Thai language – Regular vs Irregular Spellings

*ภาษาไทย* is a word with irregular spelling

*(พา-สา-ไท)* is คำอ่าน kam-àam (or read-word = Thai phonetics) which shows how this word could have been written with simple/regular spellings to help Thai people pronouce it correctly when they learn how to read and write Thai in their primary school time.

Words with irregular spellings often have the root from other languages like บาลีสันสกฤต Pali Sanskrit for an example.

Native Thai words are often with regular spellings.

Examples of Thai words with regular spellings :
กิน (gin) eat
เดิน (durn) walk
นั่ง (nâng) sit
นอน (nawn) sleep
พูด (pûud) speak
อ่าน (àan) read
เขียน (kiãn) write
เข้าใจ (kâo-jai) understand

Examples of Thai words with irregular spellings:

รัฐบาล (รัด-ถะ-บาน, rát-tà-baan) government
ศาสนา (สาด-สะ-หนา, sàad-sà-nãa) religion
วัฒนธรรม (วัด-ถะ-นะ-ทำ, wát-tà-ná-tam) culture
อร่อย (อะ-หร่อย, à-ròy) delicious
พิเศษ (พิ-เสด, pí-sèet(sàyt)) special
สถานี (สะ-ถา-นี, sà-tãa-nii) station

Author: Khun Kruu Noot, Thai language success coach

WisePolyglot Thai innovative, creative and proactive, way to learn Thai!

This e-Thai lesson is part of WisePolyglot’s Thai Language Success Program

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