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Independent vowels

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Independent vowels are mainly reserved for writing Pali words, except for ᩐᩣ /ʔau/ which is used as a special vowel sign and not for Pali words.[1]

Tai Tham IPA Transliteration
  /áʔ/ a
ᩋᩣ   /āː/ aa
  /íʔ/ i
  /īː/ ii
  /úʔ/ u
  /ūː/ uu
  /ēː/ e
  /ōː/ o
  /li/, /lɯ̄ː/,

/lɯ᷇ʔ/, /lɤː/[2]

rue, ruue,

ri, roe[2]

  lue, luue,

li, loe[2]

ᩐᩣ   /aw/ aw, au, ao

Consonants table

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Group Consonant Subjoined

form

Transliteration IPA Class Equivalence in relating scripts
Initial Final Initial Final Burmese New Tai Lue Khmer Thai Lao
Ka

(ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼​ ᨠ)

  -᩠ᨠ k k /kǎ/ [k̚] high က
  -᩠ᨡ x k /xǎ/ [k̚] high
   – x  – /xǎ/ [k̚] high - -
  -᩠ᨣ k k /ka᷇/ [k̚] low
   – x  – /xa᷇/ [k̚] low -
  -᩠ᨥ x k /xa᷇/ [k̚] low -   (modern: ຄ)
  -᩠ᨦ ng ng /ŋa᷇/ [ŋ] low
Cha

(ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼​ ᨧ)

  -᩠ᨧ j t /t͡ɕǎ/ [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨨ s  – /sǎ/ high -   (modern: ສ)
  -᩠ᨩ j t /t͡ɕa᷇/ [t̚] low
   – s t /sa᷇/ [t̚] low -
  -᩠ᨫ s  – /sa᷇/ low -   (modern: ຊ)
  -᩠ᨬ y n /ɲa᷇/ or /ja᷇/[3] [n] low -   (modern: ຍ)
Rata

(ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼​ ᨭ)

  -᩠ᨭ t t /tǎ/ [t̚] high -   (modern: ຕ)
  -᩠ᨮ, -ᩛ th t /tʰǎ/ [t̚] high -   (modern: ຖ)
  -᩠ᨯ d or th t /dǎ/ [t̚] mid ฑ, ด   (modern: ທ, ດ)
  -᩠ᨰ th t /tʰa᷇/ [t̚] low -   (modern: ທ)
  -᩠ᨱ n n /na᷇/ [n] low -   (modern: ນ)
Ta

(ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼​ ᨲ)

  -᩠ᨲ t t /tǎ/ [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨳ th t /tʰǎ/ [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨴ t t /ta᷇/ [t̚] low
  -᩠ᨵ th t /tʰa᷇/ [t̚] low   (modern: ທ)
  -᩠ᨶ n n /na᷇/ [n] low
Pa

(ᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼​ ᨷ)

  -᩠ᨷ b​ or p p /bǎ/ or /pǎ/ [p̚] mid
  -᩠ᨸ p p /pǎ/ [p̚] high
  -᩠ᨹ ph  – /pʰǎ/ high
  - f  – /fǎ/ high
  -᩠ᨻ p p /pa᷇/ [p̚] low
   – f p /fa᷇/ [p̚] low
  -᩠ᨽ ph p /pʰa᷇/ [p̚] low   (modern: ພ)
  -᩠ᨾ m m /ma᷇/ [m] low
Awak

(ᩋᩅᩢᨣ᩠ᨣ᩼)

