Dreaded pronoun blues

[D80]

About introducing your wife:

There's nothing wrong with using the word 'meea' เมีย (or 'mia') to refer to your wife.  But at a more formal situation, use the word 'panya' ภรรยา or 'paraya' ภารยา instead.  It is a more polite version.

The same goes with husband.  'pua' ผัว is a real Thai word for it.  But the word 'samee' สามี is often used as a more fomal/polite version.

[thaistyle2728]

call your wife jarr and she can call you the same...it means dear or honey in thai...really...

[Edward B]

nee bpen dave gap meea na krap.

นีเป็นเดฟ์กับเมียนะครับ

nee is such a useful word

This thread is turning into a real lesson in Thai.

MaiChai,

I would have to say Mai Chai (politely of course)!

First, you forgot the tone mark. - นี่เป็นเดฟ์กับเมียนะครับ

Second, you say the sentence is too wordy by adding 'na krap' ??? It's only two more words, and one of them is hardly a word anyway. But then you go and use it yourself !

[mrentoul]

Friends can use the simple word for it, มัน , as a personal pronoun to refer to one other.

Last night I was looking over someone's shoulder as he chatted with someone on the Net. The other party referred to a friend of his in the same room as มัน .

It is used among friends, to explain where a friend is or what he's doing, for example, and would not usually be used among more formal acquaintances.

Being overly polite in your language rather than being too casual (particularly as a foreigner using Thai as a second language) always has you on the safe side and will avoid problem and "lose face" situations because expressing respect to another individual is surely better than appearing to be disrespectful. In return you will gain respect yourself and considered as a person with good manners.

I've just re-read this post. It is very good. Like me, Richard is another one who, depending on the person he's with, uses his name (the third person) to refer to himself.

[MaiChai]

You are being picky, so I forgot a tone mark! Edward B you forgot the silence อ์ mark making Dave sound like Dayp instead of Dayf. More serious I think?

na krap was used on the second sentence because it was short and abrupt, in the long wordy polite sentence it would not be necessary to add polite words at the end because it is already polite. A long sentence also allows you to speak it polietly with good rythme.

I'm not trying to show off, I'm just trying to share information to help others; hence explaining พวก.

I translated the piece typed in by mrentouls' Thai friend. This was really interesting, as I learned something. duwa eng means self, duwa as well as meaning animal, body, etc, can also mean refering to ones self (myself), his/her self, especially in hypotheical discussions.

ตัวเอง

duwa eng

myself (or self)

ตัวของเขาเอง

duwa kong kao eng

his or her self (self with belonging to him/her dropped in the middle)

I did that translation. I got stuck on the last sentence, and then went to bed! Haven't looked at it since. Here is my translation, less the last sentence, which I have not done yet:

ผมเป็นคนไทยครับแล้วผมอยากจะบอกว่านี้ไม่ใช่เฉพาะผู้หญิงหรือเกย์ที่ต้องพูดถึงตัวเองโดยใช้ ชื่อของตัวเองแทนตัวเมื่อเวลาพูดถึงตัวของเขากับคนอื่น แต่ผู้ชายบางคนก็ใช้วิธีนี้ด้วยเหมือนกันเพราะว่ามันจะทำให้คนที่คุยด้วยรู้สึกสนิทสนมกันมากขึ้นและไม่แน่เสมอไปหรอกครับที่จะต้องเป็นผู้หญิงหรือผู้ชายที่จะต้องใช้คำว่า ผม หรือ ฉัน แทนตัวของเขาเองไปเสียทุกครั้ง บาง ครั้งพวกเขาก็ต้องใช้ชื่อแทนตังเองเหมือนกันโดยเฉพาะเวลาคุยกับเพื่อน หรือ ญาติและเพื่อนที่ทำงาน

I am Thai. I would like to say that not only women and gay people like to use their name when they talk to other people. Some men like to use their name as it makes the other person feel that he is more familiar. Men and women can not always use Pom or Chun, sometimes they have to use their name when they talk to their friends, cousins or colleagues. ...

[gonzobrains]

Admitted it must be used to those close to you , not strangers.. My wifes elder sister is a doctor , I've heard her on the phone many times...it's Goo/Mung city!

Quite right. Languages are living things. I am sure there are many, many times where you have heard these words or maybe even used them yourself (though I never have). It's with people you know well, and as I said earlier, these words were in common currency once as early forms of personal pronouns, long before pom and khun came long.

i am so fed up with taxis, tuk tuks, song thaews, etc. cheating me. not just a few baht but double to ten-times the regular fare. i don't care if it provokes a physical altercation. i'm switching from "pom" to "goo" when i say "goo mai chai farang ngo".

seriously, i'm really tired of these guys thinking that i have money coming out of my a$$. Even if I was, I certainly wouldn't spare any extra for these clowns!

jeff

[rak sa_ngop]

This thread may be over 5 years old but I wonder if pronoun usage has changed in that time?

Anyway, the reason I am posting is that I have been reading 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and Sherlock Holmes refers to himself (i.e. I) in speech as 'kan' (or 'gan') กัน and addresses Dr Watson (i.e.you) as 'ke' (or 'ge') เเก

I assume that these are dated forms of address between colleagues? Are they ever used these days??

[Neeranam]

<font color='#000000'>Guys never refer to themselves by their name

Only women do it.</font>

Gay guys do and guys learning at AUA.

[Neeranam]

This thread may be over 5 years old but I wonder if pronoun usage has changed in that time?

Anyway, the reason I am posting is that I have been reading 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' and Sherlock Holmes refers to himself (i.e. I) in speech as 'kan' (or 'gan') กัน and addresses Dr Watson (i.e.you) as 'ke' (or 'ge') เเก

I assume that these are dated forms of address between colleagues? Are they ever used these days??

Sherlock doesn't actually - just the translator

[Boksida]

What is the most romantic way to address your wife in Thai?

Khet mia bia

[Barabbas]

Tried to read the thread and stopped after the 2nd posting. Wholla lotta "experts" trying to prove each other wrong.

ส่วนผมเอง (เราเอง) ส่วนใหญ่มักจะเรียกแฟนว่า "เฺธอ" ซื่งเป็นเรื่องปรกติกับคนไทย ผวกวัยรุ่น ก็พูดอย่างนี้ตลอด แม้แต่ ผมกับแฟนเลยอายุที่เขา่เรียกว่า "พวกวัยรุ่น"ไปตั่งนานแล้ว แต่ก็ยังพยายามทำตัวเป็นคนหนุ่มอยู่เหมือนเดิม

Whatever.

[meadish_sweetball]

It seems the forum has progressed a little in 6 years. Thanks for the flashback.

I don't think there is a hard and fast answer to the original question. In my experience Thais will switch pronouns depending on what effect they wish to convey.

Some women like to call their husband พี่ (or the equivalent in Isaan and Northern Thai - อ้าย (not sure how to spell it properly but I am trying to approximate the way it sounds to me in Chiang Mai variety of คำเมือง)... some couples refer to each other as พ่อ and แม่, especially if they have children together ...

I usually refer to my wife by her name or as ที่รัก, and she does the same with me although she sometimes calls me อ้าย too.

[Rionoir]

Since you are talking about addressing your partner in particular, I think Chan is completely appropriate.. unless there are just a lot of gay love songs on the radio in Thailand. LoL

[kokesaat]

Anyone else got any good links for learning Thai on the Internet?</font>

A goldmine at http://siamwestdc.com/thaireader-UH/index.htm....crystal clear audio and pdf files for the text