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Training Thai Phonology Part 1
 

The purpose of this training are the five different pitches, with Thai words can be pronounced. The objectives are

  • to train the ear to recognize the 5 pitches while listening to Thai language
  • to properly pronounce the pitch by yourself
  • to learn how the ClickThai transcription show the pitch

This step should be the first in every Thai course, but usually comes much too short. Therefore, please take it seriously. Especially with their own pronunciation, I come across as students consider it funny. If you laugh at yourself, others will also laugh at you. So try to emulate auditioned Thai words as accurately as possible, including inflection. Then you are right and you will be understood.

This training is based on FSI Thai Basic Course and uses recordings from the original.

 
Phonology - 1.1

 

The first part is an audio file in MP3 format. Please listen to them first (about 15 Minutes) and come back here to the next section.

Kindly note that the sound files on this page first must be fully loaded. It will therefore usually take a while until you hear the first word.

 
Phonology - 1.2

 

1.
Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself. It has a mid-level pitch.
In the romanization of ClickThai we write it as [pha:--]
"ph" is the sound of the initial consonant, "a" is the vowel. The fact that it is a long spoken vowel, is expressed by the colon. The flat line behind it represents a mid-level pitch.
2.
Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself. It has a high-falling pitch.
The tone starts at a high level and then falls rapidly to a low level.
The high-falling pitch is represented in the romanization as [pha:/\]
3.
Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself. It has a low-rising pitch.
The tone starts at a low level and then rises rapidly to a high level.
The low-rising pitch is represented in the romanization as [pha:\/]
4.

Here you will hear 20 words in succession at intervals of two seconds. Pay attention to the pitch and mark it for every word in the following table by clicking the in the right line. Then check the result with the correct solution.

 
 
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[pha:--]
[pha:/\]
[pha:\/]

 

 
Phonology - 1.3

The third part is an audio file in MP3 format. Please listen to them first and come back here to the next section.

 
Phonology - 1.4

 

1.

Here you will hear 20 words in succession at intervals of two seconds. This time there are different words. Pay attention to the pitch and mark it for every word in the following table by clicking the in the right line. Then check the result with the correct solution.

 
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[--]
[/\]
[\/]

 
2.

Here you finally hear another 20 different words. Pay attention to the pitch and mark it for every word in the following table by clicking the in the right line. Then check the result with the correct solution.

 
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[--]
[/\]
[\/]

 

 
Phonology - 1.5

 

The fifth part is an audio file in MP3 format. Please listen to them first and come back here to the next section.

 
Phonology - 1.6

 

1.

Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself. It has a high-level pitch.
The tone starts at a high level and then rises slightly.
The high pitch is represented in the romanization as [tscha:ng/]
2.

Listen to these words several times to. They all have a high pitch.
3.
Answer the questions while listening to this recording.
4.  

Read the following words aloud. Check then the pronunciation, by listening the word:

[kha:ng/] [kha:ng--] [kha:ng/\]

 
5.

Here you will hear 20 words in succession at intervals of two seconds. This time there are different words. Pay attention to the pitch and mark it for every word in the following table by clicking the in the right line. Then check the result with the correct solution.

 
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[kha:ng--]
[kha:ng/\]
[kha:ng/]

 

 
Phonology - 1.7

 

1.
This is an audio file in MP3 format. Please listen to them first and come back here to the next part.
2.

Read the following words aloud. Check then the pronunciation, by listening the word:

[kha:/] [na:n/\] [pha:t/\] [ma:/]
[wa:/\] [tha:/\] [kha:n/] [ma:k/\]
[tha:/\] [na:m/] [ma:/] [tha:/\]
[la:/] [na:/] [ma:k/\] [kha:n/]

 

 
Phonology - 1.8

 

1.
This is an audio file in MP3 format. Please listen to them first and come back here to the next part.
2.
Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself. It has a low pitch.
The low pitch is represented in the romanization as [phit \]
3.
Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself. It has a high pitch.
The high pitch is represented in the romanization as [phit /]
4.

Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself.
The low pitch is represented in the romanization as [kha:t \]
5.
Listen to this word several times and speak it by yourself.
The high-falling pitch is represented in the romanization as [kha:t/\]
6.

Listen to these 10 words and repeat them aloud. Please read the transcription:

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[phit \]
[kha:t/\]
[kha:t \]
[phit /]
[kha:t \]
[phit \]
[phit /]
[kha:t/\]
[phit /]
[kha:t \]
7.  

Read the transcription of the following 10 words aloud. Then check your pronunciation by hearing the recorded voice:

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[phit \]
[kha:t/\]
[kha:t \]
[phit /]
[kha:t \]
[phit \]
[phit /]
[kha:t/\]
[phit /]
[kha:t \]

 
Phonology - 1.9

 

1.
This is an audio file in MP3 format. Please listen to them first and come back here to the next part.
2.

Read the transcription of the following 8 words aloud. Then check your pronunciation by hearing the recorded voice:

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[pha: \]
[ma: \/]
[tha:ng \]
[tha:m \/]
[tha:n \]
[kha:n \/]
[na:m \/]
[na: \/]
3.

Listen to the following words and mark in the table in the correct column what have you heard. If you need more time, repeat this step and check again, before turning on the solution.

 
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[na: \/]
[tha: \/]
[kha:n \/]
[pha:n \]
[pha: \]
[pha:t \]
[ma:\/]
[tha:ng \]
 

 

 

I need your help!

I'm not a native English speaker and my English is poor. I've translated this page from my German site because it can be helpful for Thai students everywhere in the world.

Any corrections will be gratefully received.