Sabai เอา
เอา sara ao
Short 'ao' as in 'now'. Vowel 19 of 19, and a short one, which is half of what decides the tone of the syllable it sits in.
Length short
Sound ao
How it is written
The อ in the form above is a placeholder for whichever consonant the vowel attaches to, not part of the vowel itself.
This one is written before the consonant even though it is pronounced after it, which is the single most confusing thing about reading Thai for the first week.
Why the length matters
A short vowel makes an open syllable dead, and live or dead is one of the three things that decide a syllable's tone.
Words that use it
เอาao
to take / wantเราrao
We / usเขาkhǎo
He / she / theyเทาthao
Greyเมาmao
Drunkเงาngao
Shadowเดาdao
To guessเบาbao
Light in weightเก้าgâo
Nineเช้าcháo
Morningเก่าgào
Old (for objects)เท้าtháo
Footเข่าkhào
KneeExamples from the course rather than a complete list, so the occasional word may only look like it uses this vowel.
วันละตัวก็พอ
wan la tua ko phoOne letter a day is enough
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