Loo / Loom / Loon

[CM4Me]

Hi, my partner & other Thai friends, when speaking about me, often refer to me as loo / loom / loon (or something like that), immediately followed by my name (ie loo John).

Can someone please explain / interpret this prefix. Tks

[BLUEEYEDTHAI]

It means uncle.

[jdinasia]

loong= uncle (used with someone not age appropriate to call Pii (older brother/sister)

[Tod Daniels]

Correct it is the word for 'Uncle' and spelled like this in thai ลุง and pronounced something like this loong^M

Glenn Slayden's site thai-language dot com lists the meaning as "uncle; elder uncle; elder brother of a parent; great uncle".

Here's the thai definition and my poor translation;

พี่ชายของพ่อหรือแม่ หรือชายที่มีวัยไล่เลี่ยแต่แก่กว่าพ่อหรือแม่, เป็นคำเรียกชายที่ไม่รู้จักแต่มักจะมีอายุแก่กว่าพ่อหรือแม่.

An older brother of a person's father or mother. OR a guy whose age is about the same or older than a person's father or mother. It is a word to call a man that you don't know intimately, but who would usually be aged older than the speaker’s father or mother.

Sorry that is about as close as I could come to translating it, (granted it was a pathetic attempt).

Thai people are almost 'hard coded' to classify people by age; (examples น้อง and พี่). I believe the term ลุง is much more loosely interpreted to mean someone older than the speaker's father, yet close in terms of familiarity. Then again I could be wrong.

[bina]

then for me , an older married female im referred to as 'ghe'. i thought hta meant 'old' , plain and simple, but they say it like in arabic the word 'haja' (respected elder lady), so that would be 'older respected lady' also? i dont look really old, but obviusly im not pi, since they are workers and i am also a 'boss', married to a thai man... they wont call me by name except for one much older guy (40+ like me) ... they are all mostly issaan thai.

bina

israel

[Chonburiram]

then for me , an older married female im referred to as 'ghe'. i thought hta meant 'old' , plain and simple, but they say it like in arabic the word 'haja' (respected elder lady), so that would be 'older respected lady' also? i dont look really old, but obviusly im not pi, since they are workers and i am also a 'boss', married to a thai man... they wont call me by name except for one much older guy (40+ like me) ... they are all mostly issaan thai.

bina

israel

Ghee, with a long spoken e means respected elder lady, respected by the heart , not like the more formal khun.

Gää means old.

If the topic starter would be female, they would call him her baa + the name.

[SimonN]

<br />then for me , an older married female im referred to as '<i>ghe</i>'. i thought hta meant 'old' , plain and simple, but they say it like in arabic the word '<i>haja</i>' (respected elder lady), so that would be 'older respected lady' also?

I think you are referring to the word เจ๊, which means something along the lines of "elder sister". Which, judging by the spelling has a Chinese etymology.

[bina]

interesting: so its a bit like 'haja' - the arabic for respected elder lady..

If the topic starter would be female, they would call him her baa + the name

-- sorry, i lost u?

baa + the name

u are answering the OP's question? or mine .. ba+name is for male? or elder female?

bina

[sarahsbloke]

Hi, my partner & other Thai friends, when speaking about me, often refer to me as loo / loom / loon (or something like that), immediately followed by my name (ie loo John).

I consider 'lung' used by a female partner to be insulting, as it is a title given to those in an older generation, gair or callum fall into the same category.

(But these terms are perfectly acceptable when used by anyone from a younger generation or someone younger you are paying for sex)

Pee would be a more acceptable title, and you might refer to her as nong (for those not really married)

If you are properly married, pan-ra-ya (wife) and Sa-mee (husband) (or Mia/Pua if you are slightly low-so)

My wife and I tend to use Pan-ra-ya/Sa-mee

Edited March 28, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[eric67]

If the topic starter would be female, they would call him her baa + the name

-- sorry, i lost u?

baa + the name

u are answering the OP's question? or mine .. ba+name is for male? or elder female?

