泰语发音规则.doc

泰语发音规则（Tone Rules）
Thai is a tonal language which makes it very different to Westerrn languages. Each syllable has a choice between five distinct tones: low, mid, rising, high and falling. To a foreign student, it would seem that the Thai language is made up of groups of words that change in meaning depending on their tone. A famous tongue twister which illustrates this very well is "new wood doesn't burn, does it?" or "mai mai mai mai mai" in Thai.

ไม้ ใหม่ ไม่ ไหม้ ไหม

mai - mai - mai - mai - mai

high - low - falling - falling - high
To a foreigner studying Thai for the first time, there is only one word in the above example, "mai", and its meaning changes with different tones. However, to a Thai person, these are five distinct words that are not only spelled differently but are pronounced differently. Most foreign students make the mistake of relying too much on transliteration when learning Thai. If you are to master the tones, you must put this behind you and learn how to read properly. (See Learn to Read Thai with Manee and Friends)
The five tones are:
THE HIGH TONE – เสียงตรี（高调）（二声）
This is a uniform tone pitched well above the level of the speaker’s normal voice and is similar to the tone used in English to denote alarm.
e.g. “keep away”

นก
nok
A bird

รัก
ruk
To love

เล็ก
lek
Small
THE RISING TONE – เสียงจัตวา（上升的语气）（二声）
This as the name implies has a rising inflection and is something like the tone used in English to denote surprise or a question.
e.g. “Are you going home now?”

ไหม
mai
A question word

สาม
saam
Three

หิน
hin
A Stone
THE MID TONE – เสียงสามัญ（中间语气）（一声）
This is spoken in the speaker’s ordinary tone of voice without any inflection. It is the tone used in English for ordinary conversation.

มา
maa
Come

ไป
bpai
Go

กิน
gin
To eat
THE LOW TONE – เสียงเอก（低调）（三声或轻声）？
This is a level tone with no inflection but lower in pitch than common tone.

ดอก
dork
Flower

หีบ
heep
A box

เก็บ
gep
To keep
THE FALLING TONE – เสียงโท（降调）（四声）
This is an emphatic and heavily accented tone with a falling inflection and is similar to the tone used in English to denote emphasis.
e.g. “I told you not to go there”

ข้าว
kao
Rice

ห้า
haa
Five

ไม่
mai
Not
It should be noted that the tone applies to a syllable only so that in a polysyllabic word each syllable may and often does have a different tone.

กุหลาบ
goo-laap
low-low

มนุษย์
ma-noot
high-high

มะละกอ
ma-la-gor
high-high-mid

ภาพยนตร์
pa-pa-yon
falling-high-mid

รัฐบาล
rut-ta-baan
high-low-mid
You may find it difficult at first to pronounce all of the syllables of a polysyllabic word in the correct tone but luckily there are very few words of more than two syllables where tonal values of the syllables vary.
By far the best way to learn the tones at the beginning is the way a Thai child does, i.e. by copying a natural Thai speaker. You can do this by listening to us on this web site.
In Thai writing the tones are quite clearly indicated by the use of Tone Marks coupled with a rather complicated set of rules. If you are ready, we will now proceed to teach you these rules.
Factors determining the tone.
To determine the tone of any syllable the following four factors have to be considered.
1. Class of the initial consonant.
The Thai consonants are divided up into three groups known respectively as HIGH, MIDDLE and LOW class consonants and the first thing to look at in determining the tone of a word or syllable is the class of the initial consonant.
You will soon discover that there are many cases where the letter ห as an initial consonant is silent and there are a few cases where the letter อ as an initial consonant is also silent, but this makes no difference to the rule, the tone is still governed by the class of the initial consonant even though it be a silent consonant.
The HIGH class consonants are;
ข ฉ ฐ ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส ห
The MIDDLE class consonants are;
ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ
All the remainder are LOW class consonants.
2. The final sounded consonant.（辅音）
All words which do not end in a vowel sound must have either M, N, NG, K, P, or T as the final sound.
(Note: Although this is strictly true, you will find that in conversation the final consonant is often slurred and particularly after a long vowel, the final P may sound more like a B and the final T more like a D.)
Where there is no tone mark, the tone of the syllable or word will depend on both the class of the initial consonant and on whether it ends with the M, N, NG sounds or the K, P, T sounds. It should be noted that a final consonant with the sign -์ (MY TUNTAKAHT) over it is not sounded and hence can have no effect on the tone. [MORE]
3. The type of final vowel.（元音）
If the word has no tone mark and ends in a final vowel, the tone is dependent on whether this final vowel is a long or short one.
The short vowels for tonal purposes are -ะ, -ั, -ิ, -ึ, -ุ, the inherent “a”, the inherent “o” and all vowels shortened by the sign -็ over the consonant or by the addition of the vowel -ะ at the end.
All the others are long vowels.
4. The tone mark.
There are altogether four tone marks but only two namely (-่) MYAYK and (-้) MYTO are in common use.
The other two (-๊) MYDTREE and (-๋) MYJUDTAWAH are used only in a few words beginning with middle class consonants.
Factor One
Consonants：
1. The Low Class Consonants.
The following are the Low Class consonants.
ค ฆ ง ช ซ ฌ ญ ฑ ฒ ณ ท ธ น พ ฟ ภ ม ย ล ร ว ฬ ฮ