  ᨿ -᩠ᨿ y or n /ɲa᷇/ or /ja᷇/ or [n] low ย ต่ำ
   – y  – /jǎ/  – mid ย กลาง, อย
  -᩠ᩁ -ᩕ h or l n /ha᷇/ or /la᷇/ [n] low ຣ (modern: ລ)
  -᩠ᩃ -ᩖ l n /la᷇/ [n] low
  -᩠ᩅ w /wa᷇/ low
  -᩠ᩆ s t /sǎ/ [t̚] high (modern: သ) - (modern: ស)   (modern: ສ)
  -᩠ᩇ s t /sǎ/ [t̚] high (modern: သ) - (modern: ស)   (modern: ສ)
  -᩠ᩈ s t /sǎ/ [t̚] high
  -᩠ᩉ h  – /hǎ/  – high
  -᩠ᩊ l n /la᷇/ [n] low -   (modern: ລ)
  -ᩬ  – /ʔǎ/  – mid
   – h  – /ha᷇/  – low - - -
  1. ^ Watcharasastr, Boonkid (2005). แบบเรียนภาษาเมืองล้านนา ᨷᩯ᩠ᨷᩁ᩠ᨿᩁᨽᩣᩇᩣᨾᩮᩬᩨᨦᩃ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨶᨶᩣ (in Thai). Chiang Mai: Thara Thong Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 9748547205.
  2. ^ a b c นาคสุข, ยุทธพร (4 สิงหาคม 2563). "อักษรธรรมล้านนาที่ประดิษฐ์ขึ้นเพิ่มเติมเพื่อใช้เขียนภาษาสันสกฤต". Humanities & Social Sciences. 37: 297–344. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ In Tai Lue

Consonant table reduced

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Group Consonant Subscript
form
Name Transliteration IPA Class
Translit. IPA Initial Final Initial Final
1. Wak Ka   -᩠ᨠ ka [kǎ] k k [k] [k̚] high
  -᩠ᨡ xa, kha [xǎ] x, kh k [x] [k̚] high
[a]    – xa, kha [xǎ] x, kh  – [x] [k̚] high
  -᩠ᨣ ka [ka᷇] k k [k] [k̚] low
[a]    – xa, kha [xa᷇] x, kh  – [x] [k̚] low
  -᩠ᨥ xa, kha [xa᷇] x, kh k [x] [k̚] low
  -᩠ᨦ nga [ŋa᷇] ng ng [ŋ] [ŋ] low
2. Wak Ja   -᩠ᨧ ja, ca [t͡ɕǎ] j, c t [t͡ɕ] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨨ sa, cha [sǎ] s, ch  – [s] high
  -᩠ᨩ ja, ca [t͡ɕa᷇] j, c t [t͡ɕ] [t̚] low
[a]    – sa [sa᷇] s t [s] [t̚] low
 ,   -᩠ᨫ sa, cha [sa᷇] s, ch t [s] [t̚] low
  -᩠ᨬ nya [ɲa᷇] ny, y n [ɲ], [j][b] [n] low
3. Wak Rata   -᩠ᨭ rata [lǎ.tǎ] t t [t] [t̚] high
 ,   -᩠ᨮ , -ᩛ ratha [lǎ.tʰǎ] th t [tʰ] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨯ da [dǎ] d, th[c] t [d], [tʰ][c] [t̚] mid
  -᩠ᨰ ratha [lǎ.tʰa᷇] th t [tʰ] [t̚] low
  -᩠ᨱ rana [lǎ.na᷇] n n [n] [n] low
4. Wak Ta   -᩠ᨲ ta [tǎ] t t [t] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨳ tha [tʰǎ] th t [tʰ] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᨴ ta [ta᷇] t t [t] [t̚] low
  -᩠ᨵ tha [tʰa᷇] th t [tʰ] [t̚] low
  -᩠ᨶ na [na᷇] n n [n] [n] low
5. Wak Pa   -᩠ᨷ , -ᩝ ba [bǎ] b​, p p [b], [p][d] [p̚] mid
[a]    – pa [pǎ] p p [p] [p̚] high
  -᩠ᨹ pha [pʰǎ] ph  – [pʰ]  – high
[a]    – fa [fǎ] f  – [f]  – high
  -᩠ᨻ , -ᩛ pa [pa᷇] p p [p] [p̚] low
[a]    – fa [fa᷇] f p [f] [p̚] low
  -᩠ᨽ pha [pʰa᷇] ph p [pʰ] [p̚] low
  -᩠ᨾ , -ᩜ ma [ma᷇] m m [m] [m] low
6. Awak ᨿ   -᩠ᨿ nya [ɲa᷇] ny, y  – [ɲ], [j][b]  – low
[a]    – ya [jǎ] y  – [j]  – mid
  -᩠ᩁ , -ᩕ ra, la [la᷇] r,[e] l, h n [r],[c] [l],[c] [h] [n] low
  -᩠ᩃ​ , ​-ᩖ la [la᷇] l n [l] [n] low
  -᩠ᩅ wa [wa᷇] w [w] low
  -᩠ᩆ sa [sǎ] s t [s] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᩇ sa [sǎ] s t [s] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᩈ , -ᩞ sa [sǎ] s t [s] [t̚] high
  -᩠ᩉ ha [hǎ] h  – [h]  – high
  -᩠ᩊ la [la᷇] l n [l] [n] low
 ,   -ᩬ a [ʔǎ]  –  – [ʔ]  – mid
[a]    – ha [ha᷇] h  – [h]  – low
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Added consonant invented for Tai sound, as an extension to the original chategorized Pali 'vagga' consonants. These consonants have the characteristics of lacking the subscript form.
  2. ^ a b In Tai Lue language
  3. ^ a b c d Influence from Thai, Pali, and Sanskrit languages.
  4. ^ For Pali and Sanskrit words.
  5. ^ Often transliterated as 'r' to preserve the semantics for Thai and Pali-Sanskrit words.