ลุง (lung) = uncle, elder brother of a parent

ป้า (bpaa) = aunt, elder sister of a parent

But, as said before, both don't necessarily have to be used exclusively for family.

[bina]

guess we are slightly lo-so ... i prefer teh issaan version: mia/pua; its village appropriate for korat , husbands area and saami /panya sounds snobby when among isaan speakers.....

gair (ghee), thats me... sorry, hubby not paying me for sex; its most of the thai workers from my kibbutz who call me that, as a form of respect (i am 46) so any way u look at it, im mostly older then them for the most part and also a 'boss' of sorts (kibbutnik therefore boss); and hubby calls me by name... as do closer thai friends...

pbaa (ah!) right: auntie... not baa (crazy) -- transliteration problmes here...

bina

israel

[anchan42]

<br />then for me , an older married female im referred to as '<i>ghe</i>'. i thought hta meant 'old' , plain and simple, but they say it like in arabic the word '<i>haja</i>' (respected elder lady), so that would be 'older respected lady' also?

I think you are referring to the word เจ๊, which means something along the lines of "elder sister". Which, judging by the spelling has a Chinese etymology.

ํYou are right. It is a loan word from Chinese. Some of similar words are

เฮีย older brother

ตี๋ younger brother

หมวย younger sister

ซ้อ wife of older brother

There are many other but they are less common.

[mangkorn]

<br />then for me , an older married female im referred to as '<i>ghe</i>'. i thought hta meant 'old' , plain and simple, but they say it like in arabic the word '<i>haja</i>' (respected elder lady), so that would be 'older respected lady' also?

I think you are referring to the word เจ๊, which means something along the lines of "elder sister". Which, judging by the spelling has a Chinese etymology.

She is likely referred to as แก - a colloquial 2nd or 3rd person pronoun - not necessarily related to age at all. It's a familiar form for "you"; sometimes disparaging for "he/she." They would seem to be addressing her as a peer, rather than an elder. (Would also seem to fit with the egalitarian principle of the kibbutz, no?)

แก่ means "old" - low tone, vs. the flat tone of แก.

The high-tone เจ๊ is most common among Chinese-Thai, and in any event, has consonant and vowel sounds quite distinct from แก or แก่.

Edited April 1, 2010 by mangkorn

[bina]

they arent kibbutzniks and definately not egalitarian as they have their own hiearcharcy amng themselves and they are foreign workers (besides, as george orwell put it so well, and so fits our kibbutz: eeryone is equal, just some are more equal then others) but i will ask since i teach them some hebrew words, i will ask which ghee they are referring to . with them im sure its the respectful old lady/auntie version, the others that i have less 'personal/friendship' contact with just use my name, or khun naang or avoid calling me directly but wait till i tune in on them rather like i do when im not sure what to call someone (in thai).

husband cant seem to explain since hebrew is lacking most respectful titles. everyone in the country is called by their first name or more derrogatory names (

bina

israel

[meadish_sweetball]

An ex girlfriend of mine from Ubon Ratchathani referred to her mother as แก in the third person as I recall.

I suspect they speak Isaan rather than Central Thai, so the levels of respect or disrespect attached to a word may well not be the same.

[mangkorn]

Apologies for the uninformed assumption about the kibbutz. The main point is that แก่ does not have a "respectful old lady/auntie version." There are other pronouns for that, but แก่ just means "old" - it is an adjective (and sometimes a preposition), but it is not a pronoun.

Meadish's comment is clearer: แก is a general-use familiar pronoun; it can be used for someone whom the speaker respects, or otherwise, or anywhere in between.

[bina]

korat speakers and thenthe others are mostly issaan speakers from udon thani, etc. husband doesnt use that term at all, he speaks central thai and korat dialect when with koratians /koratese.... no prob about the other stuff... people living here arent informed for the most part either... ...

bina

israel