Phoneme guide: Thai
Every phoneme token of mbfa-thai (38 tokens: 34 phonemes, 3 special tokens and the model's internal blank). The web interface shows the same text when you hover a phoneme.
How to read the tables:
- Sounds like is an approximation. The example words are the real thing: they are the most frequent words containing the token in the FLEURS test sentences (dev split) of 1 language (Thai), written in the G2P's own tokens, which is exactly what the aligner sees.
- Used most in gives the languages that use the token most, as a share of all the phonemes of that language.
- Also used for: IPA the G2P wrote that has no token of its own in this model, so it was mapped to this one.
- Rare tokens never appear in those sentences: they are very rare in this language.
Tone is a separate layer, not part of these tokens: see the tone guide. Final stops are unreleased (p̚ t̚ k̚): the token ends with the silent closure. A short vowel at the end of a syllable is closed by ʔ (และ = l ɛ ʔ).
Where boundaries go
Suggested conventions. Agree on them before annotating, so that every annotator places boundaries the same way.
- Stops (p t k b d g …). A stop starts where the closure starts: energy drops to a near-silent gap, and the formants of the vowel before it end. It ends after its burst (and after its aspiration, for ʰ tokens), where the next sound begins.
- Vowels. Start at the first regular glottal pulse with clear formants; end where the formants fade or the next consonant's closure or noise begins.
- Fricatives (s ʃ f x …). The span of the noise: start and end where the high-frequency noise starts and stops.
- Nasals (m n ŋ …). A steady, low murmur with weak upper formants. The edges are usually sudden changes in energy.
- Glides, laterals, r (j w l ɹ …). Edges are smooth formant transitions: put the boundary at the middle of the transition.
- Diphthongs (a͡ɪ …). One token for both parts: from the start of the first vowel to the end of the second. Do not split it.
- Pauses. Leave a short pause between words as a gap, or insert SIL where the speaker clearly stops.
Diacritics
Marks added to a base symbol change it as follows.
| mark |
name |
meaning |
| ◌̃ |
nasalised |
air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) |
| ◌̯ |
non-syllabic |
the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own |
| ◌̩ |
syllabic |
forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” |
| ◌̥ |
voiceless |
said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered |
| ◌̪ |
dental |
the tongue tip touches the upper teeth |
| ◌̠ |
retracted |
made a little further back in the mouth |
| ◌̝ |
raised |
a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol |
| ◌̞ |
lowered |
a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction |
| ◌̺ |
apical |
made with the very tip of the tongue |
| ◌̻ |
laminal |
made with the blade of the tongue, just behind the tip |
| ◌̆ |
extra-short |
a very short version of the vowel |
| ◌́ |
accent ´ (high) |
the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
| ◌̀ |
accent ` (low) |
the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
| ◌̂ |
accent ˆ (falling) |
the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent |
| ◌̌ |
accent ˇ (rising) |
the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent |
| ʲ |
palatalised |
said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) |
| ʰ |
aspirated |
followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) |
| ʷ |
labialised |
said with rounded lips |
| ʼ |
ejective |
a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs |
| ʱ |
breathy-voiced |
voiced, then released with a breathy, murmured puff (Hindi “bh”, “gh”) |
| ˤ |
pharyngealised (emphatic) |
said with the tongue root pulled back: a darker, “heavy” sound (Arabic ط, ص) |
| ◌̚ |
unreleased |
a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently |
| ◌̈ |
centralised |
said closer to the centre of the mouth than the plain vowel |
Special tokens
| token |
meaning |
SIL |
silence. A pause: no speech. Use it for a pause the speaker makes inside a segment. |
noise |
noise. A non-speech sound: a breath, cough, laugh or click. |
<unk> |
unknown. The G2P wrote a sound this model has no token for. Keep its time span; the label cannot say what it is. |
Vowels
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| a |
open front unrounded vowel |
a as in Spanish “casa” |
Thai ใน /n a j/ |
Thai 17% |
| i |
close front unrounded vowel |
ee as in “see” |
Thai ที่ /tʰ i/ |
Thai 5.2% |
| e |
close-mid front unrounded vowel |
e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say” |
Thai เป็น /p e n/ |
Thai 1.6% |
| o |
close-mid back rounded vowel |
o as in Spanish or Italian “no” |
Thai โดย /d o j/ |
Thai 2.4% |
| u |
close back rounded vowel |
oo as in “food” |
Thai อยู่ /j u/ |
Thai 2.7% |
| ɛ |
open-mid front unrounded vowel |
e as in “bed” |
Thai และ /l ɛ ʔ/ |
Thai 2% |
| ɔ |
open-mid back rounded vowel |
o as in British “thought” |
Thai ของ /kʰ ɔ ŋ/ |
Thai 2.4% |
| ɯ |
close back unrounded vowel |
oo said with spread lips (Turkish “ı”) |
Thai ซึ่ง /s ɯ ŋ/ |
Thai 1.6% |
| ɤ |
close-mid back unrounded vowel |
o said with spread lips (Estonian “õ”) |
Thai เธอ /tʰ ɤ/ |
Thai 0.53% |
Glides and non-syllabic vowels
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| j |
palatal approximant |
y as in “yes” |
Thai ใน /n a j/ |
Thai 5.2% |
| w |
labial-velar approximant |
w as in “we” |
Thai ว่า /w a/ |
Thai 2.6% |
| a̯ |
open front unrounded vowel, non-syllabic |
a as in Spanish “casa”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own |
Thai เมื่อ /m ɯ a̯/ |
Thai 2% |
Stops
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| t |
voiceless alveolar stop |
t as in “ten” |
Thai ต่าง /t a ŋ/ |
Thai 1.7% |
| k |
voiceless velar stop |
k as in “key” |
Thai การ /k a n/ |
Thai 3% |
| d |
voiced alveolar stop |
d as in “dog” |
Thai ได้ /d a j/ |
Thai 1.5% |
| b |
voiced bilabial stop |
b as in “bed” |
Thai แบบ /b ɛ p̚/ |
Thai 0.93% |
| p |
voiceless bilabial stop |
p as in “pen” |
Thai เป็น /p e n/ |
Thai 1.8% |
| ʔ |
glottal stop |
the catch in the throat in “uh-oh” |
Thai และ /l ɛ ʔ/ |
Thai 2.3% |
| tʰ |
voiceless alveolar stop, aspirated |
t as in “ten”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) |
Thai ที่ /tʰ i/ |
Thai 3.1% |
| kʰ |
voiceless velar stop, aspirated |
k as in “key”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) |
Thai ของ /kʰ ɔ ŋ/ |
Thai 3% |
| pʰ |
voiceless bilabial stop, aspirated |
p as in “pen”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) |
Thai ผู้ /pʰ u/ |
Thai 1.6% |
| k̚ |
voiceless velar stop, unreleased |
k as in “key”; unreleased: a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently |
Thai จาก /t͡ɕ a k̚/ |
Thai 2% |
| t̚ |
voiceless alveolar stop, unreleased |
t as in “ten”; unreleased: a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently |
Thai สามารถ /s a m a t̚/ |
Thai 2.5% |
| p̚ |
voiceless bilabial stop, unreleased |
p as in “pen”; unreleased: a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently |
Thai กับ /k a p̚/ |
Thai 1.4% |
Affricates
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| t͡ɕ |
voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate |
a soft ch (Polish “ć”, Bosnian “ć”) |
Thai จะ /t͡ɕ a ʔ/ |
Thai 1.1% |
| t͡ɕʰ |
voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate, aspirated |
a soft ch (Polish “ć”, Bosnian “ć”); aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) |
Thai ชาว /t͡ɕʰ a w/ |
Thai 1.2% |
Fricatives
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| s |
voiceless alveolar fricative |
s |
Thai ซึ่ง /s ɯ ŋ/ |
Thai 3% |
| f |
voiceless labiodental fricative |
f |
Thai ฟิลิปปินส์ /f i l i p̚ p i n/ |
Thai 0.19% |
| h |
voiceless glottal fricative |
h as in “hat” |
Thai ให้ /h a j/ |
Thai 0.9% |
Nasals
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| n |
alveolar nasal |
n |
Thai ใน /n a j/ |
Thai 8.2% |
| m |
bilabial nasal |
m |
Thai มี /m i/ |
Thai 4.6% |
| ŋ |
velar nasal |
ng as in “sing” |
Thai ของ /kʰ ɔ ŋ/ |
Thai 4.3% |
Laterals
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| l |
alveolar lateral approximant |
l as in “leaf” |
Thai และ /l ɛ ʔ/ |
Thai 2.6% |
Rhotics (r sounds)
| token |
name |
sounds like |
examples |
used most in |
| r |
alveolar trill |
a rolled r |
Thai หรือ /r ɯ/ |
Thai 3.5% |