Shangri LinguaHow to say “language” in Thai
ภาษา
/pʰaː.sǎː/
ภาษา means language.
Pronunciation and usage
Tone: mid, rising
This comes from Sanskrit bhāṣā. It goes in front of a language’s name: ภาษาไทย is Thai and ภาษาจีน (paa-sǎa jeen) is Chinese.
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
- ภาษาไทยไม่ยาก
paa-sǎa tai mâi yâak/pʰaː.sǎː tʰaj mâj jâːk/
Thai isn’t hard.
How it’s spelled
Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of ภาษา in the order you’d write it.
- ภ
“p” starts the first syllable.
pho samphao, from สำเภา (sailing ship)Low class
Like ก, with a loop outside the left foot. Compare ถ, whose loop is inside.
- า
The vowel “long a”: “paa”.
sara aa
A hook over the top and a straight drop down.
- ษ
“s” starts the second syllable.
so ruesi, from ฤๅษี (hermit)High class
Like บ, with a loop and a stroke across the middle that pokes out on the right.
- า
The vowel “long a” again: “sǎa”.
sara aa
A hook over the top and a straight drop down.
Why the tones are mid, rising
- Paa: ภ is low class with a long vowel, so it’s live. Low and live gives a mid tone.
- Sǎa: ษ is high class with a long vowel, so it’s live. High and live gives a rising tone.
New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.
Learn to write it
The Shangri Lingua app teaches ภาษา 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 language
Browse all Thai vocabulary.