Sabai เอีย
เอีย sara ia
Falling diphthong 'ia' - 'ee' gliding to 'a'. Vowel 13 of 19, and a long one, which is half of what decides the tone of the syllable it sits in.
Length long
Sound ia
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 long vowel makes an open syllable live, and live or dead is one of the three things that decide a syllable's tone.
Words that use it
เบียร์bia
beerเสียsǐa
Broken / spoiledเขียวkhǐao
Greenเตี้ยdtîa
Short (in height)เทียนthian
Candleเปียกbpìak
Wetเตียงdtiang
Bedเพียบphîap
Loads of itเขียนkhǐan
To writeเที่ยงthîang
Noon / middayเสียใจsǐa jai
Sadจอเสียjor sǐa
Screen brokenExamples 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
Drill all 68 characters in the app
Listening and recall drills, with audio on every character.
What free includes