Welcome to Thai vowels! Unlike English where vowels are standalone letters (a, e, i, o, u), Thai vowels are diacritical marks that attach to consonants in various positions. In this first lesson, you'll learn vowels that appear above and below the consonant.
Thai vowels can appear in four locations relative to a consonant:
Today we focus on above and below positions.
When you add these vowels to a consonant, watch the position:
| Consonant + Vowel | Result | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| ก + ิ | กิ | gi |
| ม + ิ | มิ | mi |
| ก + ึ | กึ | gue |
| ก + ุ | กุ | gu |
| ม + ุ | มุ | mu |
These are short vowels — they have a clipped, brief sound:
You'll learn the long versions in Lesson 3. For now, focus on the brief, snappy quality of short vowels.
The vowel ึ (sara ue) has no direct English equivalent. It's like:
With consonants you know, try reading these syllables:
In Lesson 2, you'll learn more short vowels, including those that appear before and around consonants — Thai's unique feature where you write one thing but pronounce another!