.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Peppy
-
Posts
377 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Downloads
Posts posted by Peppy
-
-
I think ว่าแต่ should be translated as "But (I think)..."
As for the second part รึ (หรือ) makes it question... like ฉันหรือ "Who, me?" เรา here could mean "you" or "me". Colloquially, I'd say "เด็กกะโปโล" means something like "little punk". It's kind of hard to understand without context, but here's my full translation:
But I think my/your girlfriend looks like a socialite-and me/you? I'm/You're just a little punk.
ว่าแต่แฟนดูไฮโซเนอะ เรารึเด็กกะโปโลสุดๆๆ
Does that make any sense in context?
-
คู่มือเตรียมสอบ-หลักภาษาไทยการใช้ภาษาไทย
In my horrific back translation I think it's something like;
"A pair of hands to prepare to test"
"Principles of the thai language, usage of the thai language."
คู่มือ (khuu-meu) means "handbook", "instruction book", or "manual"--so, "Exam Preparation Manual-Principles and Usage of the Thai Language".
-
Muay - Flat/Middle tone = boxing
Muay - High tone = half chinese/half thai girl
Muay - Rising tone = PUBIC HAIR <----------------------
The difference between the last two is actually the vowel sound, not the tone:
muay (หมวย) - rising tone - Chinese for "younger sister", equivalent to the Thai "Nong", commonly used as a nickname or to refer to a younger woman of Chinese heritage
moy (หมอย) - rising tone - a vulgar word for pubic hair
-
So, in general, the length of the vowel takes precedent over the sound of the final consonant when it comes to determining the tone of the word?
No, no. There's nothing taking precedence over anything else in this case. The vowel length and the sound of the final consonant are both factors in determining the tone (along with the consonant class and presence or non-presence of a tone mark).
The relevant rule here is:
low consonant + no tone mark + long vowel + k/p/t final = falling tone
Whatever book you're using to learn Thai should go over the tone rules thoroughly--they do seem like a lot at first (I put off learning them for nearly a year, even though I started learning to read and write right away) but they're absolutely necessary to be able to read correctly, so don't give up!
-
It's falling because the vowel is long, like in มาก, for example.
ยก is high because the vowel is short.
-
I have a vocab question. I had never seen สี before meaning to play. I'd like to know more about this usage. Is it for any instrument? any stringed instrument? Is it used here as a rhythmic pair with the word ซอ because they start with similar consonents?
สี can mean to rub against, to draw, to mill, etc. In this case it refers to the action of drawing the bow against the strings of the fiddle, so no, it can't be used for just any instrument, only fiddles and violins.
Some other common words/phrases in which you might see or have seen it include:
แปรงสีฟัน / bpraeng-see-fun / toothbrush (lit. brush for rubbing against teeth)
ยาสีฟัน / yah-see-fun / toothpaste (lit. medicine for rubbing against teeth)
โรงสี / rohng-see / a ricemill (lit. a building (with a specific purpose) for milling) sometimes โรงสีข้าว
Note that this word is spelled and pronounced exactly like the word for "colour" (สี), although it's a different word with a different meaning!
-
The phrase is identical in Vietnamese, although the translation is 'lute' (Đàn nguyệt) rather than 'fiddle' - I expect the instruments are quite similar.
That's interesting... I wonder if there are similar phrases in any other countries in the region. Perhaps it's of Chinese origin?
Looking up the "Đàn nguyệt" on Wikipedia, I see that it is indeed a lute (played by plucking the strings like a guitar)--actually quite unlike the Thai ซอ / saw, which is a fiddle (played with a bow, like a violin).
For pictures, and more information about the instruments, see:
-
Just to be clear, I wasn't lamenting the fact that Thai incorporates relationships into normal conversation. The way Thai uses relationship pronouns is one of the most powerful things about the language, IMHO. I was lamenting my difficulty in keeping all these relationships straight ...
