Learn the five tones you'll need to know to pronounce Thai words correctly
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Ryan: Pronunciation, Lesson 5 - Don’t stress about learning Thai intonation. [sà-wàt-dii kráp] |
| Rawinporn: [sà-wàt-dii khâ] |
| Ryan: And welcome to the last chapter of the Pronunciation Series. What will we be covering in this lesson? |
| Rawinporn: In this lesson we’ll be talking about intonation in Thai. |
| Ryan: Well, this might be a nightmare for you, but I'm sure that if you practice, it’s not difficult at all. |
| Rawinporn: Yes, give yourself some time to practice Thai intonation. I'm sure everyone can do it. |
| Ryan: Well, shall we? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Rawinporn: Sure. Unlike English, there is no stress on Thai words. |
| Ryan: On the contrary, Thai is a tonal language. There are five tones: mid, low, falling, high and rising. |
| Rawinporn: For example, [khaa khàa khâa kháa khăa]. |
| Ryan: Right. Again, [khaa khàa khâa kháa khăa]. |
| Rawinporn: Can you hear any difference? |
| Ryan: Ok, let’s go one by one. |
| Rawinporn: The first one is the middle tone - [khaa]. |
| Ryan: [khaa] means “to be stuck to”. |
| Rawinporn: Next is the low tone - [khàa]. |
| Ryan: [khàa] means “galangal”. |
| Rawinporn: Next is the falling tone - [khâa]. The falling tone starts as a high pitch and then quickly drops. |
| Ryan: [khâa] means “to kill”. |
| Rawinporn: That’s scary. Next is the high tone - [kháa]. |
| Ryan: [kháa] means “to sell”. |
| Rawinporn: The last one is the rising tone -[khăa]. |
| Ryan: [khăa] means “leg”. The rising tone actually deeps down slightly before rising sharply. [khăa] |
| Rawinporn: Again, [khaa khàa khâa kháa khăa]. |
| Ryan: Let’s move on to another example. |
| Rawinporn: Sure, that is… |
| Ryan: [maa màa mâa máa măa] |
| Rawinporn: Let’s do it one by one again. |
| Ryan: Sure. The first one is the mid tone [maa]. |
| Rawinporn: This means “to come”. |
| Ryan: Next is the low tone - [màa]. |
| Rawinporn: Only [màa] has no meaning, but if you add [bprà] in front, it becomes [bprà-màa] which means “bashful”. |
| Ryan: The next one is the falling tone. [mâa] |
| Rawinporn: [mâa] For example, [maa-mâa]. It’s a brand of instant noodle. Since it is very famous, some Thais would say [gin maa-mâa], which means they eat instant noodles. Just like you say, Kleenex instead of facial tissue paper. |
| Ryan: Oh ok, I got it. And in some Thai-Chinese families, they call grandma [aa-mâa], isn’t that right? |
| Rawinporn: Exactly, because there are a lot of Thai-Chinese people in Bangkok, therefore the word [aa-mâa] is very common. |
| Ryan: Ok. The next one is the high tone - [máa] |
| Rawinporn: [máa] means “horse”. |
| Ryan: I heard that horse racing in Thailand is quite popular. |
| Rawinporn: Yeah, I guess so. It’s a kind of legal gambling game. |
| Ryan: I see. And the last one is the rising tone - [măa]. |
| Rawinporn: [măa] means “dog”. |
| Ryan: Please be careful, [máa] and [măa] are quite close in pronunciation, but there’s a big difference in meaning. |
| Rawinporn: Yeah, there is. |
Outro |
| Ryan: Well, that does it for the Pronunciation Series. |
| Rawinporn: Now you’re on your way to having great Thai pronunciation. |
| Ryan: Don’t forget to keep repeating and practicing. And see you next time. |
| Rawinporn: [sà-wàt-dii khâ] |
| Ryan: [sà-wàt-dii kráp] |
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