U+0E49 "้" Thai Character Mai Tho Unicode Character

U+0E49 "้" Thai Character Mai Tho is a tone mark used in the Thai script, specifically representing the falling tone (the second tone in the Thai tonal system) when applied to a consonant or syllable. It appears as a small, curved diacritic symbol positioned above a consonant letter, modifying its pronunciation by altering the pitch of the spoken word. In standard Thai, this mark is essential for distinguishing meaning between words that otherwise share the same consonant and vowel combination, such as "ไม้" (mái, meaning “wood” or “tree”) versus "ไม่" (mâi, meaning “not”). As a fundamental element of Thai orthography, Mai Tho is critically tied to the language’s tonal nature, enabling precise communication of lexical and grammatical differences.