A small tip, this is the biggest group. It is not necessary to try and learn these low class consonants since if you have learned the high and middle class consonants, it follows that everything else is a low class consonant.
Tone Rules for Low Class Consonants
(1) Syllables（音节） beginning with a low class consonant and having no tone mark take the Mid Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or in a short vowel.

คำ
Word

ชา
Tea

ทำ
Make, do.

นา
Field

งู
Snake

มา
Come

ราคา
Price

ลม
Wind

ชม
Admire
(2) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having no tone mark but ending in K, P or T sounds, take:
· the Falling Tone if the vowel is long.
· the High Tone if the vowel is short.
Falling Tone.

มาก
Many

รูป
Picture

เรียก
Call

พูด
Speak

ยืด
Stretch

ยาก
Difficult
High Tone.

พัก
Rest

คุก
Prison

รัก
Love

ลด
Decrease

คิด
Think

ชุด 
Suit
(3) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having a short open vowel take the High Tone. There are very few complete words of this type.

และ
And

มิ
No, not.

เพราะ
Because
(4) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-่) over the initial consonant take the Falling Tone.

คู่
Pair

แม่
Mother

พ่อ
Father

ไม่
No, not.

ง่าย
Easy

วิ่ง
Run

ร่วม
Together

นั่ง
Sit

เท่า
Equal
(5) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO (-้) over the initial consonant take the High Tone.

ม้า
Horse

น้ำ
Water

ไว้
Keep

น้อย
A little

ซ้าย
Left side

ช้าง 
Elephant

2. The Middle Class Consonants.
The following are the Middle Class consonants.
ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ
Of these the consonant อ should be specially noted. When this occurs as an initial consonant and is immediately followed by the low class letter ย it is always silent but the tone of the syllable still follows the tone rules for a syllable having an initial middle class consonant in the normal manner.
There are only four words plus a number of compounds where the silent “อ” occurs, and you will notice that they all take the low tone.

อย่า
Prohibition, Don’t

อยาก
Wish

อย่าง
Manner

อยู่
Live
Tone Rules for Middle Class Consonants.
(1) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having no tone mark take the Mid Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or in a short vowel.

กรุง
Town

บิน
To fly

ใจ
Heart

ดำ
Black

เดียว
One only

ตรง
Straight

เอา
Want

จน
Until

ไกล
Far

(2) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having no tone mark take the Low Tone if they end in K, P or T sounds.

บอก
To tell

จูบ
To kiss

ดิบ
Unripe

ตก
Fall

ตัด
Cut

เก็บ
Keep

ปิด
Close

จับ
Seize

บาท
Tical
(3) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and ending with a short open vowel take the Low Tone. There are not many words of this type.

ดุ
Cruel

จะ
Will

ปะ
Meet

เตะ
Kick

กะ
Estimate

ติ
To blame
(4) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK ( -่ ) over the initial consonant take the Low Tone.

ก่อน
Before

กี่
How many?

เก่า
Old

ไก่
Fowl

ป่า
Forest

เต่า
Tortoise
(5) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO ( -้ ) over the initial consonant take the Falling Tone.

เก้า
Nine

จ้าง
To hire

ต้อง
Must

ต้น
Tree

ได้
Can

บ้าง
Some

ปิ้ง
Roast

กุ้ง
Prawn

ใกล้
Near
(6) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYDTREE ( -๊ ) over the initial consonant take the High Tone. There are very few of these words.

โต๊ะ
Table

ตุ๊
Fat, plump.

จ๊ะ
A final particle.
Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYJUDTAWAH ( -๋ ) over the initial consonant take the Rising Tone. There are very few of these words.

เดี๋ยวนี้
Now

ตั๋ว
Ticket

บ๋อย
Waiter
3. The High Class Consonants.
The following are the High Class consonants.
ข ฉ ถ ฐ ผ ศ ษ ส ห
Of these the consonant ห should be specially noted. When the letter ห as an initial consonant is followed by one of the Low Class consonants;
ง, ญ, น, ม, ย, ร, ล and ว
...it is usually silent but this makes no difference to the tone rule. As the initial consonant ห is a high class one the tone of the syllable follows the high class tone rules.
Tone Rules for High Class Consonants.
1. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and have no tone mark take the Rising Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or a short open vowel.

