Page 192 - The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand Vol.XIII-2021

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XIII – 2021

8. Tones and Tone Marks

There are 4 forms of tone mark in Thai which are the 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 tone
nd
st
th
rd
1
0
mark but for tones, there are 5, which are the mid tone ( ), the low tone ( ), the
4
2
3
falling tone ( ), the high tone ( ) and the rising tone ( ). There are very few words
that use the 3 and 4 tone mark, most are onomatopoeias and loanwords from
th
rd
the Min Chinese dialect.
The method of teaching the tone mark system that is used by current Thai
teachers has caused much difficulty for both Thai and foreigner students in
remembering. If you want to understand the tone system of Thai which corresponds
to the writing system, you have to keep in mind these three variables:

1) Which consonant letter does the word use between

a. Mid-Class which corresponds to a voiceless unaspirated stop (ก k, จ c, ต
t, ป p, อ ) and voiced stop consonant (ด d, บ b)

b. High Class which corresponds to voiceless consonants (ข kh, ฉ ch,

ถ th, ผ ph, ฝ f, ส s, ห h) and voiced consonants which have changed

from voiceless consonants (หง ŋ < *ŋ, หน n < *n, หม m < *m, หย y <


* y, หร r < *r, หล l < *l, หว w < *w)

c. Low class which correspond with voiced consonants (ง ŋ, น n, ม m, ย
y, ร r, ล l, ว w) and voiceless consonants which have changed from


voiced consonants (ค kh < *g, ช ch < *, th < *d, พ ph < *b, ฟ f < *v, ซ
s < *z)

2) If that word is a Live or Dead syllable

Live syllables are

a. syllables that have initial consonants followed by a long vowel or
diphthong and tone (C+VV+T)

182 The Thai Writing System: Reasons behind Its System