Shangri Lingua

How to say “giant” in Thai

ยักษ์

yák

/ják/

ยักษ์ means giant.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

These giants come from Thai and Hindu mythology. You’ll see them standing guard at temple gates, including at Wat Arun and Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok.

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

  • ยักษ์ยืนเฝ้าวัด

    yák yuen fâo wát/ják jɯːn fâw wát/

    A giant stands guard at the temple.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ย

    “y” starts the word.

    yo yak, from ยักษ์ (giant)Low class

    A loop at the top, an S-curve down the left, and a flat base.

  •  ั

    The vowel “short a”. Sits on top, when a final consonant follows, as in รัก.

    mai han akat

    A small loop with a stroke rising to the right.

  • 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.

  • ษ

    Not heard, because of the mark above it.

    so ruesi, from ฤๅษี (hermit)High class

    Like บ, with a loop and a stroke across the middle that pokes out on the right.

  •  ์

    Thanthakhat: it silences the letter it sits on.

    thanthakhat

    A small curl with a tail. Not actually a tone mark.

Why write a letter nobody says? This word comes from Sanskrit yakṣa. Thai kept the ษ from the original spelling to show where the word came from, but dropped its sound, so thanthakhat marks it as silent.

Why the tone is high

  1. It starts with ย, which is low 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. Low class and dead depends on the vowel too. This one is short, which gives a high tone.

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

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches ยักษ์ 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.

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