Thai Tones Pronunciation of Lua Speakers, Nan Province: An Acoustic Study

Abstract

This paper compares acoustic characteristics of Thai tones produced by speakers of four Lua varieties in Nan Province, which were:    1) Ban Sakad Klang Lua Mal, 2) Ban Kwet Lua Mal, 3) Ban Ta Luang Lua Mal, and 4) Ban Huay Lom Lua Pray. The methodology used awordlist comprised of 20 test words that incorporated the five Thai tones in non-checked and checked syllables. The participants were 20 Lua speakers (five of each Lua variety). They were asked to pronounce each test word five times in the sentence frame “say […] again”. The total number of test tokens for acoustical analysis was 900. The data were recorded directly onto a computer. The fundamental frequencies (F0) of the tones were measured using Praat and then converted to semitones. The results showed that the level tones in non-checked syllables – mid tone and low tone – had a falling contour in all varieties. For checked syllables, the contour tones – falling tone and high rising tone – had a level contour. This suggests that that Lua speakers may use pitch patterns in their native language to pronounce Thai tones. There are two pitch patterns in Lua, [high-falling] pitch and [high level] pitch, depending on the syllable structure: non-checked syllables have high falling pitch, while checked syllables have high level pitch. Among the four Lua varieties, pronunciation of Thai tones by Ban Kwet Lua Mal speakers is likely to show greater difference when pronounced by Thai native speakers than the other Lua varieties.