User:Noktonissian/sandbox/Tone

Tone mark conjugation

There are six phonemic tones in the Chiang Mai dialect of Northern Thai: low-rising, low-falling, high-level with glottal stop, mid-level, high-falling, and high-rising. Tones in Chiang Mai dialect are very close to the standard Thai five tones systems and the equivalence can be drawn between the two. Lanna–Thai dictionaries often equate Chiang Mai tones with standard Thai tones, shown in a table below.

Northern Thai–Standard Thai tone equivalence

Chiang Mai Tone		Thai Tone Equivalence
Name	Tone letters	Name			Tone letters
mid-level	33 or ˧˧	สามัญ	saman	mid	33 or ˧˧
low-falling	21 or ˨˩	เอก	ek	low	21 or ˨˩
high-falling	42 or ˦˨	โท	tho	falling	43 or ˦˧
high-level, glottalized	44ʔ or ˦˦ʔ	โทพิเศษ	special tho	-	-
high-rising	45 or ˦˥	ตรี	tree	high	44 or ˦˦
low-rising	24 or ˨˦	จัตวา	chattawa	rising	323 or ˧˨˧

Tone mark conjugation system of Tai Tham highly correlates with the system used by Thai script. Despite the difference in tone quality between Northern Thai, Tai Khuen, Thai, and Lao; equivalent words in each language are, in large part, marked with the same (or equivalent) tone mark. For example, the word ᨣ᩶ᩤ​ (Northern Thai pronunciation: [kaː˦˥]; Khuen: [kaː˦˩]) which is equivalent to Thai ค้า (Thai pronunciation: [kʰaː˦˥]), and Lao ຄ້າ (Lao pronunciation: [kʰaː˥˨]) all has the same meaning "to trade" and is expressed with the same or equivalent tone mark mai tho/mai kho jang but is pronounced with different tones differed by the languages.

Tone mark conjugation in Tai Tham follows the same model used for Thai script. Consonants are divided into 3 classes: high, mid, low; with some degree of variation form Thai script due to the phonological differences between Northern Thai and standard Thai. Consonants in each class are combined with these tone marks to give a different tonal pattern. Similar to standard Thai, the tonal pattern for each consonant class also differs by vowel length and final consonant sounds, which can be divided into the "checked" and "unchecked" syllables. Checked syllables are a group of syllables with the obstruent coda sounds p̚, t̚, k̚, and ʔ (short vowel with no final consonant actually ends with the glottal stop). The unchecked syllables are a group of syllables with the sonorant coda sound, n, ŋ, j, and w.

Only two tone marks mai yo (᩵)​ and mai kho jang (᩶)​ are mainly used. Low class and High class consonants only have one tone per one tone mark. Hence, to achieve the 6 tones while using only 2 tone marks (and one case of no tone mark), they are conjugated as a couple of the same sound.

High class–Low class consonants couple for tone conjugation

IPA	High class	Low class
[k]	ᨠ	ᨣ
[x]	ᨡ,​ ᨢ	ᨤ,​ ᨥ
[ŋ]	ᨦ	ᩉ᩠ᨦ
[t͡ɕ]	ᨧ	ᨩ
[s]	ᨨ,​ ᩆ,​ ᩇ,​ ᩈ	ᨪ,​ ᨫ
[ɲ]	ᨬ,​ ᨿ	ᩉ᩠ᨿ
[t]	ᨭ,​ ᨲ	ᨴ
[tʰ]	ᨮ,​ ᨳ	ᨰ,​ ᨵ
[n]	ᨱ,​ ᨶ	ᩉ᩠ᨶ
[p]	ᨷ​ ᨸ	ᨻ
[pʰ]	ᨹ	ᨽ
[f]	ᨺ	ᨼ
[m]	ᩉ᩠ᨾ	ᨾ
[r]	ᩉᩕ	ᩁ
[l]	ᩉᩖ,​ ᩉ᩠ᩃ, ᩉᩕ	ᩃ,​ ᩊ, ᩁ
[h]	ᩉ,​ ᩉᩕ	ᩌ, ᩁ
[w]	ᩉ᩠ᩅ	ᩅ

Notes

Mid class consonants do not have a couple for tone conjugation. Hence, different tones can be expressed with the same tone mark. Readers have to rely on the context in order to know the correct tone pronunciation. Therefore, to solve this ambiguity, three new tone marks: mai ko nuea​ (᩷),​ mai song nuea​ (᩸), and mai sam nuea​ (᩹) were invented for the mid class consonants in Khuen language. However, these three new tone marks aren't used in Lanna spelling convention and even in Khuen, they are rarely used. The use of these new three tone marks is also not standardized and may also differ between the dialects of Khuen language.

The full tone conjugation table is shown below. Color codes are assigned in the table to each tone mark: cyan - no tone mark; yellow - mai yo (equi. Thai mai ek); pink - mai kho jang (equi. Thai mai tho). Low class and high class rows are paired together to show the system of the consonant couples.

final consonant sound	Vowel length	Consonant class	Chiang Mai Tone
			mid-level	low-falling	high-falling	high-level, glottalized	high-rising	low-rising
			Thai Tone Equivalence
			สามัญ (saman)	เอก (ek)	โท (tho)	โทพิเศษ (special tho)	ตรี (tree)	จัตวา (chattawa)
			mid	low	falling	-	high	rising
m, n, ŋ, j, w coda (unchecked syllables) (sonorant)	long & short	Low	ᨴᩣ /taː˧˧/ "to smear"		ᨴ᩵ᩣ /taː˦˨/ "port"		ᨴ᩶ᩣ /taː˦˥/ "to challange"
		High		ᨲ᩵ᩣ᩠ᨦ /taːŋ˨˩/ "to carry"		ᨲ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨶ /taːn˦˦ʔ/ "to oppose"		ᨲᩣ /taː˨˦/ "eye"
		Mid	ᩋᩩ᩠ᨿ /ʔuj˧˧/ "soft hair"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩵ᨿ /ʔuj˨˩/ "to scatter"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩶ᨿᩌᩩ᩠᩵ᨿ /ʔuj˦˨.huj˦˨/ "greenish"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩶ᨿ /ʔuj˦˦ʔ/ "thigh"	ᩋᩩ᩠᩶ᨿ /ʔuj˦˥/ "grand parents"	ᩋᩩ᩠ᨿ /ʔuj˨˦/ "breast"
ʔ, p̚, t̚, k̚ coda (checked syllables) (obstruent)	long	Low			ᨴᩣ᩠ᨠ /taːk̚˦˨/ "slug"		ᨶᩰ᩠᩶ᨴ /noːt̚˦˥/ "note"
		High		ᨲᩣ᩠ᨠ /taːk̚˨˩/ "to dry"
		Mid		ᨯᩣ᩠ᨷ /daːp̚˨˩/ "sword"	ᩋᩪ᩶ᨯ /ʔuːt̚˦˨/ "to swell"		ᩋ᩶ᩬᨷ /ʔɔːp̚˦˥/ "bottle neck"
	short	Low					ᨴᩢ᩠ᨠ /tak̚˦˥/ "to greet"
		High						ᨲᩢ᩠ᨷ /tap̚˨˦/ "liver"
		Mid					ᩋᩩ᩶ᨠ /ʔuk̚˦˥/ "to ferment"	ᨯᩢ᩠ᨷ /dap̚˨˦/ "to distinguish (fire)"

Notes