Transliteration is the process of representing the written form of a language using the alphabet of another language. In the case of Thai, transliteration is used to represent Thai words using the Latin alphabet (also known as the Roman alphabet).
For example in the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS), each Thai letter is transliterated using a specific Latin letter or combination of letters. For example, the Thai letter ก (kho khuat) is transliterated as "k", the Thai letter ข (kho khai) is transliterated as "kh", and the Thai letter ค (kho khon) is transliterated as "kh".
It's important to note that transliteration is not the same as translation. Transliteration is a way of representing the written form of a language using another alphabet, while translation is the process of converting the meaning of a text from one language to another.
There are various systems of transliteration for Thai, each with its own rules and conventions and we use our own. While many systems use accents and marks to indicate tones and pronunciation, we omit these because we include Thai voices for pronunciation. We've also shortened many transliterations to keep them within the space limitations of our interactive content.
Happy
มี ความสุข
mee kwam-suk
Try one of the free lessons on our home page, to see how we use voices with transliterations to improve your Thai learning experience.
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