Many time when I speak to my wife she points out that I speak some word inaccurate, happen to most of the westerner I think.
The problem is very simple words like ทำอาหาร, ทำไม, and so on. She tells me to speak with longer A in ทำ, but I will have that “am” as a short vowel, not aam.
I noticed that when I hear myself saying ทำ, there is slightly a falling tone present, matter a fact every time I say something with short vowel and middle tone there is always a little falling tone and it surprise me, ทำ is with middle tone, so why do I say it with little bit of a falling tone, but I know it’s with middle tone?
Maybe that’s why she tells me that I pronounce it with short A, but the fact is that I saying it too fast, because when I hear myself pronounce a short vowel there is a little bit falling tone present and it become “fast” and when I concentrate and say it with middle tone, it sounds longer maybe with 1 ½ A, I hope that you understand what I’m aiming at here.
My own research is that maybe it has to do with local dialectal issues here, I live in Sweden and in some part of Sweden we have different end-tone. In Gothenburg for example they always start a sentence slightly falling and end a sentence with a high or rising tone and for example in Stockholm the opposite, can these local dialectal characteristics have an impact on this.
These dialectal characteristics we have from birth, so it’s not easy to just remove. Try for yourself, for example ทำ, say it with slightly falling tone and it sounds faster and shorter vowel and then with middle tone slower and longer vowel. Do you hear it or do I have to visit an ophthalmologist?
Best peter
