Shangri LinguaHow to say “word” in Thai
คำ
/kʰam/
คำ means word.
Pronunciation and usage
Tone: mid
This also means a bite or a mouthful, so you can ask for just one คำ of someone’s food.
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
- คำนี้แปลว่าอะไร
kam née bplae wâa à-rai?/kʰam níː plɛː wâː ʔà.raj/
What does this word mean?
How it’s spelled
Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of คำ in the order you’d write it.
- 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.
- ำ
The vowel “am”. Written after the consonant, with its ring above.
sara am
A small ring above and า next to it, as a single letter.
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 on a vowel that always counts as 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 teaches คำ 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 language
Browse all Thai vocabulary.