LESSON 1 MIDDLE CLASS CONSONANT / OPEN SYLLABLE (I)

There are 9 letters belong to middle class consonant. In this section, you will learn and memorize 6 of them including

LetterSoundNameMeaning of the nameAudio
กkɔɔไก่ (kày)a chicken
จcɔɔจาน (caan)a plate
ดdɔɔเด็ก (dèk)a kid
ตtɔɔเต่า (tàw)a turtle
บbɔɔใบไม้ (bay máay)a leaf
ปpɔɔปลา (plaa)fish

Then learn and memorize these 3 long vowels. The word vowel in Thai is sarà (สระ).

LetterSoundIt is called...Name in Audio
-า aasàrà -aa
ี iisàrà -ii
ู uusàrà -uu

Now let’s combine those consonants and vowels together and pronounce them.

Reading 1

-าีูAudio
กกากีกู
จจาจีจู
ดดาดีดู
ตตาตีตู
บบาบีบู
ปปาปีปู

The tone’s rule of the middle class in open syllable.

Middle ToneLow ToneFalling ToneHigh ToneRising Tone
Tone Mark Usednone่้๊๋
Examplesกาก่าก้าก๊าก๋า
Audio

Let’s read the words with the tones!

Reading 2

กาก่าก้าก๊าก๋า
จาจ่าจ้าจ๊าจ๋า
ดีดี่ดี้ดี๊ดี๋
ตีตี่ตี้ตี๊ตี๋
บูบู่บู้บู๊บู๋
ปูปู่ปู้ปู๊ปู๋

LESSON 2 MIDDLE CLASS CONSONANT / OPEN SYLLABLE (II)

In the previous lesson, you have already learnt 6 letters from the middle class consonant group including ก (k), จ (c), ด (d), ต (t), บ (b) and ป (p). In this lesson, you will learn the last 3 letters to complete this middle class group.

LetterSoundNameMeaning of the nameAudio
อʔɔɔอ่าง (ʔàaŋ)a basin, a sink
ฎdɔɔชฎา (chá-daa)a headdress
ฏtɔɔปฏัก (patàk)a goad

First, let’s discuss on a ‘hard-working อ (ʔɔɔ ʔàaŋ)’. I called it like that because it has two jobs. It works as a consonant and also as a vowel.

อ as a consonant

The way you read a word consisting of อ (ʔ) consonant and a vowel is like you just pronounce the vowel itself. You may think of it as a vowel holder or a place holder. Don’t forget that Thai vowels cannot stand alone. They always need a consonant! See examples below.

Reading 1

ExamplesAudio
อาอ่าอ้าอ๊าอ๋า
อีอี่อี้อี๊อี๋
อูอู่อู้อู๊อู๋

–อ as a vowel

When –อ is used as a vowel, it is placed after the consonant and it gives the ʔɔɔ sound. See examples below.

Reading 2

ExamplesAudio
กอก่อก้อ
ดอด่อด้อ
ตอต่อต้อ
บอบ่อบ้อ
ปอป่อป้อ
อออ่ออ้อ

The last two consonants of the middle class are ฎ (dɔɔ chádaa) and ฏ (tɔɔ patàk). I put these two letters as the last ones because you will not see them very often. There is only one word in Thai where ฎ (dɔɔ chádaa ) is used as the initial letter which is ฎีกา (dii-kaa) which means a petition. And there is no word where ฏ (tɔɔ patàk) is the initial letter.

However, it is still important to know these letters because they are used as a part of a word borrowed from Pali and Sanskrit. There are many words in Thai that are from those languages. You can see that ฎ (dɔɔ chádaa) has the same initial sound as ด (dɔɔ dèk) while ฏ (tɔɔ patàk) has the same initial sound as ต (tɔɔ tàw). See examples below.

ดฎAudio
ดาฎา
ดีฎี
ตฏAudio
ตาฏา
ตีฏี

The next vowel is the vowel โ- (oo). This is another long vowel. It is placed in front of the consonant. However, you pronounce the consonant before the vowel, always! Practice reading the words below.

Reading 3

โกโจโดโตโบ
โปโอโฎโฏ

Reading 4

กอจอดอตอบอ
ปอออฎอฏอ

Reading 5

ThaiMeanindThai MeaningThaiMeaning
กาA crow / a kettleกี่How many?กู้To loan
ด่าTo scold or speak badly toward someone.ดีgoodดูTo look, to watch
บ้าcrazyปีyearบ่อA pothole, a pond

LESSON 3 MIDDLE CLASS CONSONANT / OPEN SYLLABLE (III)

In this lesson, we will add final consonants to our words. The letter น (n), ม (m), and ง (ŋ) will be used.

