Use Of "i" And "you" In Thai

[JamieP]

I met a girl in a nightclub last night and managed to get her number.

Today we've been exchanging text messages - me writing in English, her in Thai........

So with my limited vocab and even more limited abilty to read Thai script and being further hampered by the crappy fonts on my phone I've been translating her messages with the aid some websites.

One thing that really confused me is she's been writing things like ไอ - I and ยู - you. With the English meanings.

Is this common for Thais to use these English words when speaking Thai???

[oan]

no.... it's not common to do that...and as a thai, i admit that i do hear MORE thai people say that (and even other english words besides ไอ and ยู instead of thai words) but whenever and wherever you say that, you'll get a weird or even insulting look from other thais as it is considered as you're showing off your ability in speaking english in a wrong way. thais think that the right way to speak any languages is to speak a language at a time, not to get two or more languages mixed up in a sentence. thai academics even brought up this issue into the parliament and said it was the national crisis....

Edited February 21, 2009 by oan

[JamieP]

Thanks for your input, Oan.

I didn't think it would be common but at least I now know that I may hear it.

[katana]

I've seen it used very occasionally in Thai chat rooms.

[Jay_Jay]

It's used in different circumstances as oan, jamie and katana have mentioned.

The main ways I find it being used are:

- Kids who are studying / have studied at an English speaking school (either in Thailand or overseas) and are salting their Thai to make it sound more 'inter'

- People who didn't study in an international system but want to appear more 'inter'

- Way for non-inter Thais to address / tag foreigners as foreigners when they're addressing them in Thai. Just like they use 'wo' for 'I' when speaking of Chinese speakers of Thai.

Edited February 21, 2009 by Jay_Jay

[kriswillems]

For me it's very confusing and more than once I had to ask them to repeat the sentence because I didn't understand it. Very few Thai people use these words. So, when somebody uses them they come totally unexpected. I have the same problems when Thai people use other words from English when they are talking Thai. Even if they pronounce them perfectly, my mind just doesn't have the time to switch that fast (between languages).

[janejira]

I have an acquaintance that will sometimes write "I" and "you" when talking on msn in Thai. She said that it was just faster for her to type that rather than to type out our names all of the time.

It does get rather confusing sometimes though.

[JamieP]

. She said that it was just faster for her to type that rather than to type out our names all of the time.

I can see how that makes sense since my original post was about text messages and it will save space as well.

I suppose it's the same idea as 4 = for or l8r meaning later which is common in English not that I particulary like it.

[asanee]

or this one: 555

thats ha-ha-ha in thai (spoken): got it? use it-shows that youre on an advanced level with that

There should be a special on SMS and the like and all those abbreviations

[exexpat]

What's bad is when they mean I but say you. That makes it really confusing!

[DavidHouston]

. She said that it was just faster for her to type that rather than to type out our names all of the time.

I can see how that makes sense since my original post was about text messages and it will save space as well.

I suppose it's the same idea as 4 = for or l8r meaning later which is common in English not that I particulary like it.

See, I thought "l8r" was "I hate her".

For an on-line dictionary see: http://y2u.co.uk/Knowledge_Information/Tec...xting_Slang.htm

Edited February 23, 2009 by DavidHouston

[wayfarer108]

- Way for non-inter Thais to address / tag foreigners as foreigners when they're addressing them in Thai. Just like they use 'wo' for 'I' when speaking of Chinese speakers of Thai.

That seems to me to be the main intention. In fact I hear this usage frequently. IMO it's a way to avoid using Thai kinship terms with people you feel no kinship with, ie, foreigners. I find the usage racist myself, as does my (Thai) wife.

We have friends who are a couple, the wife Thai and the husband half-Thai, half-English. They use ไอ and ยู 100% of the time. My wife has commented that when she hears a Thai using ยู with their husband or wife in this manner, it shows a lack of respect. She insists that if the wife, in this case, respected him she should be using Thai kinship terms, eg, พี่, instead. That's the same feeling I get when I hear them talking like this, where's the mutual respect, where's the love?

