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The Tone Rules

This document provides an overview of the four Thai tone marks - ไม้เอก (mái-èek), ไม้โท (mái-thoo), ไม้ตรี (mái-dtrii), and ไม้จัตวา (mái-jàt-dtà-waa). It discusses the rules for how each tone mark affects the tone of syllables starting with middle-class consonants, and provides examples of words that demonstrate each tone. Key points covered include the shapes and names of the four tone marks

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YunkaFen
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61 views

The Tone Rules

This document provides an overview of the four Thai tone marks - ไม้เอก (mái-èek), ไม้โท (mái-thoo), ไม้ตรี (mái-dtrii), and ไม้จัตวา (mái-jàt-dtà-waa). It discusses the rules for how each tone mark affects the tone of syllables starting with middle-class consonants, and provides examples of words that demonstrate each tone. Key points covered include the shapes and names of the four tone marks

Uploaded by

YunkaFen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Tone Rules, Part 1: ่ (mái-èek) and ้ (mái-thoo)

In this lesson, you’re going to learn about the first 2 tone marks…
Ready to start? Then let's go!
So far we've learned about tone rules based on how words are spelled. But we also
have 4 tone marks which can be used to change the tone of a word.
Tone marks are written above the initial consonant. If there is a vowel above the
consonant, then the tone mark is placed above the vowel.
If 2 letters are forming an initial consonant cluster, then the tone mark goes over the
second consonant in the cluster.
The tone that a tone mark produces depends on the class of the initial consonant. Or if
there is an initial consonant cluster, it is the class of the first consonant which counts.
The good news is that tone marks override all of the tone rules based on spelling. So for
any syllable that has a tone mark, the only thing you need to know is which tone mark it
is and the consonant class of the initial consonant. The length of the vowel and whether
or not the syllable has a live or dead ending does not matter.
The four tone marks are called ไม ้เอก (mái-èek), ไม ้โท (mái-thoo), ไม ้ตรี (mái-dtrii), and
ไม ้จัตวา (mái-jàt-dtà-waa).
The words เอก , โท, ตรี , and จัตวา originally came from an Indian language, and they
simply mean "1" "2" "3" and "4".
The first tone mark is ไม ้เอก. It looks just like a short vertical line placed over the initial
consonant.
We are going to cover each tone rule for using tone marks one by one starting with how
they affect middle class consonants. So the rule for using ไม ้เอก with middle class
consonants is:
Middle class consonants with ไม ้เอก make low tone.
Here is one example. This is a very common word that you hear all the time, especially
in restaurants. Do you think you can read it?
We have the initial consonant ก, which makes the sound "g". The vowel สระ ไอ ไม ้มลาย
is written to its left. Then the tone mark ไม ้เอก is written above.
This is a middle class consonant, so according to the rule we just learned, ไม ้เอก gives it
a low tone. So we pronounce this word as ไก่ (gài). Maybe you already knew that ไก่
means "chicken".
Let's write ไก่ again. In order:
สระ ไอ ไม ้มลาย, ก, ไม ้เอก. ไก่ (gài) with a low tone.
Here's another word written using ไม ้เอก .
It reads เบือ
่ (bùuea), which means "to be bored". The initial consonant is บ . the vowel
is สระ เอือ, which is written using สระ เอ to the left, สระ อื above, and อ to the right of the
consonant. And the tone mark ไม ้เอก is written above the vowel.
This is how you write เบือ
่ in order:
สระ เอ, บ, สระ อื, ไม ้เอก, อ. เบือ
่
เบือ
่ also has a low tone because of ไม ้เอก paired with a middle class consonant.
Now it's time to introduce the second tone symbol. It's called ไม ้โท (mái-thoo).
Like all the tone symbols, ไม ้โท is written above the initial consonant and any vowels
that sit on top of the consonant.
We write ไม ้โท starting with a small clockwise head. And then we make a little hook
pointing to the left.
The rule for using ไม ้โท with middle class consonants is:
Middle class consonants with ไม ้โท make a falling tone.
Let's use the word แก ้ว (gâaeo) as an example. แก ้ว means "glass". The initial middle
class consonant is ก.
The vowel สระ แอ is written on its left side. And the final consonant is ว. Without any
tone mark this would be said as แกว (gaaeo) with a mid tone. But แกว is a totally
different word, which means "hint" or "clue".
Adding the tone mark ไม ้โท above the consonant makes แก ้ว with a falling tone.
Do you remember the rule about using ไม ้เอก with middle class consonants? Here is a
word that uses both ไม ้เอก and ไม ้โท.
The word is ต่างด ้าว (dtàang-dâao), which means "alien" or "foreigner".
The first syllable has the initial consonant ต, and the second syllable has the initial
consonant ด. Both are middle class consonants.
The rule for using ไม ้เอก was:
Middle class consonants with ไม ้เอก make a low tone.
And the rule for ไม ้โท is:
Middle class consonants with ไม ้โท make a falling tone.
So we can see that ต่างด ้าว should have a low tone for the first syllable and a falling tone
for the second syllable.
Let's practice writing ต่างด ้าว together. I will say each part in the order they are written
so you can remember the correct order for spelling.
ต, ไม ้เอก, สระ อา, ง, ด, ไม ้โท, สระ อา, ว.
ต่างด ้าว (dtàang-dâao)
Now it's time for Pradthana’s Points.
When writing words that have tone marks, always write the vowel symbols that go
below or above the letter before writing the tone mark. The same is true when you are
typing on a computer. If you type the vowel and tone symbol in the wrong order, you
won't be able to find the word that you are looking for in a search or dictionary app.
Do you know the name for Bangkok's famous 3-wheeled motor taxis? In the next ตัว
อักษรไทย Made Easy Lesson you'll learn what they're called, and most of all, how to
write it! See you there! สวัสดีคะ่ !

