Shangri LinguaHow to say “salty” in Thai
เค็ม
/kʰem/
เค็ม means salty.
Pronunciation and usage
Tone: mid
This describes the taste. Salt itself is a different word, เกลือ (gluea).
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
- เค็มมาก
kem mâak/kʰem mâːk/
Very salty.
- ไม่เค็ม
mâi kem/mâj kʰem/
Not salty.
How it’s spelled
Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of เค็ม 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.
- ค
“k” starts the word.
kho khwai, from ควาย (buffalo)Low class
A rounded top, with the head curling inside at the top left, and two legs.
- ็
Makes เ short: “e” instead of “ay”.
mai taikhu
A small figure, like a tiny 8.
- ม
“m” ends 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.
Why the tone is mid
- It starts with ค, which is low class.
- There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
- It ends in “m”, a sound you can hold, so the syllable is live.
- Low class and live gives a mid 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 tastes
- เผ็ด
pèt/pʰèt/
- เปรี้ยว
bprîao/prîaw/
- หวาน
wǎan/wǎːn/
- อร่อย
à-ròi/ʔà.rɔ̀ːj/
Learn these words together in the lesson Have you eaten yet?, or browse all Thai vocabulary.