Shangri Lingua

How to say “soil” in Thai

ดิน

din

/din/

ดิน means soil, earth.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

It also turns up in ใต้ดิน (dtâi din), “underground”, and in ดินสอ (din-sǒr), the word for a pencil.

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

  • ดินตรงนี้ดีมาก

    din dtrong née dee mâak/din troŋ níː diː mâːk/

    The soil here is very good.

How it’s spelled

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

  • ด

    “d” starts the word.

    do dek, from เด็ก (child)Mid class

    A rounded top, with the line curling back inside at the top left. Compare ต.

  •  ิ

    The vowel “short i”. Sits on top of the consonant.

    sara i

    A low dome, closed along the bottom.

  • น

    “n” ends the word.

    no nu, from หนู (mouse)Low class

    A loop at the top left, ending in a small loop at the bottom right. Compare ม.

Why the tone is mid

  1. It starts with ด, which is mid class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends in “n”, a sound you can hold, so the syllable is live.
  4. Mid 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 teaches ดิน 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.

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