The Tone Rules, Part 2: ๊ (mái-dtrii) and ๋ (mái-jàt-


dtà-waa)
In this lesson, you’re going to learn about the other 2 tone marks…
Ready to start? Then let's go!
First up, let's learn about the third tone mark. It's called ไม ้ตรี (mái dtrii). It's very easy to
remember the name of ไม ้ตรี because it sounds like "3" and it's the third tone mark. As
you'll see in a future lesson, the shape of ไม ้ตรี is exactly the same as the Thai number
7.
To write ไม ้ตรี we begin with a small clockwise head. Then we come up and make
almost a heart shape. Then there is a sharp hook and the line goes off to the upper
right. ไม ้ตรี
The rule for using ไม ้ตรี with middle class consonants is:
Middle class consonants with ไม ้ตรี make a high tone.
One common word that is spelled using ไม ้ตรี is โต๊ะ (dtó), which means "table".
The initial consonant is ต. And the vowel is สระ โอะ. There is no final consonant, so we
write สระ โอะ using สระ โอ to the left of the consonant and สระ อะ to the right, which
indicates that it's a short vowel. Without a tone mark, this would be a low tone since it
has a middle class consonant with a dead ending.
However, by writing ไม ้ตรี above the consonant, โต๊ะ becomes high tone.
If you've ever been to Bangkok I'm sure you've heard this next word. Can you read it?
Here we have the initial middle class consonant ต with the short vowel สระ อุ written
below it. Above the letter we have the tone mark ไม ้ตรี making a high tone. And the final
consonant is ก. So this would be ตุก
๊ (dtúk).
But then we also have the symbol for repeating, ไม ้ยมก (mái-yá-mók). It tells us to say
the syllable twice. So we have ตุก
๊ ๆ (dtúk-dtúk).
In case you don't know, ตุก
๊ ๆ is the name for the 3-wheeled taxis that you find in
Bangkok and other Thai cities.
Let's write ตุก
๊ ๆ together.
ต, สระ อุ , ไม ้ตรี , ก, ไม ้ยมก.
ตุก
๊ ๆ (dtúk-dtúk).
Now it's time to talk about the fourth and final tone mark. This one is called ไม ้จัตวา
(mái-jàt-dtà-waa). It just looks like a small plus sign that we can write above the initial
consonant. The rule for using ไม ้จัตวา and middle class consonants is:
Middle class initial consonant + ไม ้จัตวา = rising tone.
One word that uses ไม ้จัตวา is เจ๋ง (jěeng).
เจ๋ง is kind of a slang word that means "cool". We write เจ๋ง using จ for the initial
consonant. The vowel สระ เอ is written to the left of the initial consonant. We place ไม ้
จัตวา above the consonant. And the final consonant ง is on the right.
The tone mark ไม ้จัตวา gives เจ๋ง a rising tone.
Let's write เจ๋ง together.
สระ เอ, จ , ไม ้จัตวา, ง. เจ๋ง (jěeng)
Now it's time for Pradthana's Points.
The number of words that use ไม ้ตรี and ไม ้จัตวา are relatively few compared with the
number of words that use ไม ้เอก and ไม ้โท. But very often, words that are spelled using
ไม ้ตรี and ไม ้จัตวา are loanwords from Chinese. Many types of food that are popular in
Thailand originated in Southern China. Since Chinese is also a tonal language, we need
to use tone marks to copy the original names of Chinese food.
Do you know the Thai word for "a state"? In the next ตัวอักษรไทย Made Easy Lesson
you'll learn what it is, and most of all, how to write it! See you there! สวัสดีคะ่ !

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