Lao Language Pt 2 - Tones

Tones

In English, tones are not an official part of the language. Native English speakers from across the little blue planet tend to employ tones different based upon their origin. Commonly a high rising tone at the end of a sentence can signify a question. Tones become more noticeable when talking with non-native speakers that tend to apply speaking patterns similar to their mother language. This is one of the aspects that renders the non-native speakers accent as unusual. Internationals and persons from ethnically diverse societies tend to have a stronger ability to comprehend non native speakers as well. 

This reinforces a fact a German friend once told: English really is not just one language. Perhaps as a result of my travels or my background I found it easier than most to comprehend some of the unique accents and variations on the English language. This has not help me in learning a tonal language such as Lao. My mind, so used to quickly making those connections of different pronunciation struggled at first to find any aspect of difference. All the listening I was doing was not getting me very far. It was time to get academic on this bad boy. I started to learn the alphabet but the similar sounds still confused me. I learnt the vowels which help a little but there was still a large piece missing. There was combination pattern of these and 'tone markers' which underlay communication and were producing the distinct differences that I found so difficult to discern.

Enter the wonderful world of technology and the world wide web. Thanks to youtube and a polyglot called Stuart Jay Raj, I was able to start upon a journey to find my tone ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV1F8ZE_AyA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV1F8ZE_AyA. 

So how difficult can it be? Want of the first struggle points I came upon was the difference between dog and horse (ຫມາ and ມ້າ).[Transliterated too maa and maah] . Dog has the rising tone and horse starts off high and then falls.  

Vientiane Tones

To the left is a representation of the tones used in Vientiane Lao. This model is generally accepted although some variations are discussed in certain texts. They also vary slightly depending on the province in Laos. It is the most recognised of the Lao accents however due to influence particular from broadcast government television.

In reading Lao, the tone is characterised by the combination of consonant, vowels, final consonants and the tone markers below:

້ - mai toh     ໋ - mai chatava (rare)     ່ - mai ek

How they are derived will be described but it may be useful to familiarise with the Lao script as discussed in the Lao Language Pt 1  post.

Kang Consonants

The Kang Consonants produce a low tone (Tone 1) when combined with a long vowel. Conversely, when it is combined with a short vowel it produces a high tone (Tone 3).

Tam Consonants

The Tam Consonants are pronounced on the high tone (Tone 3) with long vowels and tone 2 with short vowels. The latter is the only combination that produces tone 2 without the tone marker Mai ek ( ່ ).

Sung Consonants

The Sung Consonants are pronounced on the rising tone (tone 4) when combined with a long vowel. Sung consonants have similar sounding counterparts as Tam consonants however they are pronounced on different tones. With short vowels they produce are high tone (tone 3) counter to the mid tone (tone 2) of the Tam consonants. So generically they can be considered as obfuscated Tam consonants producing a higher tone or a rising tone.

Nasal finals (ມ,ນ,ງ)

Nasal finals only affect the spoken tones which include short vowels. They finish syllables with m, n or ng sound (ມ,ນ,ງ). Kang Consonant with short vowel and nasal finals produces a low tone. With Tam Consonants, nasal finals raises the tone of short vowel tone to high. Sung consonants with nasal finals produce the rising tone also.

In other words, nasal finals tonal production is similar to their non-stopped long vowel counterparts.

Aspiration

A significant pattern between the consonants classes are the presence of common sound consonants. Tam and Sung Consonants have aspirated letters with counterparts in the Kang class that are unaspirated letters. The unaspirated are ກ , ຕ and ປ; pronounced as g, dt and bp without a noticeable puff of air. ກ sound particularly like a English 'k' sound which unaspirated is more similar to the English 'g' sound.

A useful exercise is when reciting the alpabet sounds for these letters, place the back of your hand close to your mouth. The aspirated letters will produce a distinct puff of air where as the unaspirated is more dispersed.

Mai Toh (   ້) & Mai Ek ( ່)

As mentioned earlier, Mai ek overrides the tone to the mid tone. This is the natural spoken tone. Mai to, produces a falling tone. For Kang and Tam consonants, it produces a high falling (tone 5); sung consonants produce a low falling (tone 6) .

Stops

Stops are unreleased sounds and are generally written as ກ,ດ or ບ. Transliterated they are t, k or p sounds at the end of words. They only affect the tones of words with long vowel combinations. Kang and sung consonants combined with stops produced a low falling tone (tone 6) . Tam consonants with a stop produced a high falling tone (tone 5).

A stopped vowel only needs a mai toh tone marker if it is a Kang Consonants. Tam and Sung consonants do not change in their falling tone between stopped words and mai toh marked words.

Tone Summary (LR - Low Rising, HF - High Falling, LF - Low Falling)

	Long Vowel or Short Vowel Nasal	Short vowel	Long Vowel with stop	Mai Ek	Mai To
Kang Consonants	Low	High	LF	Mid	HF
Tam Consonants	High	Mid	HF	Mid	HF
Sung Consonants	LR	High	LF	Mid	LF

Final Notes

After struggling for a long time trying to make a start to learning this language the simplest advice I would give myself is to really focus upon the movement of your throat and tongue and where the sounds a being produced. Thinking about sounds, letters and vowels as a reference to a mechanical function being undertaken in your body rather than a replication or a reference to another language. 

I don't quite know how the International Phonetic Alphabet works but it seems to use this a reference point. Could be of further benefit in cracking the difference between English and Lao languages.

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