The mid class: ก จ ด ต บ ป อ

Seven letters to start with

Thai has 44 consonants. Don't panic. Nobody learns them in a day, and you are not going to try. Today you get seven, and I picked the well-behaved ones: at the start of a syllable each has one sound, and it keeps it. Some of them do something else at the end of a syllable, but that is a few lessons away.

ก says g, the k in sky. จ says j, as in jam. ด says d and บ says b, exactly the way you already do.

Then there are ต and ป. People will tell you English doesn't have these sounds. It does; it just hides them. Say "top", then say "stop", with your hand in front of your mouth. The t in "top" comes with a little puff of air. The t in "stop" doesn't. That second one, the puff-free t, is ต. Same with p: the p in "pin" has the puff, the p in "spin" doesn't, and ป is the "spin" one. If you want to feel it on its own, say "spin" and then say it again without the s. We write them dt and bp, which looks odd on purpose. It is there to stop your English mouth from putting the puff back.

And อ. อ has no sound of its own. Think of it as a chair: a vowel that has nowhere to sit sits on อ. So อา aa is just the vowel aa, with อ holding the seat.

• กาก + ◌า → gaa. A crow.
• ตาthe t of stop → dtaa. An eye.
• ปาthe p of spin → bpaa. To throw.
• อาอ holds the seat → aa. Your dad's younger brother or sister.

Three vowels, and where they sit

Here is the first thing that surprises everyone: a Thai vowel does not always come after its consonant. It can sit after it, on top of it, or underneath it. Later on, some sit in front. (Yes, in front. We'll get there.)

The dotted circle ◌ is a placeholder that means "a consonant goes here". You will see it a lot.

◌า sits after the consonant and says aa, like the a in father. ◌ี sits on top and says ii, like the ee in see. ◌ู hangs underneath and says uu, like the oo in moon.

All three are long. In our romanization a doubled letter always means a long vowel, so stretch it a little.

• ดี◌ี on top → dii. Good.
• ปู◌ู underneath → bpuu. Crab.
• ตี◌ี on top → dtii. To hit.

Every letter has a name

Thai letters have names, the way English letters do, except the names are little words. ก is gaaw gài: the gaaw part is the sound with a long "aw" after it, and ไก่ gài means chicken. So ก is "g, as in chicken". Thai kids chant these, and so will you, because when someone spells a word out loud, this is what they say.

One thing before you go back to the chart. The name-words are real Thai words, and some of them use tricks you haven't learned yet. ไก่ gài has a tone mark. ปลา bplaa has two consonants stuck together. เต่า dtào wraps its vowel round the letter. Don't try to read them. Say them, copy them, and let them be. In a few lessons you will read them properly and feel very smug.

The mid class

One last thing, and it's a big one, so I'll say it plainly. Thai sorts its consonants into three classes: mid, high and low. The class of a letter is half of what decides a word's tone. The other half comes later.

Your seven letters, plus two rare cousins ฎ and ฏ that you will hardly ever meet, make up the mid class. All nine of it. That's the whole class, done.

And here's the good news: a mid-class letter with a long vowel and nothing else is read flat, on a mid tone. กา gaa. ดี dii. ปู bpuu. No rising, no falling, nothing to work out. Enjoy it while it lasts.