1、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
2、depending on their tone. A famous tongue twister which illustrates this very well is “new wood doesnt burn, does it?“ or “mai mai mai mai mai“ in Thai. mai - mai - mai - mai - maihigh - low - falling - falling - highTo a foreigner studying Thai for the first time, there is only one word in the above
3、 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 t
4、o 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 （高调）（二声）This is a uniform tone pitched well above the level of the speakers normal voice and is similar to the tone used in English to deno
5、te alarm.e.g. “keep away” nok A bird ruk To love lek SmallTHE RISING TONE （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?” mai A question word saam Three hin A Stone THE MID TONE
6、 （中间语气）（一声）This is spoken in the speakers ordinary tone of voice without any inflection. It is the tone used in English for ordinary conversation. maa Come bpai Go gin To eat THE LOW TONE （低调）（三声或轻声）？This is a level tone with no inflection but lower in pitch than common tone. dork Flower heep A box
7、gep To keep THE FALLING TONE （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” kao Rice haa Five mai NotIt should be noted that the tone applies to a syllable only so that in
8、 a polysyllabic word each syllable may and often does have a different tone. goo-laap low-low ma-noot high-high ma-la-gor high-high-mid pa-pa-yon falling-high-mid rut-ta-baan high-low-midYou may find it difficult at first to pronounce all of the syllables of a polysyllabic word in the correct tone b
9、ut 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 t
10、he 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 o
11、f 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
12、 where the letter as an initial consonant is silent and there are a few cases where the letter 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 conson
13、ants are; The MIDDLE class consonants are; 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
14、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 sound
15、s 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. MORE3. 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 vo
16、wel is a long or short one.The short vowels for tonal purposes are -, -, -, -, -, the inherent “a”, the inherent “o” and all vowels shortened by the sign - over the consonant or by the addition of the vowel - at the end.All the others are long vowels.4. The tone mark.There are altogether four tone m
17、arks 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 OneConsonants：1. The Low Class Consonants. The following are the Low Class consonants. A small tip, this is the bi
18、ggest 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 n
19、o tone mark take the Mid Tone unless they end with K, P or T sounds or in a short vowel. Word Tea Make, do. Field Snake Come Price Wind 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 Hi
20、gh Tone if the vowel is short. Falling Tone. Many Picture Call Speak Stretch DifficultHigh Tone. Rest Prison Love Decrease Think 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. And No, not. Becau
21、se(4) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-) over the initial consonant take the Falling Tone. Pair Mother Father No, not. Easy Run Together Sit Equal(5) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO (-) over the initial conso
22、nant take the High Tone. Horse Water Keep A little Left side Elephant2. The Middle Class Consonants. The following are the Middle Class consonants. Of these the consonant should be specially noted. When this occurs as an initial consonant and is immediately followed by the low class letter it is alw
23、ays 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 “” occurs, and you will notice that they all take the low tone. Prohibition, Dont Wi
24、sh Manner LiveTone 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. Town To fly Heart Black One only Straight Want Until Far(2) Syllables beginning with a middl
25、e class consonant and having no tone mark take the Low Tone if they end in K, P or T sounds. To tell To kiss Unripe Fall Cut Keep Close Seize 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. Cruel
26、Will Meet Kick Estimate To blame(4) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK ( - ) over the initial consonant take the Low Tone. Before How many? Old Fowl Forest Tortoise(5) Syllables beginning with a middle class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO ( - )
27、over the initial consonant take the Falling Tone. Nine To hire Must Tree Can Some Roast Prawn 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. Table Fat, plump. A final p
28、article.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. Now Ticket Waiter3. The High Class Consonants. The following are the High Class consonants. Of these the consonant s
29、hould be specially noted. When the letter as an initial consonant is followed by one of the Low Class consonants;, , , , , , and .it is usually silent but this makes no difference to the tone rule. As the initial consonant is a high class one the tone of the syllable follows the high class tone rule
30、s.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. Two Three I Wear Dog Stone Please Ask Rain2. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having no
31、 tone mark take the Low Tone if they end in K, P or T sound or with a short open vowel. Box Drive Tie To fry Wrong Finished Tray Six Guest3. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having the tone mark MYAYK (-) over the consonant take the Low Tone irrespective of ending. Send Goose Four
32、 Knee Wool Pass by4. Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and having the tone mark MYTO (-) over the consonant take the Falling Tone irrespective of ending. Side Up Cloth Fork Orange Forbid To permit If FiveFactory TwoTone Marks1. Low Class Consonants & Tone MarksAll of the examples on th
33、is 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 (1) Syllables beginning with a low class consonant and having no tone mark take the Mi
34、d 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
35、 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
36、mark MYTO (-) over the initial consonant take the High Tone.2. Middle Class Consonants & Tone MarksAll 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 tone
37、s each time: mid, low, falling, high and rising.1 2 3 4 5 (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 (-)
38、 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
39、 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 MarksAll of the examples on this pag
40、e 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(1) Syllables beginning with a high class consonant and have no tone mark take the Rising
41、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 (-)
42、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 等。闭音节，以辅音收尾的音
43、节称为闭音节，如 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 ，其读音参看尾韵音。鼻音鼻音与 相同的尾辅音有 鼻音半元音半元音半元音是介于元音和辅音之间的一种音。以清尾辅音收尾的拼音规则：元音形态的改变，泰文的一些元音，有闭音节时，须改变元音的形态，如下表： 元音 变形 例子 X X X 无形 X X X 其中淡色的表示辅音出现的位置，X 表示清尾辅音。拼法是：先将辅音和元音相拼，所得到的读音再和尾辅音快速连读，熟练后也可参看复合尾韵音中级辅音拼长、短元音，以清辅音结尾时相当于中国拼音的轻声 o，和中级辅音拼元音读法一样，如： 中级辅音拼长、短元音并加声调符号时，可发出五个声
44、调，如 这五个声调顺序相当中国拼音的 轻声 o，第三声 ，第四声 ，第二声 ，第一声 。高级辅音拼长、短元音，以清辅音结尾时相当中国拼音的第二声 ，和高级辅音拼元音读法一样，如： 高级辅音拼长、短元音并加声调符号时，可发出三个声调，如 这三个声调顺序相当中国拼音的第二声 ，第三声 ，第四声 。低级辅音拼长、短元音，以清辅音结尾时相当中国拼音的第一声 ，和低级辅音拼元音读法一样，如： 低级辅音拼长、短元音并加声调符号时，可发出三个声调，如 这三个声调顺序相当中国拼音的第一声 ，第四声 ，第二声 。以浊尾辅音收尾的拼音规则：以为尾辅音的拼音规则。中级辅音拼长、短元音，以浊辅音结尾时相当于中国拼音的第三声 ，如 。高级辅音拼长、短元音，以浊辅音结尾时相当于中国拼音的第三声 ，如 。低级辅音拼短元音以浊辅音结尾时相当于中国拼音的第二声 ，如 。低级辅音拼长元音以浊辅音结尾时相当于中国拼音的第四声 ，如 。与起作用的浊尾辅音有 与起作用的浊尾辅音有 与起作用的浊尾辅音有 尾韵音：The Stop Finals（浊尾辅音） are represent by k, t and p in Roman letters. They are called Stop Finals b
