Contrastive Analysis in Phonetic Characteristics of Thai and Vietnamese Tones

Abstract

This paper is a contrastive analysis of phonetic characteristics of Thai and Vietnamese tones using phonetic characteristics based on methodologies from the analyses of Arthur (1962), Hoàng Thị Châu (2009), Đoàn Thiện Thuật (2016) and Nguyễn Thị Hai (2017). This analysis finds that, aside from the difference of quantity of toneme, there are additional differences including fundamental frequency, length, tone shape, pitch, and voice quality. Tho in the Thai tonal system does not occur in the Vietnamese tonal system. Conversely, hỏi, ngã and nặng in the Vietnamese tonal system do not occur in the Thai tonal system.