14. In a two-mora syllable, the tone of the first half may be low and the tone of the second half high, or the first half may be high and the second half low, or the tones of the two halves may be identical. These possibilities provide for four of the five combinations that exist for long Thai syllables:
- low rising
- high falling
- high level
- low level
The fifth combination is pronounced in at least two different ways. When a syllable with this combination is pronounced by itself, both of its halves are high, but there is a very noticeable down-step of pitch between the first and second halves. When such a syllable is preceded by a syllable with high tone, its own tone is level, but there is a downstep between the two syllables. The fifth combination may therefore be described as
- high with downstep
(It is usually called mid tone.)
15. 'Where English has a two-way distinction between p and b, Thai has a three—way distinction that causes difficulty for English speakers.'
English speakers find it hard to hear and produce consistently the differences among the three Thai sounds that are romanized as p, ph, b, Of these sounds, b is fully voiced, as in English samba. The sounds ph and p are not voiced. The former is followed by a puff of air ('aspiration') and the latter is not. The trouble is that while both aspirated and unaspirated p occur in English, the choice between them depends on position in the word, and so the difference cannot be used for distinguishing between two different
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