, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004746, S2CID 249403146
Further reading
- Inglis, Douglas. 1999. Lexical conceptual structure of numeral classifiers in Thai-Part 1. Payap Research and Development Institute and The Summer Institute of Linguistics. Payap University.
- Inglis, Douglas. 2000. Grammatical conceptual structure of numeral classifiers in Thai-Part 2. Payap Research and Development Institute and The Summer Institute of Linguistics. Payap University.
- Inglis, Douglas. 2003. Conceptual structure of numeral classifiers in Thai. In Eugene E. Casad and Gary B. Palmer (eds.). Cognitive linguistics and non-Indo-European languages. CLR Series 18. De Gruyter Mouton. 223–246. ISBN 978-311-017-371-0
External links
 | This section's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (June 2015) |
- Glossaries and word lists
- Thai phrasebook from Wikivoyage
- Thai Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
- Dictionaries
- English–Thai Dictionary: English–Thai bilingual online dictionary
- The Royal Institute Dictionary, official standard Thai–Thai dictionary
- Thai-English dictionary
- Thai2english.com: LEXiTRON-based Thai–English dictionary
- Daoulagad Thai: mobile OCR Thai–English dictionary
- Thai dictionaries for Stardict/GoldenDict – Thai – English (also French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese and others) dictionaries in Stardict and GoldenDict formats
- Volubilis Dictionary VOLUBILIS (Romanized Thai – Thai – English – French): free databases (ods/xlsx) and dictionaries (PDF) – Thai transcription system.
- Learners' resources
- thai-language.com English speakers' online resource for the Thai language
- Say Hello in the Thai Language
- FSI Thai language course (Formerly at thailanguagewiki.com)
- Spoken Thai (30 exercises with audio)
| Official language | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other Thais |
| ||||||||
| Minority by languages groups |
| ||||||||
| Non-Indigenous |
| ||||||||
| Sign languages | |||||||||
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
