Editing Thai language (section)

=== Vowels ===
The vowel nuclei of the Thai language are given in the following table. The top entry in every cell is the symbol from the [[help:IPA|International Phonetic Alphabet]], the second entry gives the spelling in the [[Thai script]], where a dash (–) indicates the position of the initial consonant after which the vowel is pronounced. A second dash indicates that a final consonant follows.
[[File:Thai vowel chart (monophthongs).svg|thumb|upright=1.15|Monophthongs of Thai. From {{Harvcoltxt|Tingsabadh|Abramson|1993|p=25}}]]
[[File:Thai vowel chart (diphthongs).png|thumb|upright=1.15|Diphthongs of Thai. From {{Harvcoltxt|Tingsabadh|Abramson|1993|p=25}}]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan="2" | 
!colspan=2|[[Front vowel|Front]]
!colspan=2|[[Central vowel|Central]]
!colspan=2|[[Back vowel|Back]]
|- class=small
! short || long ||short || long ||short || long
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPAslink|i}}<br />&nbsp;-ิ&nbsp;<!-- the &nbsp; is necessary for visibility under Opera -->
|{{IPAslink|iː}}<br />&nbsp;-ี&nbsp;
|{{IPAslink|ɯ}}<br />&nbsp;-ึ&nbsp;
|{{IPAslink|ɯː}}<br />&nbsp;-ื-&nbsp;
|{{IPAslink|u}}<br />&nbsp;-ุ&nbsp;
|{{IPAslink|uː}}<br />&nbsp;-ู&nbsp;
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPAslink|e̞|e}}<br />เ-ะ
|{{IPAslink|e̞|eː}}<br />เ-
|{{IPAslink|ɤ}}<br />เ-อะ
|{{IPAslink|ɤː}}<br />เ-อ
|{{IPAslink|o̞|o}}<br />โ-ะ
|{{IPAslink|o̞|oː}}<br />โ-
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|{{IPAslink|ɛ}}<br />แ-ะ
|{{IPAslink|ɛː}}<br />แ-
|{{IPAslink|ä|a}}<br />-ะ, -ั-
|{{IPAslink|ä|aː}}<br />-า
|{{IPAslink|ɔ}}<br />เ-าะ
|{{IPAslink|ɔː}}<br />-อ
|}

Each vowel quality occurs in [[vowel length|long-short pairs]]: these are distinct [[phoneme]]s forming distinct words in Thai.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Tingsabadh|Abramson|1993|p=25}}</ref>

The long-short pairs are as follows:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="5"|Long
!colspan="5"|Short
|-
!Thai
!IPA
!colspan=3|Example
!Thai
!IPA
!colspan=3|Example
|-
|–า || {{IPA|/aː/}} || {{Wikt-lang|th|ฝาน}} ||{{IPA|/fǎːn/}} || 'to slice'
|–ะ || {{IPA|/a/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|ฝัน}} || {{IPA|/fǎn/}} || 'to dream'
|-
|–ี || {{IPA|/iː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|กรีด}} || {{IPA|/krìːt/}} || 'to cut'
|–ิ || {{IPA|/i/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|กริช}} || {{IPA|/krìt/}} || '[[kris]]'
|-
|–ู || {{IPA|/uː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|สูด}} || {{IPA|/sùːt/}} || 'to inhale'
|–ุ || {{IPA|/u/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|สุด}} || {{IPA|/sùt/}} || 'rearmost'
|-
|เ– || {{IPA|/eː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|เอน}} || {{IPA|/ʔēːn/}} || 'to recline'
|เ–ะ || {{IPA|/e/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|เอ็น}} || {{IPA|/ʔēn/}} || 'tendon, ligament'
|-
|แ–|| {{IPA|/ɛː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|แพ้}} || {{IPA|/pʰɛ́ː/}} || 'to be defeated'
|แ–ะ|| {{IPA|/ɛ/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|แพะ}} || {{IPA|/pʰɛ́ʔ/}} || 'goat'
|-
|–ื-|| {{IPA|/ɯː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|คลื่น}} || {{IPA|/kʰlɯ̂ːn/}} || 'wave'
|–ึ || {{IPA|/ɯ/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|ขึ้น}} || {{IPA|/kʰɯ̂n/}} || 'to go up'
|-
|เ–อ || {{IPA|/ɤː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|เดิน}} || {{IPA|/dɤ̄ːn/}} || 'to walk'
|เ–อะ || {{IPA|/ɤ/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|เงิน}} || {{IPA|/ŋɤ̄n/}} || 'silver'
|-
|โ– || {{IPA|/oː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|โค่น}} || {{IPA|/kʰôːn/}} || 'to fell'
|โ–ะ || {{IPA|/o/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|ข้น}} || {{IPA|/kʰôn/}} || 'thick (soup)'
|-
|–อ || {{IPA|/ɔː/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|กลอง}} || {{IPA|/klɔ̄ːŋ/}} || 'drum'
|เ–าะ || {{IPA|/ɔ/}}|| {{Wikt-lang|th|กล่อง}} || {{IPA|/klɔ̀ŋ/}} || 'box'
|}

There are also opening and closing [[diphthong]]s in Thai, which {{Harvcoltxt|Tingsabadh|Abramson|1993}} analyze as {{IPA|/Vj/}} and {{IPA|/Vw/}}. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan="2"|Long
!colspan="2"|Short
|-
!Thai script
!IPA
!Thai script
!IPA
|-
|–าย
|{{IPA|/aːj/}}
|ไ–<sup>*</sup>, ใ–<sup>*</sup>, ไ–ย, -ัย
|{{IPA|/aj/}}
|-
|–าว
|{{IPA|/aːw/}}
|เ–า<sup>*</sup>
|{{IPA|/aw/}}
|-
|เ–ีย
|{{IPA|/ia/}}
|เ–ียะ
|{{IPA|/iaʔ/}}
|-
|–
|–
|–ิว
|{{IPA|/iw/}}
|-
|–ัว
|{{IPA|/ua/}}
|–ัวะ
|{{IPA|/uaʔ/}}
|-
|–ูย
|{{IPA|/uːj/}}
|–ุย
|{{IPA|/uj/}}
|-
|เ–ว
|{{IPA|/eːw/}}
|เ–็ว
|{{IPA|/ew/}}
|-
|แ–ว
|{{IPA|/ɛːw/}}
|–
|–
|-
|เ–ือ
|{{IPA|/ɯa/}}
|เ–ือะ
|{{IPA|/ɯaʔ/}}
|-
|เ–ย
|{{IPA|/ɤːj/}}
|–
|–
|-
|–อย
|{{IPA|/ɔːj/}}
|–
|–
|-
|โ–ย
|{{IPA|/oːj/}}
|–
|–
|}

Additionally, there are three [[triphthongs]]. For purposes of determining tone, those marked with an asterisk are sometimes classified as long:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Thai script
!IPA
|-
|เ–ียว*
|{{IPA|/iaw/}}
|-
|–วย*
|{{IPA|/uaj/}}
|-
|เ–ือย*
|{{IPA|/ɯaj/}}
|}