LESSON NOTES

Thai Alphabet Made Easy #25

๗, ๘, ๙, and ๑๐ (Numbers 7-10 in Thai),

and Irregular Spellings

CONTENTS
2 Grammar

# 25
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GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson is Learning how to Write the Numbers 7, 8, 9 and 0 in Thai, Plus
Some Irregular Words

Number 7 - ๗

The number 7 is เจ็ด (jèt) in Thai.

•
To write it: start with a small clockwise head. Then make a heart shape that is open
on the bottom. And then add a tail that goes off to the upper right - ๗

* Note that the tone mark เจ็ด (mái-dtrii), Lesson 19, have the same shape.

Number 8 - ๘

The number 8 is แปด (bpàaet) in Thai.

•
To write it: start with a clockwise head, then a line with one bump in it going to the left
that then curves up around the top of the number - ๘

*Note that the same shape is used for the symbol ไมไตคู (mái-dtài-khúu), Lesson 7, which is
written as part of the short vowel สระ เอะ (sà-rà è) when it has a final consonant following it.

Number 9 - ๙

The number 9 is เกา (gâo) in Thai.

T HAI POD101.COM T HAI ALPHABET MADE EAS Y #25 - ๗, ๘, ๙, AND ๑๐ (NUMBERS 7-10 I N T HAI ), AND I RREGULAR S PELLI NGS 2
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To write it: start with a clockwise head at the bottom. Then the line curves over the top
and straightens out. And it finishes with a little zig-zag shape in the upper right - ๙

Number 0 - ๐

The number zero is ศูนย (sǔun) in Thai.

•
Since it looks almost the same as the zero from Arabic numerals is easy to
remember. The only real difference is that ศูนย is drawn shorter and wider - ๐

Now let's practice writing the numbers from 1 to 10.

๑, ๒, ๓, ๔, ๕, ๖, ๗, ๘, ๙, ๑๐

Irregular Spellings

Thai has a few irregular spellings, but even the irregular spellings tend to follow their own
special rules that can be learned.

•
The first irregular rule is that the consonant pair of ท and ร act like the letter ซ. So
they make an S sound.

For example:

ทราย (saai), which means "sand."

The cluster ท and ร make an initial S sound.

T HAI POD101.COM T HAI ALPHABET MADE EAS Y #25 - ๗, ๘, ๙, AND ๑๐ (NUMBERS 7-10 I N T HAI ), AND I RREGULAR S PELLI NGS 3
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The next common irregularity is the silent ร . This will happen in words where ร forms
consonant clusters with จ , ซ, ศ and ส. When these happens, ร which is the second
half of the cluster will not be pronounced.

For example:

จริง (jing), which means "real."

It has an initial consonant cluster of จ and ร . But the ร is silent. So we pronounce this word as
จิง (jing).

•
Another important irregular spelling happens with the combination of อ and ย at the
beginning of a word. ย is a low class consonant. But we can make it act like a mid
class consonant by putting a silent อ in front of it. There are only 4 words that do this,
and since are common should be memorized.

The 4 words are อยา (yàa), อยู (yùu), อยาง (yàang), อยาก (yàak).

All 4 of these words have a low tone. The first 3 use the tone mark mái-èek to make a low
tone, and the last word is low tone because it has a dead syllable ending. You might notice
that you can replace อ with ห and get the same pronunciation (find the rule on Lesson 15).
Only we are using อ instead of ห for these 4 words.

It is easier to remember these four words in this order because they form an idiom.

*อยา (yàa) means "dont." อยู (yùu) means "to stay." อยาง (yàang) means "a type" or "a
style." อยาก (yàak) means "to want."

So the phrase อยาอยูอยางอยาก can be translated as "Don't exist in a state of desire" . It is

also much like the English idiom "Want for nothing."

T HAI POD101.COM T HAI ALPHABET MADE EAS Y #25 - ๗, ๘, ๙, AND ๑๐ (NUMBERS 7-10 I N T HAI ), AND I RREGULAR S PELLI NGS 4
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The last irregular Thai word that we will learn is the word ไทย (thai) itself. If you look
at how we spell the word Thai, you'll see that it has the initial consonant ท, with the
vowel สระ ไอ. Then there is the letter ย stuck on the end. The ย doesn't really need
to be there, and it doesn't change the sound of the word at all. But that's the way it is
spelled.

Pronunciation Tip

Nowadays the younger generation of Thai people is getting very free and relaxed about how
they spell words, especially with online communication. When you make friends with Thai
people online, you might notice many slang words and strange spellings that you don't
recognize at first and can't find in the dictionary. But don't give up, as your Thai vocabulary
increases you'll get better at figuring out what people are really saying.

T HAI POD101.COM T HAI ALPHABET MADE EAS Y #25 - ๗, ๘, ๙, AND ๑๐ (NUMBERS 7-10 I N T HAI ), AND I RREGULAR S PELLI NGS 5