Thai script

The Thai script (Thai: อักษรไทย, RTGS: akson thai) is the abugida used to write Thai, Southern Thai and many other languages spoken in Thailand.

It has 44 consonant symbols and 16 vowel symbols. These vowels can be placed in different positions around the consonant. There are also marks that show tone and other sounds.

Although often called the Thai alphabet, it is not a simple alphabet. It is an abugida. Each main symbol stands for a consonant sound. Extra marks are added to show vowels and tones. When no vowel mark is added, the consonant has a default sound, usually like “a” or “o”.

Letters in Thai script are written horizontally from left to right. Vowels that come after the consonant in speaking are shown in special positions — above, below, or to the sides. This makes the script interesting and useful for writing the sounds of Thai.

History

The Thai script started from the Old Khmer script. The Khmer script came from the South Indian Pallava alphabet and the ancient Brahmi tradition. The earliest Thai script is called the Sukhothai script. A famous example is the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription from 1292, though some experts think it might not be completely real.

Later changes added tone markers to show new sounds. These sounds came from languages like some Dravidian languages, Indo-Aryan languages, and Mon-Khmer languages, which are part of the Austroasiatic languages family. The scripts also began writing some consonant clusters next to each other instead of on top of each other, but these ways of writing did not stay for long.

Orthography

The Thai script has a complex relationship between spelling and sound. Some sounds have two letters that sound the same but change the tone of the word. This happened because the Thai language changed over time. Thai also borrowed many words from Sanskrit and Pali, so the script includes extra letters to keep the original spellings of these words. This means some letters are silent and not pronounced.

Thai letters do not have uppercase and lowercase forms like Latin letters. Spaces are usually used to separate words, but commas and periods can also mark pauses in sentences. There are special symbols for abbreviations and older characters that marked the start or end of sections, though some of these are no longer used.

Thai script is used to write Thai and many other languages spoken in Thailand. Unlike some other scripts, Thai does not use conjunct consonants or independent vowels. Instead, it uses consonant symbols combined with vowel symbols to form syllables.

There are 44 consonant letters in Thai, representing 21 distinct sounds. These consonants are divided into three classes: middle, high, and low. Vowels in Thai are written using 16 vowel symbols that combine in various ways around the consonants. The script also includes four tone diacritics that help indicate the tone of a word, which is important in Thai because it is a tonal language.

Summary charts

The Thai script is used to write the Thai language and some other languages spoken in Thailand. It has 44 consonant symbols, 16 vowel symbols, and four tone marks. These help show how words are pronounced. Though many call it an alphabet, it is really an abugida. This means each symbol stands for a consonant, and vowels are added with special marks. If no vowel mark is used, the consonant has a default sound, often “a” or “o”.

Sanskrit and Pali

The Thai script can also write Sanskrit and Pali, two important languages in Thailand. Pali is closely related to Sanskrit and is used in Thai Buddhism. It is written with a slightly changed Thai script.

In Pali, each consonant has an automatic short “a” sound. If this sound should not be used, a special symbol called pinthu is added.

For example, the word “namo” is written นะโม in Thai but นโม in Pali because the “ะ” is not needed. The Sanskrit word “mantra” is written มนตร์ in Thai but มนฺตฺร in Sanskrit. When writing Pali, fewer consonants and vowels are used than in normal Thai.

In Thailand, Sanskrit words are read using Thai sounds for the consonants, which can make them hard for experts to understand. The vowels in Thai are mostly the same as in Sanskrit, but a few keep their Thai sounds. Even though Sanskrit and Pali do not use tones, Thai tones are used when reading these languages out loud.

Sukhothai

Further information: Sukhothai script

The Thai script started from the Sukhothai script. This older writing system helped make the letters and sounds we use today in Thailand to write many languages.

Unicode

Main article: Thai (Unicode block)

The Thai script was added to the Unicode Standard in October 1991. The Thai script uses a special set of characters called U+0E00–U+0E7F. This set is a copy of an older character set named TIS-620. It includes special ways to write some vowels before the consonants. This makes Thai, along with Lao, Tai Viet, and New Tai Lue, different from other Brahmic scripts in how they arrange letters.

Keyboard layouts

Thai characters can be typed using the Kedmanee layout and the Pattachote layout. These are the two main ways people write Thai words on a computer or phone.