High Class Consonants
Here is the second group of consonants – the high class consonants.
Memorize 5:
ข
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ขอ ไข่ egg
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ฉ
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ฉอ ฉิ่ง cymbal
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ฐ (rare)
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ฐอ ฐาน pedestal
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ถ
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ถอ ถุง bag
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ผ
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ผอ ผึ้ง bee
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ฝ
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ฝอ ฝา lid
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ศ
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ศอ ศาลา pavilion
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ษ
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ษอ ฤาษี hermit
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ส
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สอ เสือ tiger
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ห
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หอ หีบ box
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If you listen to these consonant names, you’ll notice that the first syllable (ขอ, ฉอ, ฐอ, etc.) always has a rising tone. Here’s the rule:
Tone rule four – live high class consonant syllables with no tone marks have rising tones.
In the wild, you might remember a word but forget the tone. Knowing the class of the first consonant can remind you what tone needs to be used. This is one reason why remembering the class is important.
The only tone marks used with high class consonants are ่ (ไม้เอก) and ้ (ไม้โท). And just like mid class consonants, the tone matches the tone mark. Also like mid class, high class dead syllables have low tones. Here are the rules:
Tone rule five – high class consonant syllables tones match the tone marks.
Tone rule six – dead high class consonant syllables have low tones.
Exercise 5
ขู่
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threaten
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ฉี่
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urine
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ฐานะ
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status
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ถุง
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bag
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ผิด
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wrong
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ฝ้าย
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cotton
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ข้อศอก
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elbow
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ศึกษา
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study
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สู้
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to fight
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หึง
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jealous
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When you’re reading, you might be wondering how multiple syllable words are parsed. For example, is it ฐา-นะ or ฐาน-อะ? For now don’t worry about this; we’ll talk about parsing later.
Read 5
Read this passage out loud. From this point on, all words are real.