--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:
>
> --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "suzmccarth" <suzmccarth@...> wrote:
> >
> > --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
> > <richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

> > Is Thai taught as a syllabary - with a syllable chart?

Yes it is! If you go to
<http://www.thailandguidebook.com/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=8;t=6929;st=0;r=1>
, Post 2, you'll not only get an explanation and a link to the first
chart, but with the first chart a video of the class chanting the chart!

The table is rather cut down from the possible 42 by 32 array - it
only shows the common mid class consonant letters (unaspirated
plosives), combined with the four graphically simple pairs of short
and long vowels - /a/, /i/, /M/ (high back unrounded) and /u/. The
consonant sounds are in strictly phonetic order - glottal stop, /k/,
/c/, /d/, /t/, /b/ and /p/. (/k/ and /c/ lack voiced counterparts,
and the letter for the glottal stop is the next to last _letter_ of
the alphabet, while the letter for /k/ is the first letter of the
alphabet.) The two mid class letters corresponding to Indian
retroflexes are omitted - they are only used in words perceived to be
Indic loans.

Richard.