Sorry, yes, that's what I meant.
The entire post was in reference to a fascinating NYT article posted by David from Houston which talked about the information that different languages require their speakers to divulge in the normal course of events. Thais are forced by their language to divulge what their relationship with that person is by the pronouns they use to refer to that person, whereas in English we don't have that problem. Our problem is that we are forced by English to reveal the specific sequence of events by the verbs we use to describe those events. Thai doesn't have this problem. The article also discusses how different languages sharpen different skill-sets, so that some aboriginal Australians, because their language requires describing all movements in terms of ordinal directions, have a very developed sense of direction.
I have to say I'm not taken with the idea that these things are language-based. I think it's more of a cultural thing. The aboriginal Australians from that article have a culture which describes directions as compass points, but I'm sure their language must be capable of expressing directions ego-centrically as well, even if it would sound very strange to them. Likewise, it's perfectly good English to say "There's a spider on the floor north of your foot"--it only sounds funny because our culture doesn't usually describe things that way.
Indeed, I think culture does have a big hand in developing the skill sets a person has. Someone who grows up in a family of potters will likely be good at pottery, and someone whose parents are violinists will probably have an above average ability to appreciate and critique violin music, even if they don't play themselves. But all of that's culture; language has nothing to do with it.
-
Liberty - เสรีภาพ
Discover - ค้นพบ
Freedom - อิสรภาพ
-
I think we do that only with people who are younger or children.
Yes, I agree--and I think it works the same way in English. I guess the difference, that Mikenyork was lamenting, is that Thai has a tendency to use family relationship words as pronouns in informal situations, whereas in English we'd just call everybody by their first name.
My point though is that it isn't all that hard to adapt to the Thai system (if the situation calls for it), since we do the same thing all the time in English when we're talking to and about family members.
-
A prescient phrase for those that watched the news this evening:
สีซอให้ควายฟัง / see saw hai khwaai fang / to play the fiddle for buffaloes
I think an approximate English equivalent is "cast pearls before swine"--even the best bits of wisdom are lost on idiots. (Though perhaps it's actually a case of the clever pigs/buffaloes realizing that pearls/fiddle music won't put food in their bellies.
) -
แย่แล้ว, ซวยแล้ว, งานเข้าแล้ว, ฉิบหายแล้ว
how rude are these? like, แย่แล้ว = only with friends?? or ซวยแล้ว = with friends only if it's really serious ฯลฯ
From least to most offensive, I'd say:
งานเข้าแล้ว Darn!
แย่แล้ว D*mn!
ซวยแล้ว <deleted>!
ฉิบหายแล้ว Motherf*cker!
Note that the Thai words don't work in all the same contexts as the translations do--I'm just using the English to give you a rough idea of the words' relative vulgarity. I think the แล้ว on the end suggests that something's happened that needs to be rectified, like when you're driving along and suddenly your car sputters and dies because it's out of gas--"Oh, f***ck! / ซวยแล้ว!". This idea of a situation where extra, unwanted work is required is especially true with งานเข้า, whether it has แล้ว attached to it or not.
Also note that, like in my earlier post, you can add "กู" to the end for that extra oomph of personalization; I think of this as being somewhat equivalent to the "me" in "Screw me!", "<deleted> me!", etc., or the "I" in "I'm screwed!" or "I'm f*cked!" (And it's always "กู"--it just doesn't work with any other pronoun.)
Ultimately, I guess, when to use which word, if at all, depends on what kind of friends you have.
-
On the subject of "juggling relationships in conversation":
I think English does this as well to some extent. My grandfather has always referred to his wife (my grandmother) as "Mother" or "Grandma" in the presence of his kids and grandkids, even when he's speaking directly to her. My mom calls my dad "your father" when she's talking to me--she'd never say "John", or "my husband", though she might refer to him that way when she's talking to her friends.
