High-class consonants
How high-class consonants determine a syllable's tone.
A consonant's class helps determine tone. ข and ค have the same initial sound, but ขา has a rising tone and คา has a mid tone. Neither word has a tone mark: the choice of consonant makes the difference. Thai consonants belong to three classes: high (อักษรสูง), mid and low.
อักษรสูง letters
11The faded letters ฃ are rarely used today, but belong to the traditional alphabet of 44 consonants.
High-class consonants have partners with the same initial sound in the low class: ข and ค, ฉ and ช, ฐ and ฑ, ถ and ท, ผ and พ, ฝ and ฟ, ส and ซ, ห and ฮ. ศ and ษ sound like ส. The obsolete ฃ also has a low-class partner, ฅ. Learning these pairs helps you separate the sound from the tone rule.
Which tone you get
- live syllableends in a long vowel or a sonorant sound: m, n, ng, y or wrisingǎ
- dead syllableends in k, p, t or a short vowel with a glottal stop; vowel length doesn't change the tone herelowà
- ◌่first tone markไม้เอกmai ek: first marklowà
- ◌้second tone markไม้โทmai tho: second markfallingâ
There is no mid or high tone in this table. High-class initials normally produce low, falling or rising tones. The letter ห can also lend its class to a following low-class consonant. Before ง ญ ณ น ม ย ร ล ว it can be silent: you hear the following consonant, but use the high-class tone rule.
The rules in words
Fried rice, please.
Three syllables with high-class initials, each with a different tone: ขอ is rising, ข้าว is falling and ผัด is low.
The pork isn't spicy.
ห before ม is silent. Start with the m sound; don't add an h. The silent letter changes the tone rule.
Common mistake
ห isn't always silent at the start of a word. In หก, six, it has its usual h sound. ก isn't one of the consonants that take a silent leading ห. Look at the following letter before deciding how to read it.
Practise
Kai says
Thai verbs don't change their endings for past and future. Context and words such as จะ, a future marker, tell you when something happens.