Consonant digraphs and ligatures

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Consonant

digraphs

Name Transliteration IPA Class
Translit. IPA Initial Final Initial Final
ᩉ᩠ᨦ nga [ŋǎ] ng  – [ŋ]  – high
ᩉ᩠ᨶ na [nǎ] n  – [n]  – high
ᩉ᩠ᨾ ma [mǎ] m  – [m]  – high
ᩉ᩠ᨿ nya [ɲǎ] ny  – [ɲ], [j][a]  – high
ᩉᩕ ra, la, ha [rǎ], [lǎ], [hǎ] r,[b] l, h  – [r],[c] [l],[c] [h]  – high
ᩉᩖ​, ᩉ᩠ᩃ la [lǎ] l  – [l]  – high
ᩉ᩠ᩅ wa [wǎ] w  – [w]  – high
Letter Name Phonetic value

(IPA)

Tham Translit. IPA
 ,  [d] ᩃᩯᩡ,​ ᩃᩯ lae [lɛ̄ː] [lɛʔ], [lɛ̄ː]
ᨶᩣ  [e] ᨶᩣ naa [nāː] [nāː]
ᨬ᩠ᨬ  [f] ᨬᨬ nya nya [ɲa᷇ʔ ɲa᷇ʔ] [n.ɲ]
  ᩈ​​​ ᩈᩬᨦᩉᩬ᩶ᨦ sa song hong [sǎː sɔ̌ːŋ hɔ᷇ːŋ] [t̚.s], [s̚.s]
  ᩁᩁᩰᩫ᩠ᨦ rarong, rahong la᷇.hōːŋ [r], [l], [ʰ]

In dictionary, letter ᩂ​ and ᩄ are often put in the consonant list following the letter ᩁ and ᩃ respectively. However, they are a syllabary (also a vowel) and not a consonant letter.

Superscript final consonants

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ᨷᨠᨲᩥ ᩁᩪ᩠ᨷ ᨳᩬᨯ​​ᩋᨠ᩠ᨡᩁ ᨳᩬᨯ​ᨩᩨ᩵ ᩈ᩠ᨿᨦ ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫ​ᩀ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨦ ᩋ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨶ​ᩅ᩵ᩤ
    ไม้กั๋ก, กะปู๋ยาด /k/ ᨧᩢ ᨯᩬᩢᩡ​​ ᩉ᩠ᨾᩣᩢ ᨧᩢ᩠ᨠ​ ᨯᩬᨠ​ ᩉ᩠ᨾᩣ᩠ᨠ
    /ŋ/ ᨩ᩠ᨿᩙᨲᩩᨦ ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦᨲᩩᨦ
    ร, น /n/ ᨡ᩠ᨿ᩺ ᨡ᩠ᨿᩁ
ᨣᨻᩚ ᨣᩢᨻ᩠ᨻ
ᨯ᩠ᨿᩴ ᨯ᩠ᨿᩅ

Tones conjugation

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A couple of high-class and low-class consonant letters are used for conjugating the 6 tones. Unlike standard Thai, Northern Thai has 8 tones: 6 for live syllable, 2 for dead syllable. Each character

