ำ — sara am
«sara am» is a vowel of the Thai script, read as “am in one sign”. A whole syllable "am" in one sign: a small circle above the a; it always ends in m, so the syllable stays live. For example, in the word “น้ำ” — water. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. On a carrier the character looks like this: อำ. It appears, for example, in the word “น้ำ” — water.
In short
| Character | ำ |
| Name | sara am |
| Sound | am in one sign |
| What it is | a vowel |
| On the carrier | อำ |
In our course the character comes 59th of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ู and ฤ, appears in 260 words of this site.
How to type ำ
- 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+0E33 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 0E33.
- Unicode code point: U+0E33. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
A whole syllable "am" in one sign: a small circle above the a; it always ends in m, so the syllable stays live
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.
- น้ำнамwater
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
- น้ำнамwater
- ทำ งานтхам нганto work
- ร้าน ชำран чамgrocery shop
- ห้อง น้ำхонг намbathroom
- น้ำ ร้อนнам ронhot water
- เงิน มัด จำнгын мат джамdeposit; security payment
- ไม่ ทำ งานмай тхам нганnot working (of a device)
- ลำ คอлам кхоthroat
- เรียก ตำรวจриак тамруатcall the police
- วัน ทำ งานван тхам нганworking day
- ทำ งาน ที่ บ้านтхам нган ти банI work from home
- จำджамto memorize; to remember
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 am» it is “am in one sign”, as in the word “น้ำ”), 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 ำ read?
As “am in one sign” — it is a vowel of the Thai script. A whole syllable "am" in one sign: a small circle above the a; it always ends in m, so the syllable stays live. For example, in the word “น้ำ” — water.
What is the letter ำ called?
Sara am. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “sara am” and reads as “am in one sign”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.