Shangri LinguaHow to say “horse” in Thai
ม้า
/máː/
ม้า means horse.
Pronunciation and usage
Tone: high
The tone mark is all that separates this from มา (maa), “to come”. Say the wrong tone and you’re talking about something else.
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
- ม้าวิ่งเร็วมาก
máa wîng reo mâak/máː wîŋ rew mâːk/
Horses run very fast.
How it’s spelled
Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of ม้า in the order you’d write it.
- ม
“m” starts the word.
mo ma, from ม้า (horse)Low class
A loop at the top left, a second loop at the bottom left, and a W-shaped base. Compare น.
- ้
Mai tho, a tone mark. It goes above the consonant.
mai tho
A small curve, like a tiny 2.
- า
The vowel “long a”. Written after the consonant.
sara aa
A hook over the top and a straight drop down.
Why the tone is high
- It starts with ม, which is low class.
- It has mai tho. Low class with mai tho gives a high tone.
Mai tho doesn’t always mean one tone: it gives a falling tone on mid and high class letters, and a high tone on low class.
New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.
Learn to write it
The Shangri Lingua app teaches ม้า 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 animals
- แมว
maew/mɛːw/
- หมา
mǎa/mǎː/
- ช้าง
cháang/t͡ɕʰáːŋ/
- ปู
bpoo/puː/
- งู
ngoo/ŋuː/
- กา
gaa/kaː/
Browse all Thai vocabulary.