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Active Thai Tone Rules

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Overview of the Thai Tone Rules

Every syllable of every Thai word has one The Middle Class Consonants: There are 4 Tone Marks:
of the five tones. Tone is determined by:

The class of the initial consonant.


The High Class Consonants: mái èk mái toe mái dtree mái jàt-dtà-waa
Whether the vowel is long or short. When tone marks are used, they act as modifiers to the basic rules
The sound of the final consonant.
The presence of a Thai tone mark. Basic Rule when starting with Middle Class
Without a tone mark, there a two possible tones:
consonant + live syllable = mid tone
You should know the consonants by class, the The Low Class Consonants: consonant + dead syllable = low tone
sound they make in both initial and final position, All five tones are possible when tone marks are used:
and the length and sound of all the vowels before

ActiveThai.com
you attempt to learn the tone rules.
low falling high rising
We use the length of the vowel and the sound * rising tone is never used with dead syllables
of the final consonant to determine whether a
syllable is “dead” or “live”. A dead syllable has a
The Short Vowels: Basic Rule when starting with High Class
sound that abrubtly stops, where the sound of a
Without a tone mark, there a two possible tones:
live syllable fades away slowly.
consonant + live syllable = rising tone
consonant + dead syllable = low tone
Dead syllables: There are three tones possible and these marks can be used:
consonant + short vowel
consonant + short vowel + stop final The Long Vowels:
consonant + long vowel + stop final low falling

Rule: Any syllable that ends in a short


vowel or a stop final consonant is dead. Basic Rule when starting with Low Class
Without a tone mark, there a three possible tones:
Sonorant Final Sounds: consonant + live syllable = mid tone
Live syllables:
consonant + (long) dead syllable = falling tone
consonant + long vowel consonant + (short) dead syllable = high tone
consonant + long vowel + sonorant final
aka There are three tones possible and these marks can be used:
consonant + short vowel + sonorant final
Rule: Any syllable that ends in a long vowel Stop Final Sounds:
or a sonorant final consonant is live.
aka falling rising
With low consonants there are two types of dead syllables:
long vowel + stop final and short vowel + stop final

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