Long and short sounds
Sa wad dii ka 🙂 In this online Thai lesson I would like to teach you about Thai pronunciation. In the Thai language, not only the tones are important but also the vowels. If you pronounce in the same tone but different vowels, the meaning can be changed as well.
Here are some interesting words to help you practice your pronunciation.
Short Sounds Long Sounds
ไอ /ai/ = to cough อาย /aai/ = to be shy
Ex. เขาไอมาก /kǎo ai mâak/ = He has a bad cough.
เขาอายมาก /kǎo aai mâak/ = He is very shy.
จน /jon/ = to be poor โจร /joon/ = thief
Ex. ที่นี่จนมาก /tîi nîi jon mâak/ = Here is very poor.
ที่นี่โจรมาก /tîi nîi joon mâak/ = There are many thieves here.
ใส่ /sài/ = to wear, to put in ส่าย /sàai/ = to shake
เอากาแฟแต่ไม่ต้องใส่นมครับ /ao gaa-fɛɛ dtɛ̀ɛ mâi dtɔ̂ɔng sài nom kráp/ = I want coffee but don’t have to put milk in. (I want coffee without milk)
เอากาแฟแต่ไม่ต้องส่ายนมครับ /ao gaa-fɛɛ dtɛ̀ɛ mâi dtɔ̂ɔng sàai nom kráp/ = I want coffee but don’t have to shake your breast. (Oops! be careful with this!)
Notice: The word นม /nom/ in Thai can be “milk” or “breast”
เกา /gao/ = to scratch กาว /gaao/ = glue (n.)
Ex. เราเกาตา /rao gao dtaa/ = We scratched our eyes.
เรากาวตา /rao gaao dtaa/ = We glue (n.) our eyes. (This sentence does not make sense.)
ไห /hǎi/ = jar หาย /hǎai/ = lose, lost (something)
Ex. นี่ไหของเรา /nîi hǎi kͻ̌ͻng-rao/ = This is our jar.
นี่หายของเรา /nîi hǎai kͻ̌ͻng-rao/ = This loses our. (broken Thai)
ไข /kǎi/ = to wind ขาย /kǎai/= to sell
Ex. เราไขกุญแจ / rao kǎi gun-jԑԑ/ = We wind the key.
เราขายกุญแจ / rao kǎai gun-jԑԑ/ = We sell some keys.
ใน /nai/ = in นาย /naai/ = Mister
Ex. เขาหาของในห้อง /káo hǎa kͻ̌ͻng nai hͻ̂ͻng/ = He looks for his thing in a room.
เขาหาของนายห้อง /káo hǎa kͻ̌ͻng naai hͻ̂ͻng/ = He looks for the things of mister Hong.
Etc…
Hope this helps you enjoy learning Thai and understand Thai more and speak Thai clearly.
If you want to learn the Thai Language, you are very welcome to stop by our website: www.thailanguagehut.comor follow us in Twitter and Join us in Linkedin.
Jang
Thai Language Teacher
