If no tone mark is present, then there are two tones possible:
Live Syllable = Mid Tone
Dead Syllable = Low Tone
With tone marks, all five tones are possible:
* Rising tone and it's tone mark are not used with dead syllables.
There are four words that have been added to the group above that have special spelling. The silent อ is used before ย.
อย่าdo not
อยู่ to live , to be
อยาก to want
อย่าง a kind of
When you see this spelling, the low class syllable takes on the rules of middle class syllables. If a tone mark is used, it also follows the rule for middle class, but the mark itself is placed over the low class ย, not the silent อ.
There are many words in Thai that have a letter at the end which is silent. Anytime a letter is silent, it will have the mark we call gaa-raan over it. See the Thai word for beer, which is said like bia, with the r sound silent.
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Active Thai is a work in progress, supported by our users. Please tell your friends!