It's not so difficult to transfer this sort of thinking to Thai--just think of everyone around you as your family, and refer to them accordingly. Like, when you talk about your "older brother" Joe (พี่โจ) to your "child" (ลูก), he becomes "your uncle" Joe (ลุงโจ) etc. etc.
-
Lazy Yogi's suggestion is a good one--"nong" is indeed not just for children.
However, "nong" is a family word, usually used with people with whom you have a close or informal relationship. If you wish to maintain the formality, you could simply use "koen" (more commonly romanized as "khun") with them--this title and second-person pronoun isn't only for people older/higher in stature than you; it can be used with just about anyone who you don't know well enough to assign a kinship term to.
Oh, and the issue of what to call whom in Thai isn't confined to us learners--plenty of native speakers also abuse and misuse the plethora of pronouns at their disposal.
Mrs. Peppy's aunt's boyfriend, who is seventy-six, insists on calling our neighbouring granny "yaai" (granny) despite the fact that she's a year younger than he is, and this seems to drive the neighbourhood nuts, though he's oblivious to it. He also calls fifty-or-sixty-year-old ladies "bpah" (auntie), his eighty-two-year-old father-in-law "dta" (gramps), and the twenty-something ice-cream girl "nong", which has earned him disapproving comments behind his back on more than one occasion--"How old does he think he is? Twenty-seven?!"
-
Apologies if this one has been on before- หอกข้างเเคร่ literally, the spear beside the litter( as in a litter a king is carried on), meaning the person can't live or sleep peacefully, he has to watch out for and be prepared for his enemies.
The litter could be a mat, and the spear next to the sleeper is dangerous as with one false move the sleeper could be impaled.
His enemies are near and he is vulnerable.
I think แคร่ usually refers to those bamboo platform thingies for lounging around on outdoors... see the second picture at http://kruwilai2502.net63.net/content/Ch1_29.htm
-
"I'm screwed" or maybe "Oh shit!" - I used to watch Winnie the Pooh cartoons with my kids in Thai. Winnie, who's always getting into such situations, commonly cries 'แย่แล้ว'
For the more vulgar register, there's also แย่แล้วกู "I'm screwed!", and ซวยแล้วกู "<deleted> me!".
-
When แล้ว is added in the sentence, such as เขาแก่แล้ว, it implies that he is in a state of being old or too old(for doing something).
To add another example, there's a commercial for washing powder running on TV now that starts out with a kid asking his grandmother to come out and play with him on his bicycle--his mother (or father, I can't remember) admonishes him--ยายเขาแก่แล้ว! / Grandma's old! (too old to be horsing around).
(For the curious, the ad ends with the kid building a sidecar for grandma to sit in--and of course he soils his shirt in the process, but the washing powder gets it out and everybody's happy.)
-
Assuming that Ivany is pronounced "eye-van-nee", a possible spelling in Thai is this:
ไอแว็นนี
Regarding "pride", ภูมิใจ / poom-jai / "proud" is probably the best word to use. "Pride" is literally ความภูมิใจ, but it seems like a funny word to get as a tattoo. It should be noted that the concept of "pride" doesn't have quite the same connotations in Thai culture as it does in English--it's usually ok to be "proud" of your group, but "pride" in oneself is often associated with conceit, snobbishness, and arrogance.
-
I did ok with English tests back in school without knowing much about grammar. I developed English weird meter by reading a lot and watching a lot of English movies instead.
The only way to do it in my opinion--I developed my Thai "weird meter" (great phrase to use in a language context--love it!
) the same way. I am using เป็น to mean 'is' in the copulative sense which Thai it does not have.
I must admit I am perplexed. You admit that the verb "be" in Thai is NOT used with words that function as adjectives do in English, like "beautiful" or "good", yet you insist on using it. It just isn't used that way. That's the way it is. I don't think it's going to change. Thai speakers will continue with their verbless "incomplete thoughts"--which are actually perfectly understandable sentences--and no one will be the worse off for it.
