LESSON 6 HIGH CLASS CONSONANT / OPEN AND CLOSED SYLLABLES (I)

There are 11 letters which are high class consonant. In this section, you will learn ข (kh) ฉ (ch) ถ (th) in this lesson. You are not going to learn ฃ (kh) because it is not used anymore.

LETTERSOUNDNAMEMEANING OF THE NAMEAUDIO
ขkhɔ̌ɔไข่ (khày)an egg
ฉchɔ̌ɔฉิ่ง (chìŋ)a cymbal
ถthɔ̌ɔถุง (thǔŋ)a (shopping) bag

Learn 4 more vowels including เ-ะ (-e), เ- (-ee), แ-ะ (-æ), แ- (ææ), and one more final consonant which is ย (y).

Tone’s rule of high class consonant

It is pretty much the same as middle class consonants. The only difference is that it has a rising tone when it has no tone mark in an open syllable. Let’s see the tone table of this class.

SyllableMIDDLE TONELOW TONEFALLING TONEHIGH TONERISING TONE
Open-ข่าข้า-ขา
Closed-ขะข้ะ--

Now let’s practice reading both middle class consonants and high class consonants and you will see that the last three words are pronounced in rising tone according to the high class tone’s rule.

Reading 1

กาจาดาตาบา
ปาอาขาฉาถา

Now let’s practice on เ-ะ (e) / เ- (ee) and แ-ะ (æ) / แ- (ææ) vowels. The เ-ะ (e) / แ-ะ (æ) are short and both are the changed vowels. เ- (ee) and แ- (ææ) are long and not change.

The changed form of เ-ะ is เ็

จ (c) + เ-ะ (e) = เจะ (cè)
จ (c) + เ-ะ (e) + ด (t) = เจ็ด (cèt)

The changed form of เเ-ะ is เเ็

ต (t) + แ-ะ (æ) = แตะ (tæ̀)
ต (t) ​+ แ-ะ (æ) + ม (m) = แต็ม (tæm)

Reading 2

เกเกะเก็บ
แขแขะแข็ง

Reading 3 

Practice reading words with ย (y) ending.

ThaiMeaningThaiMeaningThaiMeaning
อายTo be shyตายTo die, deadบ่ายAfternoon
โดยbyถอยStep backดอยmountain
ต่อยTo punchปุ๋ยFertilizerถุยTo spit

Lesson 7 High Class / Open and Closed Syllables (II)

In this lesson, you learn 3 more high class consonants including ห (h) ผ (ph) and ฝ (f).

LETTERSOUNDNAMEMEANING OF THE NAMEAUDIO
หhɔ̌ɔหีบ (hìip)a treasure box
ผphɔ̌ɔผึ้ง (phɨ̂ŋ)a bee
ฝfɔ̌ɔฝา (fǎa)a lid

And learn 2 more vowels including ึ (ɨ) and ือ (ɨɨ). Let’s first look at how to use the vowel ึ (ɨ). This is a short vowel and has no changed form. While reading these example words, don’t forget to notice that the tones of the middle class and high class are different.

Reading 1

ดึงจึงตึงบึงปึง
ขึงฉึงถึงหึงผึง

Reading 2

กึกจึกดึกตึกปึก
ขึกหึกถึกผึกฝึก

The changed form of ือ (ɨɨ)

The ือ (ɨɨ) vowel is a long vowel and it is a changed vowel. The changed form is to remove -อ.

ต (t) + ือ (ɨɨ) = ตือ (tɨɨ)
ต (t) + ือ (ɨɨ) + น = ตืน (tɨɨn)

Reading 3

กือตือปืออึอขือ
ฉือถือหือผือฝือ

Reading 4

กืดตืดปืดอืดขืด
ฉืดถืดหืดผืดฝืด

Let’s learn one more final consonant which is ว (w). This is going to be your last regular final consonant. Do you still remember that there are only 8 final sounds when you speaking? If not, go back to ‘Introduction to Reading Thai’ and look for ‘Final Consonant’.

Reading 5

ThaiMeaningThaiMeaningThaiMeaning
กาวglueจิ๋วtinyดาวstar
อ่าวbayขาวwhiteผิวskin
เหวabyssหาวto yawnหิวhungry

LESSON 8 HIGH CLASS / OPEN AND CLOSED SYLLABLES (III)

In this lesson, you will learn the last 4 high class consonants including ส (s) ศ (s) ษ (s) and ฐ (th).

LETTERSOUNDNAMEMEANING OF THE NAMEAUDIO
สsɔ̌ɔเสือ (sɨ̌a)a tiger
ศsɔ̌ɔศาลา (sǎalaa)a pavilion
ษsɔ̌ɔฤาษี (rɨɨsǐi)a hermit
ฐthɔ̌ɔฐาน (thǎan)a base

Let’s read words with these new consonants.

Reading 1

โสศาษีฐา
สะศิษุฐิ

Now, let’s learn the 4 vowels with final sounds including vowels ำ (-am), ไ- (-ay), ใ- (-ay) and เ-า (-aw). These are short vowels but they are open syllables because of their m, y and w ending sounds. So the tone rules should follow ‘open syllable‘.

Reading 2

จำใดไตเบา
ขำใฉไถเหา
สำใศไษเฝา

Before moving to the next lesson, practice reading some words with all these new characters from this lesson.

Reading 3

ThaiMeaningThaiMeaningThaiMeaning
สองtwoใส่to put in, to wearดำblack
ไก่chickenเอาto takeไข่egg
ถ้ำcaveใจheartเผาto burn
ใต้under, southเก้าnineเขาhe/she
Note: The last three words are exceptions because they are not pronounced according to the rule.

You can hear that the word ใต้ and เก้า are pronounced as a long vowel.

The word เขา as a word he/she is pronounced in high tone when speaking, even though it should be rising tone according to the tone rule.