ແມ່ຕູ້
[mae-thuu]
grandmother/grandma (maternal) 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:
Other words that can be heard or used are: ແມ່ຍາຍ [mae-nyai] or ແມ່ເຖົ້າ [mae-tao]. Though, this may be dependent on dialect/region.
The Grandmother on the father’s side of the family is ຍ່າ [nyah].
Tone Breakdown
ແມ່ [mae] — this syllable has a low-class consonant and a long vowel. This normally produces a high tone, but this syllable has a ໄມ້ເອກ /mai ehk/ tone mark. Therefore, the tone of the syllable is a middle tone.
ຕູ້ [thuu] — this syllable has a middle-class consonant and a long vowel. This normally produces a low, but this syllable has a ໄມ້ໂທ /mai toh/ tone mark. Therefore, the tone of the syllable is a high-falling tone.