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Translation problem..phone call


SimpleMan555

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พี่โทรแจ้งนะ

 

I received the above in a business text message in a text and translated via Google to 'Please call me' but I am told by a Thai ii means 'I will call you'

Can someone please clarify for me?

Thank you

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17 minutes ago, kokesaat said:

On the subject of translation problems:

15 years or so ago I was visiting a friend in the hospital who was on his last legs.  A nurse and I entered the elevator.  I pressed floor 4.  She looked at me and said "I see you" in English.  My brain rattled around what she was saying.....me wondering why she would say something so obvious.  Finally it occurred to me what she really said was "ICU".  And she was right.....floor 4 was the ICU floor.

just like when you order chicken and fried Rice the response chickn and fry lice??

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7 hours ago, SimpleMan555 said:

พี่โทรแจ้งนะ

 

I received the above in a business text message in a text and translated via Google to 'Please call me' but I am told by a Thai ii means 'I will call you'

Can someone please clarify for me?

Thank you

Does it not depend on who พี่ is,? That would be known to the people involved. 

พี่ could be 1st or 2nd person pronoun so," Call and let me know" or "I will call and let you know."  
นะ doesn't help because it could be คำสั่ง บังคับ แน่นำor เชิญชวน it seems to me. 

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6 hours ago, tgeezer said:

Does it not depend on who พี่ is,? That would be known to the people involved. 

พี่ could be 1st or 2nd person pronoun so," Call and let me know" or "I will call and let you know."  
นะ doesn't help because it could be คำสั่ง บังคับ แน่นำor เชิญชวน it seems to me. 

I think it doesn't matter, because if the sender of this message would request to be called, you would find a word like for example ขอ in this sentence (ขอพี่โทรแจ้งนะ). The absence of such a "request" word indicates that the sender will call.

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15 hours ago, SimpleMan555 said:

I am told by a Thai ii means 'I will call you'

 So you were told (correctly) by a Thai what it says.

 

But you write to a forum asking for advice with no native speakers and with very few who can read Thai. 
 

Who you going to believe? 

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I consulted a Thai speaker after my post, his initial reaction was "I will call you" but I managed to persuaded him to agree that there was ambiguity there. 
After reading the very good comments I realized that I had not told him the context so, today I sent a screen shot which I followed up with a conversation in English on FaceTime. 

17 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

My girl cleared it up once and for all, she says, "I call me". Then she gave me about 20 more examples none of which made any sense at all.????

That about sums up the situation! 
What I can remember was ช่วยโทรมาหาพี่ พี่โทรมาหานะ where the position of the pronoun พี่  makes it obvious.  *I think that we would all agree that the pronoun at the end means "you"*.    

 

So where does that leave us?  I suggested that not all Thai people would give the same answer and just as we know in our own languages where **analysis is involved doubt creeps in**, so it is in Thai. 

However context can unlock the puzzle. It is unlikely that a text message in this "bald" form arrives out of the blue so we should be able to work it out if SimpleMan555 gives a little more information. 
* NB. I don't expect agreement because of ** 

Edited by tgeezer
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22 minutes ago, SimpleMan555 said:

Thanks for the reply ????

Short and sweet! You have your answer and by now may have received the call, how did it go? I ask because in my experience telephone conversations are more difficult to understand than text messages.  
Don't be offended I am hoping that there are people interested in language acquisition who may join in.  
 

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1 hour ago, SimpleMan555 said:

Thanks for the reply ????

Your welcome, my wife did asked me if the farang asking on the forum, was asking because he saw the message on someone's mobile, e.g. wife/girlfriend, I said, no need to know basis Tiruk, job done thanks. 

 

I will pass on your thanks to her.

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in my understanding:
if Sender is a higher ranking person, it could be "I call you (+friendly end of sentence)"
If the Receiver is the higher ranking person, it could be "you call me (+please)" 

thai2english website refers:
พี่ pêe
I (used when talking to someone younger)
you (used when talking to someone older)
he ; she ; him ; her (used when referring to someone older)
(elder) brother ; sister (or friend, relative, work colleague etc...)

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