I've never heard two Thais talking to each other this way, which would be the case, I think, if they were just trying to sound 'inter'. But perhaps it is used in this way and I haven't come across it yet. So far I've only heard Thais talk this way with farang

Edited February 23, 2009 by wayfarer108

[Jay_Jay]

- Way for non-inter Thais to address / tag foreigners as foreigners when they're addressing them in Thai. Just like they use 'wo' for 'I' when speaking of Chinese speakers of Thai.

That seems to me to be the main intention. In fact I hear this usage frequently. IMO it's a way to avoid using Thai kinship terms with people you feel no kinship with, ie, foreigners. I find the usage racist myself, as does my (Thai) wife.

We have friends who are a couple, the wife Thai and the husband half-Thai, half-English. They use ไอ and ยู 100% of the time. My wife has commented that when she hears a Thai using ยู with their husband or wife in this manner, it shows a lack of respect. She insists that if the wife, in this case, respected him she should be using Thai kinship terms, eg, พี่, instead. That's the same feeling I get when I hear them talking like this, where's the mutual respect, where's the love?

I've never heard two Thais talking to each other this way, which would be the case, I think, if they were just trying to sound 'inter'. But perhaps it is used in this way and I haven't come across it yet. So far I've only heard Thais talk this way with farang

In the past when it has happened to me with people in Bangkok on occasion, I'll respond back by addressing them as เจ้า (jao) and myself as ข้อย (khoy) .. and then when they ask why I'm addressing them like that, I mention that I thought that they were from Lao. They quickly get the point! ... you really have to know who you're talking too though to pull that kind of stunt, otherwise you could end up with a fight and / or losing friends. ... btw.. not that there's anything wrong with being Lao!

[meadish_sweetball]

you really have to know who you're talking too though to pull that kind of stunt, otherwise you could end up with a fight and / or losing friends. ... btw.. not that there's anything wrong with being Lao!

เฮามั่กแซวเพิ่น แต่เฮาบ่มั่กเพิ่นมาแซวเฮาเดิ้อ

[aanon]

the first time I had a chat with a Laotian in thai, I thought she was about to call me something bad. she kept saying ไอ้ ไอ้...evetually it clicked that it means พี่.

getting back to the topic, I do use ยู when addressing my wife and i actually feel it to be quite warm in tone. if i use her name i feel like i'm addressing her the same way as her brothers do. we've never done พี่ and น้อง, except in a playful way -- perhaps because she's older. we do muck around and use a wide range of personal pronouns, loving terms of address etc, but ยู is our staple.

just my angle.

[katana]

the first time I had a chat with a Laotian in thai, I thought she was about to call me something bad. she kept saying ไอ้ ไอ้...evetually it clicked that it means พี่.

getting back to the topic, I do use ยู when addressing my wife and i actually feel it to be quite warm in tone. if i use her name i feel like i'm addressing her the same way as her brothers do. we've never done พี่ and น้อง, except in a playful way -- perhaps because she's older. we do muck around and use a wide range of personal pronouns, loving terms of address etc, but ยู is our staple.

just my angle.

Hi aanon.

Isn't it อ้าย in Lao/Isaan for พี่?

[misterme]

I find the spoken use of "I" and "You" very common with the Thais that are interacting with Foreigners. So much so that it rubs off.

Edited February 23, 2009 by misterme

[aanon]

the first time I had a chat with a Laotian in thai, I thought she was about to call me something bad. she kept saying ไอ้ ไอ้...evetually it clicked that it means พี่.

getting back to the topic, I do use ยู when addressing my wife and i actually feel it to be quite warm in tone. if i use her name i feel like i'm addressing her the same way as her brothers do. we've never done พี่ and น้อง, except in a playful way -- perhaps because she's older. we do muck around and use a wide range of personal pronouns, loving terms of address etc, but ยู is our staple.

just my angle.

