ะ — sara a
«sara a» is a vowel of the Thai script, read as “short a”. A quick a as in "cut" but cleaner; the shortness makes the syllable dead, which changes the tone. For example, in the word “จะ” — future marker. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. On a carrier the character looks like this: อะ. It appears, for example, in the word “คุณ ชื่อ อะไร?” — what is your name?
In short
| Character | ะ |
| Name | sara a |
| Sound | short a |
| What it is | a vowel |
| On the carrier | อะ |
In our course the character comes 51st of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are า and า, appears in 330 words of this site.
How to type ะ
- On a phone: add the Thai keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0E30 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0E30.
- Unicode code point: U+0E30. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
A quick a as in "cut" but cleaner; the shortness makes the syllable dead, which changes the tone
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- จะчаfuture marker
The character in the “vowel marks around the letter” group
Shown on the carrier อ, as in a Thai classroom: by itself a vowel mark is not readable. Short and long pairs (ะ/า, ิ/ี, ึ/ื, ุ/ู) carry meaning as firmly as ship and sheep. They also decide whether the syllable is live. A short vowel with nothing after it makes the syllable dead, and that changes the tone.
Words with this character
- คุณ ชื่อ อะไร?кхун чыэ арай?what is your name?
- มะเขือ เทศмакхыа тхетtomato
- และлэand
- ตะ กร้าта крааbasket
- ระ เบียงра биангbalcony
- โต๊ะтоtable
- ประ ตูпра тууdoor
- ขยะкхайаtrash; garbage
- จะ มา เมื่อไหร่ча ма мыарайwhen will you come?
- วัน ละ สอง ครั้งван ла сонг кхрангtwice a day
- ประ กันпра канinsurance
- ระวังравангcareful; watch out
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «sara a» it is “short a”, as in the word “จะ”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 63 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Thai character ะ read?
As “short a” — it is a vowel of the Thai script. A quick a as in "cut" but cleaner; the shortness makes the syllable dead, which changes the tone. For example, in the word “จะ” — future marker.
What is the letter ะ called?
Sara a. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “sara a” and reads as “short a”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.