1	Thai Tones: a short, interactive exercise... Before you begin, test your tonal IQ... In a tonal language, does a change of tone result in a change in a) emotion or b) meaning? Click: a. or b. You have to have a musical ear to learn tones. Click: True or False. 3. How many tones does Mandarin Chinese have? Click: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 4. How many tones does Bangkok Thai have? Click: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. (N.B. You will probably find that the following slides are best viewed with Internet Explorer.)
2	How Many Thai Tones? if you are in Bangkok, on any single Thai smooth syllable there can be only 1 of 5 spoken tones... N.B. Southern Thai dialects have 7 tones; some dialects spoken in northern Thailand have 6 tones, e.g., Tai-Lue.
3	What are the 5 Spoken Tones? In Bangkok speech, they are High ́ ค้า to engage in trade Mid ราคา price Low 1 ข่า galangal Risingˇ ขา leg Fallingˆ ฆ่า to kill; ค่า value
4	But... in order to determine the spoken tone of a written syllable, you first need to know something about the 2 syllable types in Thai.
5	You know what a syllable is, …don’t you?
6	Yes! Of course you do! A typical syllable structure is V Initial Consonant + Vowel + Final Consonant But it could also be CVVC, where VV = long vowel, e.g. “long time” นาน /naan/ CVV, e.g. “to have” มี /mii/ CCVV, where CC = consonant cluster, e.g. “fish” ปลา /plaa/
7	Syllable Types There are two types of syllables: DEAD and LIVE How do you tell the DEAD from the LIVE? The first thing you need to do is look at or listen to the END of of the syllable. The syllables below end in a -p, -t, -k, or (glottal stop) making them DEAD. CV CV CV CV
8	Syllable Types Dead syllables are also called “stopped” or “checked” because the air flow from the lungs is stopped or checked by the lips (-b,-p,-m), front of the tongue (-t,-d) or the back of the tongue (-k,-g). Live syllables are ones that are not dead. The air flow is not stopped or checked; it is continuous or smooth. They end in a long vowel, or the sounds -m,-n,-ŋ (-ng), i.e., the 3 nasals, & -y, -w.
9	What is the tone for maak? maa first look at the end, it ends in -k; so it is a dead syllable. second look at the initial consonant: aak ; what class consonant is it? H M L? is the vowel long or short? According to the Tone Chart, what is the tonal output of the syllable? High ́ Mid Low 1 Rising ˇ Falling ˆ How about mak (short vowel)? Need help? Click here to go to the Tone Chart on the next slide.
10	Tone Chart Showing the Tonal Output of Written Thai Syllables as Spoken in Bangkok
11	This is a Test... Is the English syllable CA live or dead? How about CA ? And CA ? CA ? (as in webcam) CA ? (sound of a crow) (answers on next slide)
12	answers DEAD/stopped cat (ends in –t sound) cap (ends in –p sound) LIVE/smooth can (ends in nasal –n) cam (ends in nasal –m) caw (ends in –w)
13	Choose Dead or Live after you read the Thai word and hear the pronunciation of each number 1 หนึ่ง 2 สอง 3 สาม 4 สี่ 5 ห้า 6 หก 7 เจ็ด 8 แปด 9 เก้า 10 สิบ 1. Dead Live 2. Dead Live 3. Dead Live 4. Dead Live 5. Dead Live 6. Dead Live 7. Dead Live 8. Dead Live 9. Dead Live 10. Dead Live
14	Choose Dead or Live after you hear the pronunciation of each color Red แดง Black ดำ White ขาว Green เขียว Yellow เหลือง Purple ม่วง Orange ส้ม Grey เทา reddish orange แสด Blue ฟ้า 1. Dead Live 2. Dead Live 3. Dead Live 4. Dead Live 5. Dead Live 6. Dead Live 7. Dead Live 8. Dead Live 9. Dead Live 10. Dead Live
15	Choose Dead or Live after you read the Thai word and hear the pronunciation of each body part 1. Head หัว 2. hand/s มือ 3. Heart ใจ 4. ear/s หู 5. Mouth ปาก 6. teeth/tooth ฟัน 7. elbow/s ศอก 8. feet/foot เท้า 9. hair of head ผม 10. body hair ขน 1. Dead Live 2. Dead Live 3. Dead Live 4. Dead Live 5. Dead Live 6. Dead Live 7. Dead Live 8. Dead Live 9. Dead Live 10. Dead Live
16	Choose Dead or Live after you read the Thai word and hear the pronunciation of each verb 1. to look at ดู 2. to scold ดุ 3. to speak พูด 4. will (+ verb) จะ 5. to cut (hair) ตัด 6. to have มี 7. to want เอา 8. to be difficult ยาก 9. to be easy ง่าย 10. to fart ตด 1. Dead Live 2. Dead Live 3. Dead Live 4. Dead Live 5. Dead Live 6. Dead Live 7. Dead Live 8. Dead Live 9. Dead Live 10. Dead Live
17	Exit Questions - Part A: True/False A syllable that ends in a glottal stop is LIVE The flow of air in a dead syllable is stopped by the nose. A DEAD syllable ends in a long vowel. A live syllable can end in a nasal sound The tip of the tongue can stop the flow of air and produce a dead syllable. A final –t sound will produce a dead syllable. T F T F T F T F T F T F
18	Exit Questions – B: Dead or Live? Read the Thai and listen to the speech 1. child เด็ก Dead Live 2. to watch ดู Dead Live 3. to scold ดุ Dead Live 4. eye ตา Dead Live 5. to cut ตัด Dead Live 6. difficult ยาก Dead Live 7. medicine ยา Dead Live 8. to come มา Dead Live 9. child เด็ก Dead Live 10. to get up ลุก Dead Live
19	How Did You Do? Go over this exercise as many times you feel you need to in order to be proficient in identifying Dead and Live syllables. Review this exercise weekly. Review class consonant flash card, you can click here. Pat yourself on the back for being a hard-working student! Then you can go to the game that uses the Tone Chart. * * * * * *