Shangri Lingua

How to say “weather” in Thai

อากาศ

aa-gàat

/ʔaː.kàːt/

อากาศ means air, weather.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid, low

This means both the air and the weather. อากาศดี (aa-gàat dee), “good air”, is the Thai way to say it’s a nice day.

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

  • อากาศที่นี่เย็นสบาย

    aa-gàat têe nêe yen sà-baai/ʔaː.kàːt tʰîː nîː jen sà.baːj/

    The weather here is pleasantly cool.

How it’s spelled

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

  • อ

    A silent starter: a syllable that begins with a vowel still needs a consonant to carry it.

    o ang, from อ่าง (basin)Mid class

    A closed egg shape with a small head inside at the top. Carries a vowel when a syllable starts with one.

  • า

    The vowel “long a”: “aa”.

    sara aa

    A hook over the top and a straight drop down.

  • ก

    “g” starts the second syllable.

    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.

  • า

    The vowel “long a”.

    sara aa

    A hook over the top and a straight drop down.

  • ศ

    Sounds like “t” at the end: “gàat”.

    so sala, from ศาลา (pavilion)High class

    Like ค, with a tail rising on the right.

Why the tones are mid, low

  1. Aa: อ is mid class with a long vowel, so it’s live. Mid and live gives a mid tone.
  2. Gàat: ก is mid class and it ends in “t”, so it’s dead. Mid and dead gives a low tone.

New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches อากาศ 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 nature and weather

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