ทะเบียนบ้าน or house registration is one of the earlier phrases foreign learners of Thai tend to encounter due to its frequency of use when dealing with bureaucracy. In fact it is so common many foreigners who don't speak Thai employ it as a loan word in English (like 'soi' or 'phat Thai', etc.)

 

I notice however that somewhere along the line, a Chinese Whispers effect has occurred and it is now rendered as tambien ban both in written and spoken English by many foreigners. I find this interesting because it shows that foreigners are getting the phrase from other foreigners rather from Thais. No Thai would ever say ทำเบียนบ้าน! It also shows this phenomenon is widespread as I come across it often.

 

Does anybody have any information as to how this mistake may have started and how it has been so successful at propagating itself.

Simply a lack of understanding of Thai isn’t it? I agree that it probably comes from use among not non native speakers. It propagates because in a non native speakers environment there is nobody who can correct it. I doubt that it is used by contributers to this forum.


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44 minutes ago, tgeezer said:

I doubt that it is used by contributers to this forum

A quick search revealed many posters using it. Here are a few, there are a lot more.

@Thanyaburi Mac

@ubonjoe

@BuffaloRescue

@beano2274
@off road

 

This is not a criticism of these posters but I am intrigued how inaccuracies are reproduced.

 

Maybe these 5 will reveal where they heard or read it.

 

 

I suspect that if it is as a loan word it would be tambien which I am sure would have been corrected here.


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Tambien is Spanish, which maybe sounds better to European ears?

"No Thai would ever say ทำเบียนบ้าน! "

 

And you, what do you say, and what Thai say ? Sorry, I hear some Thai people say " tabian ban" and every body understands it 

 the name written on the first page is " สำเนาทำเบียนบ้าน"; it's not correct ?  

What should be the correct name? please don't write a complicate and long name , Thai people like short 
 

"No Thai would ever say ทำเบียนบ้าน! "
 
And you, what do you say, and what Thai say ? Sorry, I hear some Thai people say " tabian ban" and every body understands it 
 the name written on the first page is " สำเนาทำเบียนบ้าน"; it's not correct ?  
What should be the correct name? please don't write a complicate and long name , Thai people like short 
 

  The question marks '?' mean that you are asking so I will answer?
1. Question: (Q)"And you; what do you say? "
1. Answer: (A) I say: ta'bienban.
2.Q. "and what Thai say?"
2. A. Thai say: ta'bienban
"the name written on first page is "สำเนาทำเบียนบ้าน";"
3. Q. "it's not correct? "
3.A. No, it is not correct because you hear "Thai people say "ta'bienban" the name should be: สำเนาทะเบียนบ้าน
4. Q. "What should be the correct name ? "
4.A. ta'bienban. because that is what Thai people say.
"Thai people like short: ทะเบียนบ้าน is said tA'bienban not tAMbienban.
Apologies for seeming a little patronising but you seem to have missed the point of the post topic. The point is that some non Thai speakers call it a tambienban and this post is pointing put that it is not how Thai people say the word.


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As tgeezer very accurately said, @Aforek , you seem to have completely misunderstood the topic.

Nice topic. I've noticed this myself over the years. I thought it maybe came from people seeing the lips coming together for the 'b' sound, which they would also do for 'm', and then seeing the 'm' rather than hearing it - which they can't because it's not there. 

On the subject of farang and Thai langauge, I found myself watching some "vlogs" on Thailand from people living in "Wahin" and visiting "Pat ty ya " . When I first came to Thaland I had no idea what Hooahin was but I knew to say Pat ty ya. I was lucky my errors were 'jumped on'.

Just the other day we were driving along and passed a huge advertising board with โฆษณาติตต่อ written on it, so began a discussion on how โฆษสะหณาติดต่อ could say so much but instead got a lecture " for the umpteenth time" apparently. Strange how with time your nearest and dearest can be so unforgiving, I suppose that after thirty years we all become part of the furniture!

.

 

 

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edit: one word which I did drill myself on successfully was ข้อความ, I couldn't resist ข้อขวาม for some reason.

 

@tgeezer Wa Hin! Yes, good one. The explanation for that those is easy. Hua in Romanised Chinese is pronounced Wa. This is the source. However of the hundreds of English speakers say this, I think over 90% are copying what they have heard other English speakers say rather than having experience from Romanised Chinese. This is what I earlier called Chinese Whispers (no pun intended )

 

@KhaoNiaw I have a similar theory to yours. But not quite the same. ทะ has a glottal stop. The English speaker hears it but cannot relate directly to an English phoneme. So they approximate to the nearest sound they know. And someone somewhere approximated ทะ to 'tam'. Then the Chinese Whispers kicked in and the error become part of the Non-Thai speaking expat vernacular. A similar effect occurs with words or syllables starting with ง. The English speaker often defaults to 'ny' as in เกาะพะงัน becoming 'Koh Panyan'.

7 hours ago, Briggsy said:

As tgeezer very accurately said, @Aforek , you seem to have completely misunderstood the topic.

you are right, I didn't see the "ทำเบียนบ้าน" , ( tambian ), of course it's ทะเบียนบ้าน

I need some glasses, I agree with you but, as for me, I never say ทำเบียนบ้าน but ทะเบียน

บ้าน 

sorry for my " reading too fast " mistake 

3 hours ago, Aforek said:

you are right, I didn't see the "ทำเบียนบ้าน" , ( tambian ), of course it's ทะเบียนบ้าน

I need some glasses, I agree with you but, as for me, I never say ทำเบียนบ้าน but ทะเบียน

บ้าน 

sorry for my " reading too fast " mistake 

A most gracious reply.