Step 6: the middle-class tone rules

You already know every letter on this page, and after step 5 you can tell live from dead. That is all the machinery the middle-class tone system needs. UNMARKED syllables: live takes the MID tone, dead takes the LOW tone. ตา (dtaa, eye) is live, so it is mid. จาก (jàak, from) is dead, so it is low. No mark, no guessing: the syllable's own shape decides. MARKED syllables: on a middle-class consonant, the four marks do exactly what they say, every time. ไม้เอก gives low: ป่า (bpàa, forest). ไม้โท gives falling: บ้า (bâa, crazy). ไม้ตรี gives high: โต๊ะ (dtó, table). ไม้จัตวา gives rising: จ๋า (jǎa, an affectionate particle). This reliability is exactly why the track taught the middle class first. On high and low class consonants the same marks produce different results, and unmarked syllables follow different rules; those come later, and they will feel like variations on this system rather than a new one. Decode these now, out loud, tone included: ตา. จาก. ป่า. บ้า. โต๊ะ. ดี. ปู. จาน. If you got the tones without looking at the badges, you are reading Thai, not just pronouncing letters.