Silent letters and odd spellings: ◌์, รร, ฤ, ๆ, ฯ

Thai borrowed many words from Sanskrit, Pali and English and kept their spelling while dropping some sounds. Here are the marks and habits that tell you what to skip or repeat.

◌์gaa-ran: the silencer

A letter with ◌์gaa-ran above it isn't pronounced:

• เบียร์bia beer, แอร์ae air conditioning, เบอร์boe (phone) number
• ศูนย์sǔun zero, สัตว์sàt animal, อาทิตย์aa-tít week; Sunday
• sometimes two letters go quiet: จันทร์jan (moon; Monday)

Loanwords love it: คอมพิวเตอร์kawm-piu-dtôe (computer), ฟิล์มfim (film).

Silent final vowels

In some Pali and Sanskrit words the last vowel isn't said: ชาติchâat (nation), ญาติyâat (relatives).

รรraw hǎn: double r

Two รraw in a row act as a vowel:

• with a consonant after them they sound a: ธรรมtam (dharma)
• at the end of a syllable they sound an: กรรไกรgan-grai (scissors)

ธรรมดาtam-má-daa (ordinary, regular) also adds a linking má: tam + má + daa.

ฤrúe

An old letter-vowel from Sanskrit. Usually it's rue, as in ฤดูrúe-duu (season); sometimes ri, as in อังกฤษang-grìt (English).

ๆmái-yá-mók: say it again

ๆmái-yá-mók repeats the word before it: ช้าๆcháa-cháa (slowly), เด็กๆdèk-dèk (the kids).

ฯbpai-yaan-náwy: cut short

ฯbpai-yaan-náwy marks a long name that has been shortened; read only what's written. กรุงเทพฯgrung-têep (Bangkok) stands for a ceremonial name that's famously long. ฯลฯlá means "etc." and is read lá.

Typical mistake: pronouncing the letter under ◌์gaa-ran. เบียร์bia has no r at all.