The five Thai tones
The same syllable shape, spoken with each tone, can change meaning entirely. Tap a tone, or any Thai word on this page, to hear it.
ปาป่าป้าป๊าป๋า
Consonant classes
Thai consonants belong to one of three classes. The class is the starting point for every tone calculation.
| Class | Consonants | Rule shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| mid | ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ | No mark on a live syllable = mid; a dead syllable = low, short or long. Takes all four tone marks. |
| high | ข ฃ ฉ ฐ ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส ห | No mark on a live syllable = rising; a dead syllable = low, regardless of vowel length. |
| low | ค ฅ ฆ ง ช ซ ฌ ญ ฑ ฒ ณ ท ธ น พ ฟ ภ ม ย ร ล ว ฬ ฮ | No mark on a live syllable = mid; no mark on a dead long = falling; no mark on a dead short = high. |
The silent leading consonants ห and อ can raise a following low-class sonorant to high or mid class:(high class, rising tone) vs(low class, mid tone).
Live and dead syllables
A syllable is live if it ends in a long vowel, a diphthong, or a sonorant final consonant (ม, น, ง, ย, ว, ร, ล). It is dead if it ends in a stop final (ก, ด, บ, etc.) or a short vowel with no final.
Live syllables
- Long vowel, no final:
- Any vowel + sonorant final:
- Diphthongs such as เ–า, ไ–, ใ– are always live
Dead syllables
- Short vowel, no final:
- Short vowel + stop final:
- Long vowel + stop final:
- Stop-final syllables may have either a short or long vowel
Dead syllables without tone marks
Vowel length only changes the tone of a dead syllable when the initial consonant is low class. For mid-class and high-class initials, a dead syllable is low tone whether the vowel is short or long.
| Class | Dead + short vowel | Dead + long vowel |
|---|---|---|
| Mid | Lowกะ, จับ | Lowปาก, ดาบ |
| High | Lowผัด, ขัด | Lowฝาก, ขาด |
| Low | Highรัก, นก | Fallingมาก, พูด |
How tone marks interact with consonant class
A tone mark does not set the tone on its own. The tone comes from the mark together with the class of the initial consonant. Mid-class consonants can take all four marks. High-class and low-class consonants normally take only the first two, and on a low-class consonant those two give different tones: mai ek gives falling and mai tho gives high.
mid-class initial
mai ek ่: Low
mai tho ้: Falling
mai tri ๊: High
mai chattawa ๋: Rising
high-class initial
mai ek ่: Low
mai tho ้: Falling
mai tri ๊: not used in standard Thai spelling
mai chattawa ๋: not used in standard Thai spelling
low-class initial
mai ek ่: Falling
mai tho ้: High
mai tri ๊: not used in standard Thai spelling
mai chattawa ๋: not used in standard Thai spelling
Full Thai tone rules table
Tone marks are not shown here; when present, use the tone mark table above.
| Consonant class | Live syllable | Dead + short vowel | Dead + long vowel |
|---|---|---|---|
| mid | Mid | Low | Low |
| high | Rising | Low | Low |
| low | Mid | High | Falling |
Colour-coded examples
Each word below is automatically coloured by the same engine used in the reader. Tap any word to hear it.
Mid tone examples
กาจานตีคนปลา
Low tone examples
ป่าต่ำผัดขัดฝาก
Falling tone examples
ป้ามากพูดค่าท่า
High tone examples
ป๊าม้าน้ารักนก
Rising tone examples
ขาหมาผลถุงสาม
Common particles and irregular words
Polite particles such as ค่ะ, common pronouns and a few short question words are spoken with a different tone from the one their spelling predicts. The reader colours these by how they are actually said. Tap any word to hear it.
Spoken tone shifts
High tone
Written rising, but spoken with a high tone in everyday speech
High tone
Written rising, but spoken with a high tone in everyday speech
High tone
Written rising, but spoken with a high tone as a question word
Falling tone
Polite particle: spoken with a falling tone
Falling tone
Question particle: spoken with a falling tone
Falling tone
Softening particle: spoken with a falling tone
Falling tone
Linking particle: spoken with a falling tone
Hidden vowels and leading consonants
These words contain a short "a" sound that isn't written, which adds an extra syllable. When the first consonant is high or mid class and the next one is ง, ญ, ณ, น, ม, ย, ร, ล, ว or ฬ, that first consonant also decides the tone of the second syllable.
ข · นม
Low + Rising. Implied short "a" after ข. ข leads น, so this syllable follows high-class rules
ถ · นน
Low + Rising. Implied short "a" after ถ. ถ leads น, so this syllable follows high-class rules
ต · ลาด
Low + Low. Implied short "a" after ต. ต leads ล, so this syllable follows mid-class rules
ส · นุก
Low + Low. Implied short "a" after ส. ส leads น, so this syllable follows high-class rules
ฉ · ลาด
Low + Low. Implied short "a" after ฉ. ฉ leads ล, so this syllable follows high-class rules
ส · มุด
Low + Low. Implied short "a" after ส. ส leads ม, so this syllable follows high-class rules
จ · มูก
Low + Low. Implied short "a" after จ. จ leads ม, so this syllable follows mid-class rules
อ · ร่อย
Low + Low. Implied short "a" after อ. อ leads ร, so this syllable follows mid-class rules
ส · บาย
Low + Mid. Implied short "a" after ส
ส · แดง
Low + Mid. Implied short "a" after ส
Put the rules into practice
Paste any Thai text into the reader and see every syllable coloured by its tone instantly.