Shangri Lingua

How to say “small” in Thai

เล็ก

lék

/lék/

เล็ก means small.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: high

This is about size. For a small amount of something, Thai uses น้อย (nói) instead.

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

  • บ้านของฉันเล็ก

    bâan kǒng chǎn lék/bâːn kʰɔ̌ːŋ t͡ɕʰǎn lék/

    My house is small.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ล

    “l” starts the word.

    lo ling, from ลิง (monkey)Low class

    An arch with a loop at the foot on the left. Compare ส.

  •  ็

    Makes เ short: “e” instead of “ay”.

    mai taikhu

    A small figure, like a tiny 8.

  • 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.

Why the tone is high

  1. It starts with ล, 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 เล็ก 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 size and length

Browse all Thai vocabulary.