{"id":1668,"date":"2013-04-11T19:15:07","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T19:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/thai\/?p=1668"},"modified":"2013-04-09T19:22:10","modified_gmt":"2013-04-09T19:22:10","slug":"the-special-%e0%b8%ab-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/thai\/the-special-%e0%b8%ab-character\/","title":{"rendered":"The Special \u0e2b Character"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I teach the Thai alphabet to my students, the letter \u0e2b is one of the last I teach them. It\u2019s a bit more complicated than the average consonant, like the \u0e2d character. In Thai \u0e2b can be used in two different ways \u2013 as a consonant, or as a silent tone modifier. Below I go over both cases.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1) As a Consonant<\/strong><\/p>\n

In cases when the \u0e2b is combined with a vowel, it makes an \u2018h\u2019 sound. None of the below are real words, just simplified examples.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0e40\u0e2b heh<\/p>\n

\u0e40\u0e2b\u0e2d herr<\/p>\n

\u0e40\u0e2b\u0e22 hoy<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e34 he<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e37\u0e2d huee<\/p>\n

\u0e40\u0e2b\u0e32 how<\/p>\n

\u0e40\u0e2b\u0e35\u0e22 heyaa<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e2d\u0e07 haawng<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2) As a Tone Modifier<\/strong><\/p>\n

In cases where there is no vowel with \u0e2b, and the \u0e2b comes right before a consonant which does have a vowel, then the \u0e2b is silent. Its purpose is to modify the tone of the word, as \u0e2b is a high class consonant and the following consonant wouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n

Compare how the \u0e2b changes the tone:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0e21\u0e2d maw1<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e2d maw5<\/p>\n

\u0e21\u0e32 maa1<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e32 maa5<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More example words where the \u0e2b is silent, only modifying the tone:<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e0d\u0e34\u0e07 ying5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e48\u0e27\u0e22 nuay2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e31\u0e07 nang5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e49\u0e32 naa3<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e32\u0e21 naam5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e19\u0e36\u0e48\u0e07 neung2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e01 mok2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e27\u0e22 muay5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e48\u0e33 mum2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e21\u0e39\u0e48 muu2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e22\u0e48\u0e32 yaa2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e22\u0e38\u0e48\u0e19 yun2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e07 long5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e2d\u0e14 lawd2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e31\u0e01 lak2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e31\u0e07 lang5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e32\u0e22 laai5<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25\u0e38\u0e14 lud2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e27\u0e48\u0e22 woy2<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e27\u0e32\u0e22 waai5<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The following examples show a following consonant that does not have a vowel, so the \u0e2b is not silent:<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e01 hok<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e25 hon<\/p>\n

\u0e2b\u0e1b hobp<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

note: Do not confuse words found in rule #2 with the invisible vowel rule<\/a>. There is no vowel \u2013 \u0e2b is a silent consonant in this case.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I teach the Thai alphabet to my students, the letter \u0e2b is one of the last I teach them. It\u2019s a bit more complicated than the average consonant, like the \u0e2d character. In Thai \u0e2b can be used in two different ways \u2013 as a consonant, or as a silent tone modifier…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[10208],"tags":[8244,10177,254607,275306],"class_list":["post-1668","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-beginner","tag-alphabet","tag-thai","tag-tone","tag-275306"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t