IPA High class Low class
[k]
[x] ᨡ,​ ᨢ ᨤ,​ ᨥ
[ŋ] ᩉ᩠ᨦ
[t͡ɕ]
[s] ᨨ,​ ᩆ,​ ᩇ,​ ᩈ ᨪ,​ ᨫ
[ɲ] ᨬ,​ ᨿ ᩉ᩠ᨬ,​ ᩉ᩠ᨿ
[t] ᨭ,​ ᨲ
[tʰ] ᨮ,​ ᨳ ᨰ,​ ᨵ
[n] ᨱ,​ ᨶ ᩉ᩠ᨶ
[p]
[pʰ]
[f]
[m] ᩉ᩠ᨾ
[r] ᩉᩕ
[l] ᩉᩖ,​ ᩉ᩠ᩃ, ᩉᩕ ᩃ,​ ᩊ, ᩁ
[h] ᩉ,​ ᩉᩕ ᩌ, ᩁ
[w] ᩉ᩠ᩅ

Relation with other scripts

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Group Tai Tham Burmese New Tai Lue Khmer Thai Lao
Unicode Lanna style
1. Wak Ka   က
 
   –  –  –  –
 
   –  –  –
   –  

(modern: ຄ)

 
2. Wak Ja  
   –  

(modern: ສ)

 
   –  –  –
   –  

(modern: ຊ)

   –  

(modern: ຍ)

3. Wak Rata    –  

(modern: ຕ)

   –  

(modern: ຖ)

  ฑ, ฎ, ด  

(modern: ທ, ດ)

   –  

(modern: ທ)

   –  

(modern: ນ)

4. Wak Ta  
 
 
   

(modern: ທ)

 
5. Wak Pa  
   –  –
 
   –  –
 
   –  –
   

(modern: ພ)

 
6. Awak ᨿ  
   –  – อย
 

(modern: ລ)

 
 
  (modern: သ)  – (modern: ស)  

(modern: ສ)

  (modern: သ)  – (modern: ស)  

(modern: ສ)

 
 
   –  

(modern: ລ)

 
   –  –  –
7. Special    –  –
   –  –

Sanskrit

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Sanskrit possesses a symmetric consonantal phoneme structure based on how the sound is articulated, though the actual usage of these sounds conceals the lack of parallelism in the apparent symmetry possibly from historical changes within the language.[1]

Sanskrit and Pali consonants in Tai Tham
sparśa(Plosive) anunāsika(Nasal) antastha(Approximant) ūṣman/saṃgharṣhī(Fricative)
Voicing aghoṣa ghoṣa aghoṣa
Aspiration alpaprāṇa mahāprāṇa alpaprāṇa mahāprāṇa alpaprāṇa mahāprāṇa
kaṇṭhya(Guttural) ka[k] kha[] ga[ɡ] gha[ɡʱ] ṅa[ŋ] ha[ɦ]
tālavya(Palatal) ca[t͜ɕ] cha[t͜ɕʰ] ja[d͜ʑ] jha[d͜ʑʱ] ña[ɲ] ᨿ ya[j] śa[ɕ]
mūrdhanya(Retroflex) ṭa[ʈ] ṭha[ʈʰ] ḍa[ɖ] ḍha[ɖʱ] ṇa[ɳ] ra[ɽ] ṣa[ʂ]
dantya(Dental) ta[t] tha[] da[d] dha[] na[n] la[l] sa[s]
oṣṭhya(Labial) pa[p] pha[] ba[b] bha[] ma[m] va[ʋ]

Sanskrit had a series of retroflex stops originating as conditioned alternants of dentals, albeit by Sanskrit they had become phonemic.[1]


  1. ^ In Tai Lue language
  2. ^ Often transliterated as 'r' to preserve the semantics for Thai and Pali-Sanskrit words.
  3. ^ a b Influence from Thai, Pali, and Sanskrit languages.
  4. ^ Khuen/Lue style.
  5. ^ Ligature of ᨶ and vowel sign ᩣ.
  6. ^ Combination between letter ᨱ and ᨬ.
  1. ^ a b Jamison 2008, pp. 9–10.