ฯลฯ ฿

For each of these characters, here is an explanation of the function. The dotted circle does not belong to the actual character, it only shows the position of the associated Consonants on.

 

MAI TAIKHU
ไม้ไต่คู้ [may/ tay\ khu:/] Shortens the vowel of the syllable

The syllable should be pronounced with a short vowel. Example:เจ็ด = [djet\] = 7. The existing vowel for a short "e" can used only in syllables without end consonant, therefore her is this sign used.

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MAI MAI JAMOK
ไม้ยมก [may/ ya/ mok/] Repetition of the last word

Sometimes a word is repeated to intensify it (ma:k = much, ma:k-ma:k = very much) or to form the plural (dek = child, dek dek = children). In such cases, the repetition character is used:

มาก มาก = มากๆ, เด็ก เด็ก = เด็กๆ

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PAI JAAN NOI
ไปยาลน้อย [bpay-- ya:n-- na:wy/] Abbreviation

The abbreviation indicates that the remainder of a sentence was omitted. It is similar to our ellipsis (…). Example: The full name of Thailand's capital is

กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหาดิลกภพ นพรัตนราชธานีบูรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

For simplicity, it is abbreviated to

กรุงเทพฯ - yet it is just much more convenient. By the way this means not Bangkok!

(A detailed consideration of the full name is provided here)

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ฯลฯ PAI JAAN YAI

ไปยาลใหญ่ [pay-- ya:n-- jay\] et cetera, and so on

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GARAN / MAI TANTAKHAT
การันต์ [ga:-- ran--] ไม้ทัณฑฆาต [may/ than-- ta/ kha:t/\] Mute character

The sign is placed over consonants of borrowed and foreign words which are not pronounced. The best example is the name of the character itself: การันต์. The last character dta:w dtao remains silent. The name of the character is MAI TANTAKHAT, and GARAN is the character together with the silent consonant. (More details of GARAN here)

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฿ Baht

บาท [ba:t\] International currency symbol Thai Baht

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PHINTHU
พินทุ [phin-- thu/]

This sign has two functions. First like JAMAK KHAN, to identify double consonants (Sanskrit พฺราหฺมณ), and second, to mark Final consonants (Pali วิชฺชา).

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ANGKHANKHU
อังคั่นคู่ [ang-- khan/\ khu:/\]

In old books used to mark the end of a chapter or an episode.

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KHOMUT
โคมูตร [kho:-- mu:t/\]

In old books used to mark the end of a story.

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FONGMAN
ฟองมัน [fa:wng-- man--] ตาไก่ [dta:-- gay\]

Used in old books as bullet and end of section or sentence.

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JAMAKKAN
ยามักการ [ya:-- mak/ ga:n--]

This is an old punctuation character for marking consonant clusters. Example: พ๎ราห๎มณ phra: mon. It is waived today, because the double consonants are usually visible without marking.

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NIKHAHIT
นิคหิต [nik/ kha/ hit\] or นฤคหิต [na/ reu:/ kha/ hit\]

Traditionally, the character was a vowel sign. Because it was usually only used together with SARA AA to make AM, and with SARA I to make SARA UE, these are combined characters on an Thai keyboard nowadays. There are, however, Pali and Sanskrit words in which it stands alone, such as Pali (พุทธํ phut thang).

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LAKKHANGJAU
ลากข้างยาว [la:k/\ kha:ng/\ ya:o-]

This character is only used after RUE and LUE and extends the vowel sound. Both characters are now regarded as a unit. By the way, they are never followed by a vowel (that was not always so).

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Special Characters

In addition to characters for consonants, vowels and numbers, there are the special characters described here. The first six of which are encountered frequently, the rest can be found mainly in old books and writings from Pali and Sanskrit.

 

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