The Fundamental Frequencies of Tai Yuan Tones Spoken by Lua' (Mal) Speakers in Nan Province, Thailand

Authors

Chommanad Intajamornrak

Publication Date

2009-01-01

Abstract

Lua' (Mal), a Mon-Khmer language, has been reconstructed as a non-tonal language. However, it has been found that the Lua' (Mal) spoken in Ta Luang Village in the Pua District of Nan Province is becoming a tonal language due to contact with Tai Yuan, the majority language of Nan Province. There are two groups of lexical pitches in the Ta Luang variety: high and low. This paper aims to analyze and compare the fundamental frequencies of the Tai Yuan tones as spoken by female Lua' (Mal) speakers in Ta Luang Village and those of female native speakers of Tai Yuan from Pua District. A wordlist covering the full complement of Tai Yuan tones was recorded directly on computer using Adobe Audition, version 2. The informants were three female Lua' (Mal) speakers in Ta Luang Village and three female native speakers of Tai Yuan in Pua District. Fundamental frequencies were measured at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of tone duration using Praat, version 4.5.24. The results show that Tai Yuan as spoken by native speakers has six tones, namely, low-rising, mid-rising, mid-level, mid-falling, high-level, and high-falling, while the Tai Yuan spoken by Lua' (Mal) speakers contains only five tones due to a merger of the mid-level and mid-falling tones. The pitch contour of the Tai Yuan tones spoken by the two groups of speakers is obviously different. The range of fundamental frequencies in the dynamic tones (low-rising, mid-falling, and high-falling) spoken by Tai Yuan native speakers is wider than that of Lua' (Mal) speakers. It appears that Tai Yuan tones are interfered with by the native language, Lua' (Mal). The differences in number of tones and in the acoustic characteristics of tones influence how non-tonal speakers produce a tone language. Moreover, the fundamental frequencies of the Tai Yuan tones spoken by Lua' (Mal) speakers in Ta Luang Village show that they can be distinguished into two groups: High and Low.

First Page

20

Last Page

33

Recommended Citation

Intajamornrak, Chommanad (2009) "The Fundamental Frequencies of Tai Yuan Tones Spoken by Lua' (Mal) Speakers in Nan Province, Thailand," Manusya, Journal of Humanities: Vol. 12: No. 17, Article 2.
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/manusya/vol12/iss17/2