(Sometimes, when you get to a certain point, the answer just is, "That's the way it is." Why do we need the verb "to be" with adjectives in English? Why do we have to say "he is" and not "he are"? Why does "is" read as "is"? Why does the letter "i" look like a line with a dot over it? Why does it sound like that? Because that's the way it is!)
-
1
-
-
Is English the dominant language at home? Does he have access to Thai language reading materials that interest him? Perhaps he just doesn't like his Thai teacher at school, or maybe it's just a phase he's going through. (Kids tend to go through different phases regarding what they like and don't like, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you this.
)It could be all kinds of things--the best advice I can give you is to make sure Thai (both written and spoken) is an important part of his life. Find him some (monolingual) Thai friends to play with if he doesn't have them already, get him books and cartoons in Thai, etc. etc. (Kids seem to love those Japanese manga comics that are translated into Thai, at least all the kids I know do. And if you can get him reading novels, all the better.)
You might get some good feedback asking about this in the Family sub-forum too--I think issues with raising bilingual kids are a common topic there. Good luck!
-
ในยุคสมัยที่รัฐมีความสามารถในการจ้องมองและเห็นประชาชนแต่ละคนได้มากขึ้น ประชาชนก็ต้องมีความสามารถไม่น้อยไปกว่ากันที่จะจ้องมองและเห็นรัฐได้ไม่น้อยกว่ากันบ้าง
My rendering would be, "In an age where the state has an increased capacity to watch over and observe individuals, the people must not have too little of an ability to watch over and observe the state in somewhat equal measure."
A typical example of the wishy-washiness and tempered rhetoric that dominates public statements of opinion by people who are quite comfortable with their position in society and don't wish to be seen as overt sh!t-disturbers.
-
ถนนลูกรัง : an unpaved road
ถนนโรยกรวด : a gravel road
-
Edit: Double post. Sorry!
-
I think ความคิดความเห็น khwahm-kit khwahm-hen is perhaps a little too flowery for everyday speech--just ความคิดเห็น khwahm-kit-hen should do fine.
Regarding อภิปราย a-pih-bpraai, I concur with Mikenyork--I too have only ever heard it in regard to legislative debates, and to me the word connotes long-winded speeches explaining a particular position in great detail.
PS. If I may critique the sentence ตามความคิดความเห็นของผมผู้หญิงไทยเป็นผู้หญิงที่สวยมากๆ, I'd say it's grammatically correct, but unnecessarily convoluted. To me it reads, "In my opinion, Thai women are women who are very beautiful." I'd change ตามความคิดความเห็นของผม to "ตามความคิดของผม" (I often hear this phrase, and to me it's equivalent to "in my opinion"), and ผู้หญิงไทยเป็นผู้หญิงที่สวยมากๆ to "ผู้หญิงไทยสวยมากๆ". So the final sentence would be ตามความคิดของผม ผู้หญิงไทยสวยมากๆ. (Perhaps with a นะ thrown in, either in the middle or at the end, depending on which part I'd like to emphasize.)
That's just my opinion, though. What do you guys think?
)
Words, Idioms, Expressions
in Thai Language
Posted
There seem to be a number of ideas about this sentence; let me throw my hat into the ring.
"เขาคิดว่าไม่เห็นจะต้องไม่ไว้หน้าใคร เพราะมันเป็นการทำตามหน้าที่"
"He thinks that he shouldn't have to be inconsiderate to anyone, since it's in line with his duty."
My understanding is that he feels no one will perceive his actions as being inconsiderate, since he's just doing his job.
As for whether ไม่ไว้หน้าใคร means no respect for anyone, or just for one person, I think it can mean either depending on context.
I don't quite agree with that explanation--my understanding is that it means one talks so much the saliva extinguishes the candles. ไฟ doesn't just mean "electric", it can mean any light source, be it fire, a candle, a lantern, a light bulb...