Lesson 39

Miscellaneous Symbols ๆ, ฯ, ◌ฺ

Reading

The symbol ๆ is an iteration mark meaning that the previous word or phrase is to be repeated. In Thai it's known as ไม้ยมก /máyˑyaˑmók/. So, for example, บ่อย ๆ is read as บ่อย บ่อย /bɔ̀y bɔ̀y/. Here are some more examples:

Notes

1. ๆ is typically not used in poetry - repeated words are written out in full.
2. ๆ is not used when the repeated words are different parts of speech. So, for example, คน ๆ นี้ is incorrect. The first คน is a noun, the second a classifier. This should be written คนคนนี้
3. Officially, when writing there should always be a space before ๆ. There should also be a space after, unless ๆ is followed by a punctuation mark.

The symbol ฯ marks that a word or phrases is abbreviated. It's known as ไปยาลน้อย /payˑyaan nɔ́ɔy/ - literally "small omission".

There should be no space before ฯ.

ฯลฯ, known as ไปยาลใหญ่ /payˑyaan yày/ (large omission), is used like the English "etc." to indicate there are more items in a list, but they haven't been shown. It is pronounced /lá/.

When written ฯลฯ should be preceded and followed by a space.

The final character is ◌ฺ, known as พินทุ /phinˑ​thú/. It is not used in writing normal Thai, but is used in the pronunciation guides in Thai language dictionaries to indicate the initial consonant of a consonant cluster. For example, for the word กรด is given as being pronounced กฺรด, so we know it's /kròt/ - not, for example /kaˑrót/. Similarly, สปริง is pronounced สะปฺริง, so we know it's /saˑpriŋ/, not /saˑpaˑriŋ/.

◌ฺ is also used when writing Pali (the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand) in Thai script. When writing Pali in Thai script an /a/ sound is inserted by default after each consonant when no written vowel is present. For example, นโม is pronounced /náˑmoo/. ◌ฺ is used to suppress the default /a/ sound, so มนฺตฺร is pronounced /manˑtrà/. (Without ◌ฺ it would be /máˑnáˑtàˑrá/).

Writing