and two glides (high falling and low rising). But the glides are found only on syllables that have two moras (see 12, below). Either way of describing the tones will work, but the one we have chosen here seems to us to highlight the physical aspects of pronunciation better. (For further details on what the tones sound like, see Noss, pp. 18-20: Yates and Tryon, p. xli.)
8. The 'tone' of a syllable is related to its 'pitch,' but the two are not identical. 'Pitch' means the note or notes on a musical scale which are heard with one particular occurrence of a syllable. Different speakers may pronounce the same word with the same 'tone,' and even a single speaker may use quite different pitches on different occurrences of the same word, but again with constant 'tone.' 'Tone,' then, refers to how the pitch of a syllable sounds relative to its neighbors: relatively high, relatively low, relatively level, or relatively long glide, and so forth.
9. In producing acceptable approximations to the five tone-combinations of Thai, it is not necessary for us to do anything that even the most tone—deaf of us does not do every day in speaking English. The problem lies not in the mechanics of controlling the pitch, but in the uses to which we are accustomed to put pitch distinctions. In English, we employ pitch to show where a given word is in the sentence, or to signal that we are asking a question, or to convey attitudes and emotions. Furthermore, we learned to use pitch in these ways very early, and these matters have very deep roots in our linguistic personalities. In Thai, on the other hand, the tone of a word remains relatively constant, no matter where it is in the sentence or how the speaker feels about what he is saying.
10. 'The vowels and consonants of a Thai syllable make up either one or two tone—bearing elements ('moras').
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