Master the five tones of Thai with our comprehensive guide to tone marks and pronunciation rules
Thai is a tonal language with five distinct tones: Mid, Low, Falling, High, and Rising. The tone of a syllable is determined by several factors including the initial consonant class, vowel length, final consonant, and tone marks.
No tone mark is used for the mid tone.
The grave accent indicates a low tone.
The circumflex indicates a falling tone.
The acute accent indicates a high tone.
The caron (háček) indicates a rising tone.
The tone of a Thai syllable is determined by four main factors:
The class of the initial consonant (Mid, Low, or High) affects the tone. There are 44 consonant letters representing 21 consonant sounds, with some letters having the same sound but different classes.
Whether the vowel is short or long influences the tone. Short vowels are typically one character, while long vowels may be one character with a modifier or two separate characters.
The presence and type of final consonant determines if a syllable is "live" (open) or "dead" (closed). Live syllables end in a vowel or the consonants n, m, ng, or y. Dead syllables end in other consonants.
If present, the tone mark overrides the default tone rules. There are four tone marks that change the pitch contour of the syllable.
| Consonant Class | Without Tone Mark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live Ending Long Vowel |
Live Ending Short Vowel |
Dead Ending Long Vowel |
Dead Ending Short Vowel |
|
| Mid Class | Mid | Low | Low | Low |
| Low Class | Mid | Low | Falling | High |
| High Class | Rising | Low | Low | Low |
| Consonant Class | With Tone Mark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ่ (Low) | ้ (Falling) | ๊ (High) | ๋ (Rising) | |
| Mid Class | Low | Falling | High | Rising |
| Low Class | Low | Falling | High | Rising |
| High Class | Low | Falling | High | Rising |