Acoustic Phonetics of Lao Tones
Marlys A. Macken, Ph.D.
Professor – Department of Linguistics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
U.S.A.
Abstract:
The tones of Tai languages are typically studied within the historical model and
method of Gedney (1964), using a basic twenty word word-list for twenty
categories that vary by initial consonant, and Proto-Tai tones (*A,*B, and *C)
and syllable type (smooth versus checked syllable). Synchronic descriptions of
Lao tones posit five or six main tones (in smooth syllables) with considerable
differences by dialect and in the nature of each tonal phoneme (e.g. rising,
falling, low, high, etc.). This paper presents acoustic phonetic data for the
Lao tones in two Lao dialects, the Central Vientiane dialect and the Southern
dialect as spoken in Savannakhet. Data include multiple tokens of at least five
words per Gedney category, words spoken in both isolation and in sentence frame,
and native speaker judgments about phonemic contrast and where tones in
particular words are the same or different. Results include (i) cross-dialect
similarities in the phonological factoring of the Gedney 20 category proto
system; (ii) differences between dialect in number of the tone phonemes (five
tone phonemes in the Central dialect (as per Crisfield and Hartmann 2002,
Enfield 2000, and Brown 1965, among others), five tone phonemes in the
Savannakhet Southern dialect that are different from the five tone phonemes in
Vientianne and different from the six tone phonemes for the Southern dialect as
spoken further south of Savannakhet in Pakse (a not surprising variation given
other reports); (iii) differences in the phonological shape of the tone
phonemes; and (iv) within category acoustic differences that provide dramatic
evidence of the underlying historical development and the synchronic dialect
system from Northern to Southern Laos.