ᩁ

ᩁ (ra)

1. The 35th letter and 27th consonant of the Tai Tham Pali alphabet. In Pali it represents the nominally retroflex rhotic consonant /r/.
   • Pali ᩁᨲ᩠ᨲᩥ (ratti, “night”)
   • Northern Thai ᨿᩬ᩶ᩁ (nyɔ́ɔn, “because”)
   • Northern Thai ᩁ᩠ᩅᩣ᩠ᨿᨲᩕᩦ (lwaithi, “night”)
   • Northern Thai ᩁᩢ᩠ᨠ (hak, “love”)

Note that the subscript form encoded using U+1A41 is only used for a syllable-final consonant.  ᩺ is also used in this rôle. The form used as a subsequent element in a consonant cluster is ᩕ.

The modern vernacular languages, Northern Thai, Tai Lü, Tai Khün and Lao lack /r/ except as a marginal, foreign phoneme. Earlier forms of the languages had it, but it has now become /h/ initially (sometimes /l/ word-internally), which may instead be written ᩌ (non-Lao) or like Lao ຮ (ha), or, as is usually done with words from Pali or Sanskrit, /l/ may be substituted in speech while continuing to use ᩁ. In the vernaculars, syllable-final ᩁ is pronounced /n/, and may substitute for final ᨶ in native words.

As the second element of a cluster, the letter may serve to aspirate the previous consonant, both etymologically and, more rarely. unetymologically.

• Lü: ᦣ (h)

• ᨿ (previous letter of the Pali alphabet)
• ᩃ (next letter of the Pali alphabet)

ᩁ m

1. Tai Tham script form of ra (“the Pali letter 'r'”)