Hello! im not sure if this is still active but im learning the thai constants rn and am a bit confused with the repeating sounds ones. Like say พ vs ผ, if they’re both pronounced p then how do you know to write one or the other? is it just that you’d have to memorize the words in which they are used or is there rules on when to use one and not the other? sorry if this is a dumb question but id appreciate any help! ขอบคุณค่ะ
to be honest, i literally just ask myself if i’m actually thai or not because i don’t know the differences between them asdfgjfkajdal jk
in the thai language, different consonants can share the same sound. for example, ท ธ ฑ ฒ ถ ฐ can all be pronounced as /t/. and in this case, พ ผ (and ภ as well) can be pronounced as /p/. there are no rules but you just gotta memorise which consonant is used with which words, and this applies to other thai consonants that share the same sounds as well.
but generally speaking, as a thai myself, the difference between the two is the tone. พ itself is pronounced in the mid tone. while ผ is pronounced in the rising tone. it’s pretty difficult to explain this but you can check its difference in pronunciation tone here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYdq1c1tZrw (2:18 for ผ and 2:30 for พ)
note : different consonants with same soundsin thai, we have 44 consonants (44 different characters) but with only 21 sounds. you can check the table below which consonants are in the same sound groups. (credits to https://sites.google.com/site/phasathiyhrrsa/seiyng-phyaychna-thiy)