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How Do You Spell Falang?


dagling

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Up to you, since there are no official way to translate Thai scrips into our type

Yes there is.

The problem is that so many expats try and ape Bar Girl Thai as they think it makes them seem proficient in the language by over emphasising the common lazy mixing of "Ror Reua" and "Lor Ling".

It doesn't.

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Farang.

You hear Falang because there is a tendency for Thais to pronounce Rs as Ls out of laziness. They will revert back to pronouncing Rs properly when in a formal situation.

Its not exactly rude, but its not quite polite either. Its place is among friends, close associates and on the street. If you want to sound colloquial you can say Rs as Ls too.

Edited by Trembly
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Farang.

You hear Falang because there is a tendency for Thais to pronounce Rs as Ls out of laziness. They will revert back to pronouncing Rs properly when in a formal situation.

Its not exactly rude, but its not quite polite either. Its place is among friends, close associates and on the street. If you want to sound colloquial you can say Rs as Ls too.

I used to get this a lot at work, my name has an R in it and the lazy fuc_kers always dropped it for an L, after a while the penny dropped that I only replied when my name was said correctly.

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Up to you, since there are no official way to translate Thai scrips into our type

Yes there is.

The problem is that so many expats try and ape Bar Girl Thai as they think it makes them seem proficient in the language by over emphasising the common lazy mixing of "Ror Reua" and "Lor Ling".

It doesn't.

Really?

There is an official translated script?

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Farang.

You hear Falang because there is a tendency for Thais to pronounce Rs as Ls out of laziness. They will revert back to pronouncing Rs properly when in a formal situation.

Its not exactly rude, but its not quite polite either. Its place is among friends, close associates and on the street. If you want to sound colloquial you can say Rs as Ls too.

It's just a Thai word for westerner, polite or the way it is said has nothing much to do with it, it's just a dialect thing.

As I understand the Bangkok educated southern bread Thai people pronounce the ' r ' and the further you go north of Thailand they pronounce as an ' l ' as in there dialect.

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Farang.

You hear Falang because there is a tendency for Thais to pronounce Rs as Ls out of laziness. They will revert back to pronouncing Rs properly when in a formal situation.

Its not exactly rude, but its not quite polite either. Its place is among friends, close associates and on the street. If you want to sound colloquial you can say Rs as Ls too.

It's just a Thai word for westerner, polite or the way it is said has nothing much to do with it, it's just a dialect thing.

As I understand the Bangkok educated southern bread Thai people pronounce the ' r ' and the further you go north of Thailand they pronounce as an ' l ' as in there dialect.

No. Trust me, I'm Thai. jap.gif

As for the dialect thing . . . In Kam-Mueang (dialect of the North) and Isaan an Rs are mostly Hs. For example, Raeng (strength) or Khaeng-raeng (strong) becomes Haeng / Khaeng Haeng.

Farang as we are discussing is a Thai word (when Northerners and Isaan refer to anything as 'Thai' it is usually shorthand for 'Central Thai') which is foreign to their dialects. They have their own words for guava which bear no resemblance to 'Farang' and up in the countryside they just can't be arsed to give it the full rolled-R treatment (also a 'Thai' thing that is foreign to Kam Mueang or Isaan). If they were going to do that they as well just speak Thai.

Edited by Trembly
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Really?

There is an official translated script?

There is indeed Travel2003. See Tywais' post above.

To what extent the official system is adhered to is another kettle of fish/can of worms entirely though...

Thnx for that.

Interesting.

Sorry if I highjack the thread, but I guess we figured out how to spell/pronounce Farang.

What is the correct one for Isaan/Isan/Isarn, the region? I have seen several versions in the forums here.

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Really?

There is an official translated script?

I can see what your getting at as most text books say " perhaps it can most satisfactorily be translated as western or westerner, referring to restaurant signs.

The way to me it is spelled in Thai comes out as " frang " but I believe in some Thai spelt words they leave out vowels as it is obvious to what the word is.

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What is the correct one for Isaan/Isan/Isarn, the region? I have seen several versions in the forums here.

The Bangkok Post and The Nation both use "Isaan" commonly so I'd say this is probably the "official" Romanised spelling.

As I said, this is a whole new can of worms being opened here.

As an example of how loosely the system is adhered to, you can literally see one street sign reading "Pattaya" while a few KM along the road another will read "Phattaya" yet both will have been produced by the same department.

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What is the correct one for Isaan/Isan/Isarn, the region? I have seen several versions in the forums here.

The Bangkok Post and The Nation both use "Isaan" commonly so I'd say this is probably the "official" Romanised spelling.

As I said, this is a whole new can of worms being opened here.

