In the first part, I showed how strings of consonants can be pronounced despite not having any visibly defined vowels. I had simplified it as just four easy to remember rules.

In this part, I’ll show how the visible appearance of vowels can change when a syllable requires two consonants.

 

1) โอะ

This is pronounced as a short ‘o’ sound. For example:

โกะ go

โบะ bo

โฟะ fo

 

So what if you wanted two consonants as one syllable using the short vowel โอะ? If you put both inside the vowel, you’d get this:

โบกะ boo-ga

โคทะ koo-ta

โพบะ poo-ba

 

As you can see, that isn’t working. It created a long ‘oo’ sound and added another short ‘a’ sound at the end.

 

Instead, you follow rule #1 from part 1 and just remove the vowel.

บก bok = โบะ + ก

คท kot = โคะ + ท

พบ pob = โพะ + บ

 

 

2) เอะ

This vowel is a short ‘eh’ sound. For example:

เกะ geh

เบะ beh

เฟะ feh

 

So what if you wanted two consonants as one syllable using the short vowel เอะ? If you put both inside the vowel, you’d get this:

เกทะ geh-ta

เบบะ beh-ba

เฟถะ feh-ta

 

As you can see, that isn’t working. It created a long ‘eeh’ sound and added another short ‘a’ sound at the end.

 

Instead, you add the อ็ character while removing the อะ.

เก็ท geht = เกะ + ท

เบ็บ behb = เบะ + บ

เฟ็ถ feht = เฟะ + ถ

 

This rule applies the same for the vowel แอะ. For example:

แก็ท gaet = แกะ + ท

แบ็บ baeb = แบะ + บ

แฟ็ถ faet = แฟะ + ถ

This following children’s TV program can help you practice. The first half of the episode is a children’s story of why chickens lay eggs. The second half is what you want to watch to practice what you’ve learned here.