Tones in Thai :
Thai has five tones : mid, high, low, rising, and falling.
The tone depends on :
1. letter beginning the syllable
2. kind of syllable
3. tone sign (if there is any).
Syllables ending with consonants pronounced p, t, k are called dead. Syllables having only a short vowel and ending in it are also called dead.
The remaining syllables are called live. live are :
- syllables ending in a long vowel
- syllables ending in a consonant different from p, t, k.
Letters beginning the syllable are divided into high, mid and low letters.
Most important letters :
Mid letters : ก k, จ j, ด d, ต t, b บ, p ป , and อ
High letters : ข kh, ฉ ch, ผ ph , ศ s, ส s, ห h
Low letters : ค kh, ง ng, ช ch, ซ s, ณ n, ท th, ธ th, น n, พ ph, ฟ f, ภ ph, ม m, ย y, ร r, ล l , ว w, ฮ h
All letters :
Mid letters : ก,, จ , ฎ , ฏ , ด , ต , บ , ป , อ
High letters : ข , ฃ , ฉ , ฐ , ถ , ผ , ฝ , ศ , ษ , ส , ห
Low letters : ค , ฅ , ฆ , ง , ช , ซ , ฌ , ญ , ฑ , ฒ , ณ , ท , ธ , น , พ , ฟ , ภ , ม , ย , ร , ล , ว , ฬ , ฮ
Low letters originated from voiced consonants.
That's the reason why they bring with themselves low tone.
Another rule of Thai tones is : low + low becomes high.
Abbreviations :
L - low, M - mid, H - high, LM - low and mid, MH - mid and high
LS - live syllable, SDS - short dead syllable, LDS - long dead syllable
When there is no tone sign and the syllable is live:
LM + LS > mid (low and mid letters in live syllables have the mid tone)
H + LS > rising (high letters heighten the tone)
When there is no tone sign, the syllable is dead and the vowel is short :
MH + SDS > low (in short dead syllables the tone is low )
L + SDS > high (low consonant + low tone becomes high)
When there is no tone sign, the syllable is dead and the vowel is short :
MH + SDS > low (in long dead syllables the tone is low)
L + SDS > falling (low + low becomes falling)
Tone sign ่ is a sign of the low tone :
after MH : low
after L : falling (low + low becomes higher)
Tone sign ้ is a sign of the falling tone :
after MH : falling
after L : high (low + low becomes high)
Tone sign ๊ signifies a high tone.
Tone sign ๋ signifies a rising tone.
Once again:
After mid consonants (M): LS - mid, SDS and LDS - low, ่ - low, ้ - falling.
After high consonants : LS - rising, the rest like after mid consonants.
After low consonants: LS - mid, SDS - high, LDS - falling, ่ - falling, ้ - high.