Tonal Language
Initially it might not seem so, but the Thai language is alphabetic, so pronunciation of a word is independent of its meaning – just like English is. On the other hand, Thai is tonal, like Chinese and unlike English. This means that each word has a certain pitch characteristic with which it must be used to be properly understood.
The Thai language uses five tones, called mid, low, high, rising, and falling. The graph below illustrates the average fundamental frequency contour for tones as illustrated by Jackson Gandour (1976).
Introduction
Before you start using the interactive trainers below, I recommend studying the tips provided kindly by Ashoka10. He will give you a quick introduction to tones and how dead and live syllables influences the pronunciation.
Samples
Click on the tone table above to listen to sound samples. (Requires Flash Mx).
Extensive samples
I found this video clip with an extensive list of examples illustrating the different tones recently. The German author is apparently living in Thailand with his Thai wife. A great mix – German structure and fluent pronounciation. Enjoy:
