A Case Study of the Initial Consonant Pronunciation Mɑde by Thai Students Based on the Praat

Abstract

        On the basis of Instrumental phonetics, this article uses the Praat software to do a case study of the Initial consonant made by Thai students. By making and comparing pronunciation pictures of Chinese and Thai speakers, by observing the VOT release burst, curly grain and location of short plat-band, we can summarize the pronunciation of Thai speakers on Chinese Initial consonants and then the Initial consonant pronunciation errors are found. From above all, we can know that there are 12 initials that don't have errors, they are b, d, j, q, zh, ch, ɡ, c, sh, r, m, f. And there are 9 initials that have errors, they are p, h, k, l, n, s, t, x, z. Finally, based on the comparison of the phonetic system differences between Chinese and Thai Initial consonants, this article tries to explore the causes of errors of Thai students.