Animals
turtle, tortoise noun
- dtào low
- Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
Classifier: ตัวdtua · counting word for animals, clothes, tables and chairs
A symbol of long life.
You'll hear it in Tao Ngoi (เต่างอย).
How to use it
เต่าdtào has a low tone and starts with an unaspirated dt. A sea turtle is เต่าทะเลdtào tá-lee, and the Thai letter ตdtaw is named after the turtle: ต เต่าdtaw dtào.
Turtles are a byword for slowness: someone who dawdles is "slow as a turtle", ช้าเป็นเต่าcháa bpen dtào.
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:
- tao
- tau
- taow
- tow
More animals in Thai
All animals
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones