Thai vowel sign sara ii

Press U after the consonant on Thai Kedmanee.

Select the Thai Kedmanee keyboard layout and use U without Shift. Enter sara ee after its consonant; the font places it above that letter, not beside it.

What sound does this mark make?

It represents a long “ee” sound, written /iː/.

You can see it in มี, ปี, and ดี. Vowel length matters in Thai: replacing a long vowel with a short one can change the word, not just how drawn-out it sounds.

The sign needs a letter to sit on. Even when a syllable begins with a vowel sound, Thai uses a carrier letter—a written support for the vowel sign.

Where did this vowel sign come from?

Its ancestor entered early Thai through the Khmer writing tradition.

The early Thai script used in Sukhothai is generally first attested in Inscription 1, a carved text dated 1292. Its long-vowel sign derives from an Old Khmer counterpart. Thai was also written in a local Khmer script during that period.

Inscriptions from the Sukhothai period show different vowel spellings depending on the writing system and kind of word, including borrowed words. This is a history of writing speech, rather than a sign acquiring a new symbolic meaning.