This lesson covers the remaining vowel forms, including some special combinations and rare vowels. While some of these appear less frequently, knowing them completes your vowel toolkit and helps with reading older texts or Pali/Sanskrit loanwords.
These are longer versions of some diphthongs from Lesson 5:
These vowels are used primarily in loanwords from Sanskrit and Pali:
The vowel ฤ (rue) is unique — it acts as both consonant and vowel:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ฤดู | rʉ́-duu | season |
| ฤทธิ์ | rít | power |
| ฤกษ์ | rə́ək | auspicious time |
Note: ฦ (lue) is extremely rare in modern Thai and mainly appears in very old texts.
The vowel combination -ัว produces an "ua" sound:
| Written | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| กัว | gua | — |
| ตัว | dtua | body, classifier |
| หัว | hǔa | head |
| วัว | wua | cow |
When vowels combine with ว, they often create "uan" or "uai" sounds:
| Written | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ดวย | duai | ด้วย (dûai) — with |
| ควน | khuan | ควร (khuan) — should |
The mark ◌ั (mai han akat) above a consonant indicates a short "a" sound. It often appears in combination with other vowel elements:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Simple short | ะ, ิ, ึ, ุ |
| Simple long | า, ี, ื, ู |
| Leading | เ, แ, โ |
| Diphthongs | ไ, ใ, เ-า |
| Compound | เ-ีย, เ-ือ, -ัว |
| Special | ฤ, ฤๅ |
In Lesson 7, you'll learn the tone marks — the four diacritics that directly change the tone of a syllable.