Shangri Lingua

How to say “pork” in Thai

หมู

mǒo

/mǔː/

หมู means pork.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: rising

This word also means “pig”. Menus usually spell it moo, as in moo ping, grilled pork skewers.

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

  • ชอบกินหมู

    chôp gin mǒo/t͡ɕʰɔ̂ːp kin mǔː/

    I like eating pork.

  • หมูปิ้ง

    mǒo bpîng/mǔː pîŋ/

    Grilled pork skewers.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ห

    Silent, and written only to change the tone: it makes the next letter follow high class rules.

    ho hip, from หีบ (chest)High class

    Like ท, with a small extra loop at the top of the right leg. Also silently raises the letter after it.

  • ม

    “m” is the sound that 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.

  •  ู

    The vowel “long u”. Hangs below the consonant.

    sara uu

    Like sara u, with a loop added.

Why the tone is rising

  1. The silent ห in front gives ม high class rules.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends on a long vowel, which you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. High class 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 has a Thai writing course that teaches every letter in this word. You write 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 meats

Learn these words together in the lesson Have you eaten yet?, or browse all Thai vocabulary.