Hello all, new student of the Thai language here. I keep hearing in Thai movies what sounds like a corruption of the well known mai bpen rai and was wondering if someone could help me make sense of it. I'm going to transliterate it as best  as my ears can interpret. In the subtitles this phrase gets translated as 'it's okay,' 'I'm fine,' 'nevermind.' So mai bpen rai, right?

 

This is what my ears hear. It's usually said very rapidly by a Thai speaker, repeated, sometimes to console or reassure a panicked person:

 

"ma meh lai"

"muh mah lai'

"m' m' lai."

"m' m' lai m' m' lai m' m' lai . . ."

 

I never hear the "bp" (ป) consonant for any "bpen". Is this just as very rapidly abridged mai bpen lai?

 

Edited June 13, 20206 yr by OZinPattaya

Get your ears tested.

54 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Get your ears tested.

Eat some more hash browns, Harry. Might give your fingers something to do than post snotty remarks.

 

I hear what I hear and my ears work fine, smart guy.

Edited June 13, 20206 yr by OZinPattaya

You'd need to post the phrase in Thai script to get anywhere as far as translation goes.

In Thailand what you hear is what you get, just mimic the sounds the local makes while communicating withe others and you'll be understood well...

I tried it on my GF, and she said it means " When did you come?"

"ma meh lai"

/mai mi: alai/ or /mai mi: lai/ 

( :  indicates long vowel; "mai" has falling tone, so to an English speaker it sounds as if the whole phrase is stressed on "mai")

ไม่มีอะไร

"not have something" = "it's nothing" as in "what's wrong with you? " - "Nothing, I'm fine"

 

Hear it pronounced:

Oasis pronounces the ร as /r/, not as /l/

In Bangkok and in Issarn you will hear /l/ more often

 

This is not the same as mai bpen rai. There is no "slurred bp" here - there just isn't any bp.

The meaning is not quite the same, either. 

Edited June 14, 20206 yr by uhuh

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I tried it on my GF, and she said it means " When did you come?"

That's มาเมื่อไหร่? /ma: meua lai/

seemingly stressed on "meua" which has falling tone 

As I think you've already guessed, you're hearing it like that because when the lips come together they don't push out with a full bp sound in rapid speech.  

10 hours ago, uhuh said:

"ma meh lai"

/mai mi: alai/ or /mai mi: lai/ 

( :  indicates long vowel; "mai" has falling tone, so to an English speaker it sounds as if the whole phrase is stressed on "mai")

ไม่มีอะไร

"not have something" = "it's nothing" as in "what's wrong with you? " - "Nothing, I'm fine"

 

Hear it pronounced:

Oasis pronounces the ร as /r/, not as /l/

In Bangkok and in Issarn you will hear /l/ more often

 

This is not the same as mai bpen rai. There is no "slurred bp" here - there just isn't any bp.

The meaning is not quite the same, either. 

I've tried to say "mai bpen lai" as rapidly as possible to see if I can replicate something vaguely to what I'm hearing in these films, but it doesn't quite jive, since there is no hint whatever of ป, so I think your explanation is most likely the correct one. It's weird how often I do hear this locution in Thai films. All so far have been Netflix movies so I can't post an example. If you have Netflix this phrase happens in "Sleepless Society: Two Pillows & a Lost Soul" S1: E3 @ 37:00 (the roommate walks in on our hero slitting his wrists).

 

After listening to this again, yet again, I do now think I can hear the "b'lai." The ป. Although the whole phrase sounds like "moo b'plai." This is perhaps a bad example as the actor is speaking frantically and so, as with any language, the intonation is going to be blurred. And to be fair, Hash Brown Hary may have a point--not that I need to get my ears checked but that my listening experience needs to improve, will try to find a different example, not so frantically intoned.

 

Edited June 14, 20206 yr by OZinPattaya

He says "mai bpen lai ".

The girl asks at some point "bpen alai?" and he says "mai bpen lai" about 10 times. He speaks quite clearly,  but not very slowly. You really have to improve your listening skills. 

Improving listening skills is important, but not always the only problem based on my experiences. It can also be the sound quality of your audio equipment. I have many audio tracks that I listen to and sometimes while listening on my laptop plugged into the TV there are minute parts of words/phrases that I cannot hear at all. Putting that same audio into a CD player and listening with earbuds, I hear it perfectly fine. Quality audio, and blocking out external noise interference, can make a difference.

On 6/13/2020 at 10:48 PM, OZinPattaya said:

...new student of the Thai language here. I keep hearing in Thai movies what sounds like a corruption of the well known mai bpen rai and was wondering if someone could help me make sense of it...

bpen is a stuttered pronunciation of pen (เป็น)

 

Edited June 15, 20206 yr by Puccini

mai mi alai - nothing (whats wrong, nothing)