ว — wo waen (ring)
«wo waen (ring)» is a consonant of the Thai script, read as “w (final o/u)”. Low class. A w; at the end of a syllable it shrinks to a quick o or u: khao, not khaw. For example, in the word “แหวน” — ring. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. It appears, for example, in the word “สวัสดี” — hello.
In short
| Character | ว |
| Name | wo waen (ring) |
| Sound | w (final o/u) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 42nd of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ล and ฬ, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How to type ว
- 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+0E27 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 0E27.
- Unicode code point: U+0E27. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
Low class. A w; at the end of a syllable it shrinks to a quick o or u: khao, not khaw
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.
- แหวนхауэнring
The character in the “low class: nasals and sonorants” group
The second half of อักษรต่ำ: n, m, y, r, l, w, ng. They close a syllable "alive", so a syllable ending in one of them needs no tone mark to be live. One class holds both lists; the split is for the table, not for grammar.
- งng at the start of a wordngo ngu (snake)
- ญy (final n)yo ying (woman)
- ณn (spare, Pali loans)no nen (novice)
- นn (the common one)no nu (mouse)
- มmmo ma (horse)
- ยy (the common one)yo yak (giant)
- รr (final n)ro ruea (boat)
- ลl (final n)lo ling (monkey)
- ฬl (spare, Pali loans)lo chula (kite)
- ฮh (a real h)ho nokhuk (owl)
Words with this character
- สวัสดีсаватдиhello
- สวัสดี ตอน บ่ายсаватди тон байgood afternoon
- แล้ว เจอกันлаэо джёканbye
- สวัสดี ตอน เช้าсаватди тон чаоgood morning
- พวก คุณпхуак кхунyou (plural)
- พวก เขาпхуак кхаоthey
- สวัสดี ตอน เย็นсаватди тон йенgood evening
- ไวน์вайwine
- ขวาкхваto the right
- ช่วย ด้วยчуай дыайhelp!
- วันванday
- วัน นี้ван нийtoday
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 «wo waen (ring)» it is “w (final o/u)”, as in the word “แหวน”), 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 ว read?
As “w (final o/u)” — it is a consonant of the Thai script. Low class. A w; at the end of a syllable it shrinks to a quick o or u: khao, not khaw. For example, in the word “แหวน” — ring.
What is the letter ว called?
Wo waen (ring). A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “wo waen (ring)” and reads as “w (final o/u)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.