Shangri Lingua

How to say “child” in Thai

เด็ก

dèk

/dèk/

เด็ก means child.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: low

This means a child in general. For someone’s own son or daughter, use ลูก (lôok).

Reading the romanization: the mark over a vowel shows its tone. bp and dt are a p and a t with no puff of air, while plain p, t and k have the puff. The IPA shows the exact sounds, and Learn the IPA explains how to read it.

Examples

  • เด็กเล่นในบ้าน

    dèk lên nai bâan/dèk lên naj bâːn/

    The children are playing in the house.

How it’s spelled

Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of เด็ก in the order you’d write it.

  • เ

    The vowel “ay”. Written first, but heard after the consonant.

    sara e

    One tall stroke with a small loop at the bottom. Compare แ.

  • ด

    “d” starts the word.

    do dek, from เด็ก (child)Mid class

    A rounded top, with the line curling back inside at the top left. Compare ต.

  •  ็

    Makes เ short: “e” instead of “ay”.

    mai taikhu

    A small figure, like a tiny 8.

  • ก

    “k” ends the word.

    ko kai, from ไก่ (chicken)Mid class

    No loop at all: a beak at the top left and two legs. Compare ภ and ถ, which add a loop.

Why the tone is low

  1. It starts with ด, which is mid class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “k”, a sound that stops short, so the syllable is dead.
  4. Mid class and dead gives a low tone.

New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches เด็ก in its Thai writing course. You write the word one letter at a time, with your finger or Apple Pencil, and the app checks each letter and gives you more help if you get stuck. Get it on the App Store.

More people and family

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