As an example of how loosely the system is adhered to, you can literally see one street sign reading "Pattaya" while a few KM along the road another will read "Phattaya" yet both will have been produced by the same department.

Again I learn something here.

:)

By the way, you might have noticed how some tourists (mostly Americans actually, without trying to put them down) pronounce Phuket?

;)

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Farang.

You hear Falang because there is a tendency for Thais to pronounce Rs as Ls out of laziness. They will revert back to pronouncing Rs properly when in a formal situation.

Its not exactly rude, but its not quite polite either. Its place is among friends, close associates and on the street. If you want to sound colloquial you can say Rs as Ls too.

It's just a Thai word for westerner, polite or the way it is said has nothing much to do with it, it's just a dialect thing.

As I understand the Bangkok educated southern bread Thai people pronounce the ' r ' and the further you go north of Thailand they pronounce as an ' l ' as in there dialect.

No. Trust me, I'm Thai. jap.gif

As for the dialect thing . . . In Kam-Mueang (dialect of the North) and Isaan an Rs are mostly Hs. For example, Raeng (strength) or Khaeng-raeng (strong) becomes Haeng / Khaeng Haeng.

Farang as we are discussing is a Thai word (when Northerners and Isaan refer to anything as 'Thai' it is usually shorthand for 'Central Thai') which is foreign to their dialects. They have their own words for guava which bear no resemblance to 'Farang' and up in the countryside they just can't be arsed to give it the full rolled-R treatment (also a 'Thai' thing that is foreign to Kam Mueang or Isaan). If they were going to do that they as well just speak Thai.

I have no reason to disbelieve you but if you could pop into some of the schools here sometime and get the kids to sound ' R ' you will be a hero. :D :jap:

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Really?

There is an official translated script?

There is indeed Travel2003. See Tywais' post above.

To what extent the official system is adhered to is another kettle of fish/can of worms entirely though...

Thnx for that.

Interesting.

Sorry if I highjack the thread, but I guess we figured out how to spell/pronounce Farang.

What is the correct one for Isaan/Isan/Isarn, the region? I have seen several versions in the forums here.

I don't think there is one. I still can't make my own mind up between Isaan / Isan / Issan.

You probably can't go wrong with Isan but it would be nice to get that broad 'a' in there. However, I just can't help feeling that Isaan looks a bit, well, foreign. biggrin.gif

I try to avoid "Isarn" though because I think the R is disingenuous; It comes from Thais once upon a time taking the English spoken in Harrow and Eaton as the standard for pronunciation and transliteration.

Edited by Trembly
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but I believe in some Thai spelt words they leave out vowels as it is obvious to what the word is.

Actually they are not left out per say but are called hidden or implied vowels. examples here

Perhaps this should be moved to the Thai Language forum?

Thanks I should of said hidden, it was just my way of explaining it.

Anyway the OP has his answer it is spelled ' frang ' with a hidden ' a ' between the ' f ' and the ' r ' , or translated as ' farang '. :lol: :jap:

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Farang.

You hear Falang because there is a tendency for Thais to pronounce Rs as Ls out of laziness. They will revert back to pronouncing Rs properly when in a formal situation.

Its not exactly rude, but its not quite polite either. Its place is among friends, close associates and on the street. If you want to sound colloquial you can say Rs as Ls too.

It's just a Thai word for westerner, polite or the way it is said has nothing much to do with it, it's just a dialect thing.

As I understand the Bangkok educated southern bread Thai people pronounce the ' r ' and the further you go north of Thailand they pronounce as an ' l ' as in there dialect.

No. Trust me, I'm Thai. jap.gif

As for the dialect thing . . . In Kam-Mueang (dialect of the North) and Isaan an Rs are mostly Hs. For example, Raeng (strength) or Khaeng-raeng (strong) becomes Haeng / Khaeng Haeng.

Farang as we are discussing is a Thai word (when Northerners and Isaan refer to anything as 'Thai' it is usually shorthand for 'Central Thai') which is foreign to their dialects. They have their own words for guava which bear no resemblance to 'Farang' and up in the countryside they just can't be arsed to give it the full rolled-R treatment (also a 'Thai' thing that is foreign to Kam Mueang or Isaan). If they were going to do that they as well just speak Thai.

I have no reason to disbelieve you but if you could pop into some of the schools here sometime and get the kids to sound ' R ' you will be a hero. :D :jap:

They're just lazy little buggers! The late-adopters will definitely be rolling their Rs by the time they're in their teens; some variety in your turn of phrase is useful for chatting up other boys/girls. The swots will already be ostentatiously rolling the Rs in their 'proper Thai.

But if you're talking about saying Rs in English then all bets are off! :D

Edited by Trembly
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