Lesson 3 Learn Thai Tone Marks

Thai Tone Marks

          Tonal sounds refer to the highs and lows of a sound that appears in a syllable or in a word that can change the meaning of a word and is a soundtrack of other sounds that cannot be alone. There are 5 tonal sound units in the Thai language.

         1. / / The Middle level tonal (Mid tone) means the tonal tone that has a beginning from the middle level and gradually changes to a lower level corresponding to the ordinary tonal tone in the Thai language such as Maa, Pai.

         2. /`/  The Low-level tonal (Low tone) means tonal with a low starting point.  Matches the major tonal sounds in the Thai language.

         3. / ̂ / The Falling tonal (Falling tone) means the tonal changing from high to low, meaning there is a rather high starting point. Change a high level and then lower to a lower level Matches the tonal tone in the Thai language.

        4. /  ́/ The High-level tonal (High tone) means a tonal with a high starting point. Matches the tonal tone in the Thai language.

          5. /  ̌/ The Rising tonal (Rising tone)  means the tonal changes from low to high, meaning there is a relatively low starting point in the middle. Change the level down and then rise to the middle level, rather high or high level. Matches the tonal tones rising in the Thai language.


          Format of Thai tone marks have 4 symbols as under

่  = mai eg        (ไม้เอก)

้  = mai toh       (ไม้โท)

๊  = mai tree      (ไม้ตรี)

๋  = mai jst ta waa (ไม้จัตวา)

          Remember, These tone marks are used to stand above the consonants and have a different tone of each word.