Note: These 3 letters belong to the Low Class Consonant Group which will have a different tone rule from the Middle Class which we are working on right now. However, when the letters are used as final consonants, the classes don’t matter.

When a word ends with one of these letters น (n), ม (m), ง (ŋ), it is considered an open syllable. Hope you can recall what you read from the Introduction to Reading Thai about open and closed syllables. Now, let’s practice reading.

Reading 1

กานกามกาง
จานจามจาง
ดานดามดาง

It’s quite easy, isn’t it? Now let’s read some words to finish this chapter.

Reading 2

ThaiMeaningThaiMeaningThaiMeaning
ก่อนbeforeต่างdifferentบ้านA house, home
จามTo sneezeตอนWhen, at (a time)ปีนTo climb
ดองTo pickleจองTo make a reservation, to bookอ่านTo read

Lesson 4 Middle Class CONSONANT / Closed Syllable (I)

You will learn to read the middle class consonant with a closed syllable. If you have forgotten how to indicate a closed syllable, go back and check ‘Open and Closed Syllables’ in the Introduction to Reading Thai section.

First of all, learn these 3 new short vowels including – ะ / ั (a),  ิ (i) and ุ (u). They are the short version of the vowels you have learnt in Lesson 1.

Short VowelLong VowelAudio
- ะ / ั-า
ิี
ุู

-ะ (-a) is a changed vowel. The original form is changed when a final consonant is added. The changed form of -ะ is ั.

For example:

  • ก (k) + ะ (-a) + บ (p) = กับ (kàp)
  • จ (c) + ะ (-a) + ด (t) = จัด (càt)
  • ป (p) + ะ (-a) + น (n) = ปัน (pan)

Tone rules of middle class in closed syllable

Let me remind you that when a syllable uses a short vowel and no final consonant, that syllable is considered a closed syllable. Now let’s compare the tone rules of an open syllable and a closed syllable for middle class group.

Middle ToneLow ToneFalling ToneHigh ToneRising Tone
Tone Mark Usednone่้๊๋
Open Syllableกาก่าก้าก๊าก๋า
Audio
Closed Syllable-กะก้ะก๊ะก๋ะ
Audio

So you can see that the rule is pretty much the same except for a word with ‘no tone mark’. The only difference is that a word with a closed syllable has a low tone by its nature. Therefore, it does not need a tone mark to make it low and there is no middle tone for it.

Reading 1

Open SyllableClosed Syllable
กากะ
จีจิ
ดูดุ
อาอะ

Final consonant indicates a closed syllable

Another characteristic of a closed syllable is when it ends with ก (k), ด (t) and บ (p). Now let’s use these letters as final consonants.

Reading 2

ThaiMeaningThaiMeaningThaiMeaning
กอดTo hugจากfromดิบraw
ตอบTo answerบูดrottenปอดlungs
อีกmoreฎาบNo meaningโฏกNo meaning

You will notice that all the above words are pronounced in ‘Low Tone’ according to the tone’s rule of middle class in closed syllable.

LESSON 5 MIDDLE CLASS CONSONANT / CLOSED SYLLABLE (II)

Learn two more short vowels and both of them are the changed vowels. They are โ-ะ (o) and เ-าะ (ɔ). They are the short vowels of the vowels โ- (oo) and -อ (ɔɔ). Let’s compare them.

Reading 1

โ-ะโ-เ-าะ-อ
โกะโกเกาะกอ
โจะโจเจาะจอ
โบะโบเบาะบอ

The changed form of โ-ะ (o) is to remove all the characters.

ก (k) + โ-ะ (o) = โกะ (kò)
ก (k) + โ-ะ (o) + ด = กด (kòt)
จ (c) + โ-ะ (o) + = โจะ (cò)
จ (c) + โ-ะ (o) + บ (p) = จบ (còp)

The changed form of เ-าะ (ɔ) is ็อ 

ก (k) + เ-าะ (ɔ) = เกาะ (kɔ̀)
ก (k) + เ-าะ (ɔ) + ด (t) = ก็อด (kɔ̀t)
จ (c) + เ-าะ (ɔ)  = เจาะ (cɔ̀)
จ (c) + เ-าะ (ɔ) + บ (p) = จ็อบ (cɔ̀p)

However, there are not many words useing the changed form of เ-าะ (ɔ).

Reading 2

ThaiMeaningThai Meaning
โต๊ะtableตกto fall
เกาะIslandกดto press
โปะto fill ปกcover
เจาะto drillจบend