Hi aanon.

Isn't it อ้าย in Lao/Isaan for พี่?

right you are. thanks for the correction.

[Groongthep]

I have the same problems when Thai people use other words from English when they are talking Thai.

Me too. I often attend classes at AUA which uses the so called "natural method" of teaching where two native speaking instructors speak on a particular subject in front of the class and the students simply listen and absorb. At the AT5 level, which is the highest level, the instructors speak in rapid colloquial Thai. The times when you really see the dictionaries come flying open on the student's desks is when an English word or loan word is used in the middle of a sentence. Seldom is it pronounced in clear English and it can really be confusing.

In a recent lecture one instructor used the word "molecule" (as in the smallest particle of any particular substance) which confounded nearly everyone in the class who naturally assumed it was a Thai word they were unfamiliar with. When she was asked about it after class she wrote it on the blackboard in English and all the light bulbs above the English speaking students went on. It however, remained a complete mystery to the many Japanese, Korean and Chinese students in the class who do not speak English.

Edited February 24, 2009 by Groongthep

[meadish_sweetball]

I had to look 'molecule' in Thai up:

โมเลกุล (there is also an Indic derived alternative, อณู)

The pronunciation [mo:le:kUn] is interesting.

Is this yet another one of those scientific words originally borrowed via French rather than English?

[sabaijai]

I find the spoken use of "I" and "You" very common with the Thais that are interacting with Foreigners. So much so that it rubs off.

Resist the urge. It might spread

[withnail]

The main ways I find it being used are:

- Kids who are studying / have studied at an English speaking school (either in Thailand or overseas) and are salting their Thai to make it sound more 'inter'

- People who didn't study in an international system but want to appear more 'inter'

- Way for non-inter Thais to address / tag foreigners as foreigners when they're addressing them in Thai. Just like they use 'wo' for 'I' when speaking of Chinese speakers of Thai.

How about people who want to sound like people who want to sound more 'inter'?

My girlfriend and I communicate in Thai and have done since we met. I can't think of a time recently when she has used an English word to communicate something to me that couldn't be done more efficiently in Thai, but she does use the occasional word or phrase, in my opinion, for comic effect.

An example of this is the phrase 'you know' which she tags on the end of a Thai sentence. I don't honestly think she thinks that it makes her sound 'inter' or that she uses it only in front of me, I hear her use it on the phone as well with Thai friends. If anything I think that she just finds it funny that her boyfriend is English but that she doesn't speak English.

[Baa_Mango]

its just I and You.my friends who speak english fluently (thai people) use this lots.. commonly when gossiping.. ie (sorry no thai on this comp ) i baep yak ja bpai baan laew gaw i bawk i baep hiw hiw

like this kinds stuff soooo funny reminds me of teens talking " well i am like yeaaa i am hungry then like so like wanna go home

[realthaideal]

เฮามั่กแซวเพิ่น แต่เฮาบ่มั่กเพิ่นมาแซวเฮาเดิ้อ

And you always said you 'Ou, bo'dai,' Meadish! (You still got me with the spelling/typing!)

Anyway, I notice the use of 'I' here alot on the part of Thais in the North and don't see it of any slight. I'm not talking the friendly term 'Ai' between buddies, but I hear girls doing it too. I think it's a melding of lang's which is always natural and is fine. I take no offense to it at all. People are always speaking of being 'talked down to and insulted. Look, words often drift towards the shorter or easier form. The vowel word "I" is still easier n more convenient than 'chan' or 'phom' and certainly 'kapohjao.' Is it proper, no ? But is it happening n ok in informal talk among well-knowns ? Sure.

[Johpa]

I find the spoken use of "I" and "You" very common with the Thais that are interacting with Foreigners. So much so that it rubs off.

Resist the urge. It might spread

I think what has spread is the usage of "bar-girl" English into the general population, as in "I go wit you".