่ — mai ek
«mai ek» is a vowel mark of the Thai script, read as “low tone”. One stroke. On a middle- or high-class consonant it gives the low tone; on a low-class one, the falling tone. For example, in the word “ค่ะ” — polite particle (woman). The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. This character does not count as a letter of the alphabet. On a carrier the character looks like this: อ่. It appears, for example, in the word “สวัสดี ตอน บ่าย” — good afternoon.
In short
| Character | ่ |
| Name | mai ek |
| Sound | low tone |
| What it is | a vowel mark |
| On the carrier | อ่ |
In our course the character comes 64th of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ฦๅ and ้, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How to type ่
- On a phone: add the Thai keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0E48 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0E48.
- Type this sign after its base letter, even where it is drawn before it: letter first, then the sign, and they join.
- Unicode code point: U+0E48. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
One stroke. On a middle- or high-class consonant it gives the low tone; on a low-class one, the falling tone
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- ค่ะкхаpolite particle (woman)
The character in the “tone marks” group
Four signs, shown on อ. One rule for all: a mark does not name a tone — it RECOMPUTES the tone from the consonant class. The same single stroke gives a low tone on ข and a falling tone on ค. The marks ๊ and ๋ are never placed on the high or low class at all, and that is part of the rule too.
Words with this character
- สวัสดี ตอน บ่ายсаватди тон байgood afternoon
- ใช่чайyes
- ไม่ ใช่май чайno
- คุณ เป็น อย่างไรкхун пен янграйhow are you? (polite)
- ไม่ค่อย สบายмайкхой сабайnot so well
- เยี่ยม มากйиам макgreat
- ลา ก่อนлаа конgoodbye
- ผม ชื่อпхом чыэmy name is
- คุณ ชื่อ อะไร?кхун чыэ арай?what is your name?
- ยินดี ที่ ได้ รู้จักйинди ти дай руджакnice to meet you
- ไม่ เข้าใจмай кхаочайI don't understand
- หนึ่งнынгone
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «mai ek» it is “low tone”, as in the word “ค่ะ”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 63 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Thai character ่ read?
As “low tone” — it is a vowel mark of the Thai script. One stroke. On a middle- or high-class consonant it gives the low tone; on a low-class one, the falling tone. For example, in the word “ค่ะ” — polite particle (woman).
What is the sign ่ called?
Mai ek. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “mai ek” and reads as “low tone”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.