การตาย/ความตาย

[chinnotes]

In a book on Thai language (written in Thai) I find that some verbs can be nominalized by using either การ or ความ, four examples are given:

การตาย ความตาย

กานเห็น ความเห็น

การฝัน ความฝัน

การก้าวหน้า ความก้าวหน้า

It is said that the meaning of these words is slightly different. Can please someone explain the difference?

I would be very thankful.

Erwin

[sutnyod]

For me this is a tricky question, because I speak Thai not in a scientific way, but how it "feels".

"Kan", according to my feeling is more a process, while "Kwam" is more a simple substantification.

Let's take "dreaming":

"kanfun" is the process of dreaming. ("The process of dreaming can be researched" would be a sample sentence.)

"khuamfun" is "the dream" ("I saw you in my dreams.")

Would love to see the answers of the Thai scholars here. (khuamtorp, not kantorp )

[withnail]

Sutnyod is correct although a more technical answer can be given, I feel.

การ + verb = gerund (a noun made from a verb plus ing such as running, swimming, dying when placed in the sentence I don't like/like ______ not I am/was ______ )

ความ + verb = abstract noun (death, love, hope, fear etc.)

What makes this harder for us though is that Thai doesn't use these words in quite the same way or with quite the same frequency as we do in English.

Edited March 6, 2008 by withnail

[Rikker]

การตาย ความตาย

การเห็น ความเห็น

การฝัน ความฝัน

การก้าวหน้า ความก้าวหน้า

I agree with what's been said already as a general rule, but sometimes the actual meaning is unexpected.

To translate your list, we'd get:

dying, death

seeing (also sight/vision, the sense of sight), opinion/view (on an issue)

dreaming, dream

progressing, progress

Edited March 6, 2008 by Rikker

[mangkorn]

ความ - prefix used with verbs, adverbs and adjectives to make nouns that express a concept; the "substance, gist or sense" of the matter.

การ - prefix meaning "matters of..., affairs of..."

ความ signifies a state of being; การ stresses the continuous action of that state, but not the condition itself

[siamesekitty]

or yet another way of saying it:

การ (garn) = act of

ความ (khwam) = the essence of

[chinnotes]

I would like to thank you all for you answer. Now everything seems clear to me...

Erwin