ຕຳໝາກຫຸ່ງ
[thum-mahk-hoong]
papaya salad Noun
* Note — Lao sentences and phrases are not typically spaced out by syllables. But, this is helpful for recognizing where syllables start and end.
Tips:
Literal translation is “pound papaya.” ຕຳ [thum] is “to pound,” as in to use a kok and sak or mortar and pestle, and ໝາກຫຸ່ງ [mahk-hoong] is “papaya.”
Tone Breakdown
ຕຳ [thum] — this syllable has a middle-class consonant and a special vowel. As a result, this produces a high tone.
ໝາກ [mahk] — this syllable has a high-class consonant, long vowel, and unreleased-stop final consonant. As a result, this produces a low-falling tone.
ຫຸ່ງ [hoong] — this syllable has a high-class consonant, a short vowel, and a sonorant final consonant. This normally produces a rising tone, but this syllable has a ໄມ້ເອກ /mai ehk/ tone mark. Therefore, the tone of the syllable is a middle tone.