Muns

[qualtrough]

It is my understanding that Thai does not have a final pronounced S. However, there is one Thai word (at least I think it is Thai) that I have heard Thais pronounce with a final s. The word is 'Muns, meaning fun or enjoyable. I have heard it prounounced mun and muns. I have also seen it spelled with two types of final S in Thai. Why do Thais, or at least some of them, say this word with a final S, or at least make an attempt? Is it a foeign word--anybody know its origin? I have been wondering about this since I first heard it more than 20 years ago.

[Richard W]

This word was recently discussed here in Tastes, mun?. The best theory was that it was mock English. However, your dating of it may re-open the discussion.

Thai does have final /s/ nowadays - if you look in the Royal Institute Dictionary, you will see that it gives [H]gaas as a possible pronunciation of ก๊าซ 'gas', besides the more traditional [H]gaat. On the other hand it doesn't accept final /f/ for either of ลิฟต์ 'lift (Am. 'elevator') or กอล์ฟ 'golf'.

[qualtrough]

Richard, thanks for your comment. I first heard the word in 1981 so it is not a real recent modification of mun. I heard it in the context of Boonmee's 2nd definition, which was 'good sex'. I think the theory that it was created by adding a farang plural s to mun sounds plausible. I have always associated it with fun in the sense of naughty fun and that it was not quite polite. I was reminded of the word when I saw it on the cover of a Thai comic book at a barber shop recently. Peculiarly, I believe the final s was not spelling with so so or so seua, I think it was sa sala or sa bo. I will see if I can find it again!