Thai Words Adapted From English
ALPHABET SOUP Thai alphabet chart

Φ The Thai alphabet is divided into consonants and vowels.

Φ There are more than twice as many consonants in the Thai alphabet than there are in English: 44 to 21.

Φ Less than half (20 of 44) of the main Thai alphabet are letters solely representing their own sound. In other words, the same sound can be represented by several letters. Examples: the 't' sound is represented by seven different letters, the 'k' sound by five letters, and the 'p' sound by four. When these redundancies are eliminated there are just 20 consonant sounds.

Φ The 'sala' alphabet is comprised of about 32 Thai vowels. Each vowel has a long and short variation. In Thai, how long you say a word, as well as the tone in which you say it, can completely change the meaning.

Φ Thai is the only written language where vowels pronounced after consonants commonly appear written before those consonants. For example: โ is the ‘o’ vowel in Thai. ท, is a ‘t’ consonant sound. โท reads ‘to.’

Φ A Thai scholar worked for three years to develop a Thai version of Scrabble before realizing it would be feasible only by using three horizontal levels for the characters.

Φ As you know, telephones have letters assigned to numbers. English alphabet averages just over three letters per each of the ten numbers. People sending text messages in Thai alphabet have around five letters per each number.

Φ Because there is no 'x' in the Thai alphabet, the transliteration of the letter 'x' (in x-ray, for example) comprises four to six characters.

For those wanting to delve a bit deeper into transliteration,
here are some 'thumbnail' tips:

Φ Most J sounds in English change to Y sounds. Example: ‘jam’ changes to ‘yam,’ and ‘giraffe’ to ‘yiraffe.’

Φ Most English P sounds change to the slightly more percussive PB sounds.

Φ V sounds end up as W sounds, as there is no V sound in Thai. Ironically, Thais with the W sound in their names will spell their names with the letter V adding to the confusion.

Φ Most T sounds change to the DT sound (try placing your tongue behind your front teeth and say D)

Φ there is a symbol for indicating a consonant be silent. It's called 'garan' and looks like a small upside-down question mark - which is placed directly over the silent letter. Example: the tap sap 'print' is spelled in Thai font: ปรินต์ - with the silent T having the symbol over it - thereby pronounced like; prin.

Φ Thais only have six consonant sounds for word endings: p, n, m, ng, t, k. This has an influence on how words are pronounced when translated from English to Thai. S sounds become T sounds, and L and R sounds become silent or become N sounds. Examples: ‘Boss’ becomes ‘Bot;’ ‘Paul’ becomes ‘Paun;’ and ‘Bar’ becomes ‘Ba.’

Φ bot-son-ta-na The Thai word for ‘dialog’ has four syllables, seven consonants and just one vowel which comes at its end, when written in Thai.

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Thai Words Adapted From English ALPHABET SOUP Thai alphabet chart

Thai Words Adapted From English
ALPHABET SOUP Thai alphabet chart