สอง
Two

สาม
Three

ฉัน
I

สวม
Wear

หมา
Dog

หิน
Stone

ขอ
Please

ถาม
Ask

ฝน
Rain
2. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having no tone mark take the Low Tone if they end in K, P or T sound or with a short open vowel.

หีบ
Box

ขับ
Drive

ผูก
Tie

ผัด
To fry

ผิด
Wrong

หมด
Finished

ถาด
Tray

หก
Six

แขก
Guest
3. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-่) over the consonant take the Low Tone irrespective of ending.

ส่ง
Send

ห่าน
Goose

สี่
Four

เข่า
Knee

 ขนสัตว์
Wool

ผ่าน
Pass by
4. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO (-้) over the consonant take the Falling Tone irrespective of ending.

ข้าง
Side

ขึ้น
Up

ผ้า
Cloth

ส้อม
Fork

ส้ม
Orange

ห้าม
Forbid

ให้
To permit

ถ้า
If

ห้า
Five
Factory Two
Tone Marks
1. Low Class Consonants & Tone Marks
All of the examples on this page are low class consonants. A reminder of the rules are at the bottom of this page.
Tone Chart: When you listen to each row in the chart below, you will hear these tones each time: mid, falling and high.

1
2
3

คู
คู่
คู้

พอ
พ่อ
พ้อ

ซี
ซี่
ซี้

แม
แม่
แม้

ไม
ไม่
ไม้

นา
น่า
น้า

ลอ
ล่อ
ล้อ

เชา
เช่า
เช้า

ซือ
ซื่อ
ซื้อ
(1) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having no tone mark take the Mid Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or in a short vowel.
Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having no tone mark but ending in K, P or T sounds, take:
· the Falling Tone if the vowel is long.
· the High Tone if the vowel is short.
Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having a short open vowel take the High Tone. There are very few complete words of this type.
(2) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-่) over the initial consonant take the Falling Tone.
(3) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO (-้) over the initial consonant take the High Tone.
2. Middle Class Consonants & Tone Marks
All of the examples on this page are middle class consonants. A reminder of the rules are at the bottom of this page.
Tone Chart: When you listen to each row in the chart below, you will hear these tones each time: mid, low, falling, high and rising.

1
2
3
4
5

แก
แก่
แก้
แก๊
แก๋

ปา
ป่า
ป้า
ป๊า
ป๋า

เกา
เก่า
เก้า
เก๊า
เก๋า

ตู
ตู่
ตู้
ตู๊
ตู๋

ปี
ปี่
ปี้
ปี๊
ปี๋

ไต
ไต่
ไต้
ไต๊
ไต๋
(1) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having no tone mark take the Mid Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or in a short vowel.
(2) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-่) over the initial consonant take the Low Tone.
(3) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MATA (-้) over the initial consonant take the Falling Tone.
(4) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYDTREE (-๊) over the initial consonant take the High Tone. There are very few of these words.
(5) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYJUDTAWAH (-๋) over the initial consonant take the Rising Tone. There are very few of these words.
3. High Class Consonants & Tone Marks
All of the examples on this page are high class consonants. A reminder of the rules are at the bottom of this page.
Tone Chart: When you listen to each row in the chart below, you will hear these tones each time: rising, low and falling.

1
2
3

ขา
ข่า
ข้า

ผา
ผ่า
ผ้า

โห
โห่
โห้

เขา
เข่า
เข้า

เสือ
เสื่อ
เสื้อ

ใส
ใส่
ใส้

แส
แส่
แส้
(1) Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and have no tone mark take the Rising Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or a short open vowel.
Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having no tone mark take the Low Tone if they end in K, P or T sound or with a short open vowel.
(2) Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-่) over the consonant take the Low Tone irrespective of ending.
(3) Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO (-้) over the consonant take the Falling Tone irrespective of ending.

元音和辅音皆为泰文的最小单位，称为音素。由几个音素组成的语言结构的基本单位，叫做音节，音节分为开音节和闭音节两种。
      开音节，以元音收尾的音节称为开音节。如ตา ปี มี นา 等。
      闭音节，以辅音收尾的音节称为闭音节，如จง บิน หอน เคย ขาว 等。闭音节又分为两类：清尾辅音和浊尾辅音，清尾辅音有五个，即ง น ม ว ย，其读音参看尾韵音。
      ง鼻音
      น鼻音与น相同的尾辅音有ณ ญ ร ล ฬ
      ม鼻音
      ย半元音
      ว半元音
      半元音是介于元音和辅音之间的一种音。
      以