สงสัย

[bhoydy]

I understood สงสัย to mean doubt, but when i hear it spoken sometimes it doesn't really sound like the person is expressing doubt. Mmm. I just found another defintion of it as 'wonder'.

Does anyone have some example sentences they can help me with to understand this word better?

Thanks

[mangkorn]

I understood สงสัย to mean doubt, but when i hear it spoken sometimes it doesn't really sound like the person is expressing doubt. Mmm. I just found another defintion of it as 'wonder'.

Does anyone have some example sentences they can help me with to understand this word better?

Thanks

That would be "to wonder" (to doubt, to suspect, to be uncertain), rather than "wonder" as in "wondrous".

Example newspaper sentence (borrowed from thai-language.com):

ผู้ต้องหาให้การพาดพิงไปถึงคนมีสี สงสัยว่าเจ้าพ่อคนนี้มีคนมีสีสนับสนุนอยู่เบื้องหลัง

[nicholasday]

In class i often had teachers ask มีอะไรสงสัยไหม่ (Mii arai songsai Mai). Basically asking if anyone had any question or anything they wanted to know. So wonder would be a pretty good translation. สงสัย could also be translated as suspect. There is an idiom of สงสัยฝนจะตก (songsai fon ja tok) literally meaning i suspect it will rain. but have been told it means that you are suspicious about something. although have never actually heard anyone use it in normal speach.

[Jeddah Jo]

In class i often had teachers ask มีอะไรสงสัยไหม่ (Mii arai songsai Mai). Basically asking if anyone had any question or anything they wanted to know. So wonder would be a pretty good translation. สงสัย could also be translated as suspect. There is an idiom of สงสัยฝนจะตก (songsai fon ja tok) literally meaning i suspect it will rain. but have been told it means that you are suspicious about something. although have never actually heard anyone use it in normal speach.

I am a little confused about this expression too.

If สงสัย means both to doubt and suspect does สงสัยฝนจะตก mean 'I suspect it will rain' or 'I doubt it will rain'. Two quite different meanings!

Is it fair to say it is generally used more commonly as a way to describe a suspicion being accurate i.e 'It appears that way' rather than expressing doubt i.e 'I doubt something will happen'?

JJ.

[DavidHouston]

Some more grist for the mill for the word สงสัย:

I suspect that the difficulty likes with the English, and not with the Thai. Both "suspect" and "doubt" carry the meaning of "less than perfect belief or knowledge". "Suspect" is a positive belief; "doubt" is a negative belief. ("I doubt his truthfulness" means "I do not believe that what he says is fact"; "I suspect him of committing the crime" means "I believe that he committed the crime." One sanity check: Does the phrase "I doubt it" have the same meaning as "I suspect not."?

The So Sethaputra dictionary has the word as "to doubt, to suspect, to be skeptical; Mary Haas has "to doubt, be doubtful. 2. To suspect, have a notion (that)."

It seems to me that the Thai สงสัย is closer to "suspect" than to "doubt" but Thais educated in English in a bygone era learned that the word should be translated as "doubt" and sometimes produce funny sentences because of that learning.

Let's take a concrete example. You and your girl friend are walking down the street looking for a 7-11 reputedly around the corner. You ask, "Are we going the right way?" She replies, "สงสัย." Does she mean, "We are likely going the right way" or "I think we are not going the right way." What if she said, "เอ๊ะ, สงสัย" or "สงสัยจะใช่" or "สงสัยจะไม่ใช่", does the meaning change"

So Sethaputra shows several sample sentences meant to illustrate the meaning of the word สงสัย. The translations are all his:

ผมสงสัยว่าเขาเป็นตัวผู้ราย – I suspect that he is the villain.

ผมหมดข้อสงสัยแบ้ว – Now I have no more doubt.

ไม่ต้องสงสัยละว่าเขาจะต้องคัดค้าน – Doubtlessly, he will make a protest.

Then he gives this particularly ambiguous sentence:

อย่าสงสัยไปเลยว่าฉันจะไม่รักเธอ – Do not doubt that I do not love you.

Any thoughts?

[Jeddah Jo]

I think your "less than perfect belief or knowledge" pretty much sums up สงสัย. In the example sentences you gave it seems very much up to the speaker to clarify if it is a doubt or suspicion.

My only other thought on the matter is if you ask a Thai a question and they simply reply สงสัย, I always translate in my head as 'It appears so' with a positive bias i.e a suspicion rather than a doubt. Or more long winded 'with a less than perfect belief or knowledge about the reality of the situation I believe that to be the case'.

JJ

[DavidHouston]

On the same subject, I just noticed the following entry in Lexitron:

ติดใจ [V] doubt; suspect

Syn. สงสัย, ข้องใจ, ค้างคาใจ

Def. เกิดความสงสัยเคลือบแคลงใจ.

Sample:เธอรู้สึกติดใจกับคำพูดของหน่อยเมื่อคืนนี้

Does the phrase "ติดใจ" also carry a meaning which means "สงสัย"?

It seems like a far cry from the definition:

ติดใจ [V] like; yearn; impress; fascinate; be fond of; be enamoured with

Syn. ชอบ, ชอบใจ, พึงใจ