Animals
dog noun everyday
- mǎa rising
- Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”
Classifier: ตัวdtua · counting word for animals, clothes, tables and chairs
dog (polite, formal: signs and news) noun
- sù low
- nák high
- Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
- High: start high and go a little higher, a bit tense; don’t let it fall.
How to use it
หมาmǎa is the everyday word, with a rising tone. สุนัขsù-nák is the polite, formal word you'll see on signs and hear on the news; some Thais prefer it because หมาmǎa is also a crude insult. A puppy is ลูกหมาlûuk-mǎa, and the street dogs of every soi are หมาจรmǎa jawn.
Get the tone right: หมาmǎa (rising) is a dog, ม้าmáa (high) a horse and มาmaa (mid) means "come".
Don't mix it up
-
ม้าmáa
horse
High and level: a horse.
-
มาmaa
to come
Flat, mid tone: to come.
Other spellings you'll see
There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:
- ma
- mah
- mha
- soonak
More animals in Thai
All animals
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Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones