The Thai Writing System

The Thai alphabet is most likely based on the Khmer script, which is in turn based on an ancient script of southeastern Indian origin called Brahmi.1 According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Thai alphabet has been in existence since the 13th Century AD.2

Below are some of the prominent features of the Thai writing system:

  • Thai has a syllabic alphabet with 44 consonant forms and 28 vowel forms. The consonant forms are written from left to right, while the verb forms are placed above, below or on the left or right sides of consonants being modified.3
  • Thai uses a tonal system to indicate different meanings of words that are spelled the same in terms of consonant and vowel arrangement. The Thai writing system indicates these tones through the use of four diacritic or accent marks.
  • In the Thai writing system, there are no spaces between words. However, spaces are used to indicate where a sentence or clause ends and another begins.4
  • The Thai writing system, unlike the Latin-based system, does not contain the concept of upper-case and lower-case letters.
  • According to the Wikipedia, a set of Thai numerals also exists, however, the Arabic numeral system is also quite common.5

Additional resources on the Thai writing system can be found on the Web at:

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/finnish.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_alphabet

For information on The Thai Writing System, please see our Quick Facts Library.


1 "Thai alphabet (ตัวอักษรไทย)" Omniglot: A Guide to Writing Systems
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/thai.htm
[Accessed December 17, 2004]

2"Thai language" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9071900
[Accessed December 17, 2004]

3 "Thai alphabet" Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_alphabet
[Accessed December 16, 2004]

4 "Thai alphabet" Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_alphabet
[Accessed December 16, 2004]

5 "Thai alphabet" Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_alphabet
[Accessed December 16, 2004]