Any Thai Words You Don'T Understand?

[ThaiKhmerLoverKrit]

Hey

I'm a beginner at thai and there are a LOT of words that I don't understand. And it sucks. So I thought it would be a good idea to start a topic on words/sentences we don't understand! So post whatever you don't understand. If you know the meaning, tell us!

Thanks

Krittayot

PS: Thai script prefered

[klons]

เคลื่อนไหว is in the dictionary as move; shift. Sometimes I get it

and sometimes I don’t. Depending on the phrase or sentence

in which it is used. How would เคลื่อนไหว be translated in the

example below. (It’s from a book I was reading.) I don’t get it,

move what ?

เวลาที่เรามีความสุข เราคิดอะไรในหัว

พุดกับตัวเองอย่างไร เคลื่อนไหวอย่างไร

[HeavyDrinker]

With Thai, sometimes you have to use context if translating into English as the two languages do not "gel" at times which makes translating seem an enigma at times.

For the above I would suggest that " เคลื่อนไหว" is indicating a change of fortune from a time of happiness to darker times, therefore I would translate along the lines of:

"How did things (the situation) change?"

However with so little to go on that is based on pure guesswork.

[AngelofDeath]

Those difficult words whose concepts are difficult for me to grasp would be:

ที่- for uses other than as a preposition

Example:

In Thai: สัมเป็นแมวที่น่ารักของผม

After translation: Som is my lovely cat.

I don't know why the "ที่" is there. Is it possible to do without the "ที่"?

คือ- used to introduce something

จึง - when it comes between a noun and a verb

มา,ไป, ขึ้น etc. - when used as a direction particles

ได้ - when it is used to signify ability to do something. Sometime It is placed immediately before the verb, sometimes immediately after the verb and sometimes almost at the end of the sentences. I'm not sure if there's a way to tell or I must memorise it.

There's definitely somemore but I just can't remember it.

Edited August 14, 2011 by AngelofDeath

[Mole]

เคลื่อนไหว is used about something which can move by itself. Usually something alive such as animal or people.

In your example, it means how you move yourself as in your own posture I guess.

เคลื่อนไหว is in the dictionary as move; shift. Sometimes I get it

and sometimes I don’t. Depending on the phrase or sentence

in which it is used. How would เคลื่อนไหว be translated in the

example below. (It’s from a book I was reading.) I don’t get it,

move what ?

เวลาที่เรามีความสุข เราคิดอะไรในหัว

พุดกับตัวเองอย่างไร เคลื่อนไหวอย่างไร

[Mole]

Those difficult words whose concepts are difficult for me to grasp would be:

ที่- for uses other than as a preposition

Example:

In Thai: สัมเป็นแมวที่น่ารักของผม

After translation: Som is my lovely cat.

I don't know why the "ที่" is there. Is it possible to do without the "ที่"?

Yes you can without it, but it would be more proper to use with ที่.

In this case ที่ means "that/which is"

So technically the sentence would be translated as:

(BTW, I think you wrote wrong: สัม is Sam, while ส้ม is Som, note the slightly different character at the top)

ส้ม Som

เป็น is

แมว (a) cat

ที่ which is

น่ารัก cute/lovely

ของผม mine

These things are automatically for me since I'm a native speaker, but I don't think it's really that problematic in getting understood if you tend to drop it or use it too often.

ได้ - when it is used to signify ability to do something. Sometime It is placed immediately before the verb, sometimes immediately after the verb and sometimes almost at the end of the sentences. I'm not sure if there's a way to tell or I must memorise it.

Just beware that where ได้ is placed in a sentence may change the meaning of it.

For example

ได้กินแล้ว would mean "already eaten"

กินได้แล้ว would mean "you can now start to eat"

Usually, if it's placed at the beginning, it usually means past tense as in something which happened already.

While at the end, it would mean something in the future or going to happen.

[ozzieovaseas]

เคลื่อนไหว is in the dictionary as move; shift. Sometimes I get it

and sometimes I don't. Depending on the phrase or sentence

in which it is used. How would เคลื่อนไหว be translated in the

example below. (It's from a book I was reading.) I don't get it,

move what ?

เวลาที่เรามีความสุข เราคิดอะไรในหัว

พุดกับตัวเองอย่างไร เคลื่อนไหวอย่างไร

I am definately not an expert, but to me it sounded like the "mooving" part might have meant "removing" or "shifting" ones mind from a state of being...in this case happiness

just a guess tho

[klons]

Thanks for the help with เคลื่อนไหว

Moving along to แฝดคนละฝา I think it means each twin different (has his own lid?), but can't say why.

แฝด means twin, ฝาแฝด means twin, but ฝา is a lid.

This is the sample. I believe it is describing a sit-com show where one twin will substitute for the

other. Like the Patty Duke show, except they were cousins.

เรื่องราวรักวุ่นๆของแฝดคนละฝา เมื่อพี่ชายต้องมาสวมบทแทนน้องชายฝาแฝด

What does แฝดคนละฝา mean?

[a51mas]

Thanks for the help with เคลื่อนไหว

Moving along to แฝดคนละฝา I think it means each twin different (has his own lid?), but can't say why.

แฝด means twin, ฝาแฝด means twin, but ฝา is a lid.

This is the sample. I believe it is describing a sit-com show where one twin will substitute for the

other. Like the Patty Duke show, except they were cousins.

เรื่องราวรักวุ่นๆของแฝดคนละฝา เมื่อพี่ชายต้องมาสวมบทแทนน้องชายฝาแฝด

What does แฝดคนละฝา mean?

แฝดคนละฝา - look alike but not related

[AngelofDeath]

Those difficult words whose concepts are difficult for me to grasp would be:

ที่- for uses other than as a preposition

Example:

In Thai: สัมเป็นแมวที่น่ารักของผม

After translation: Som is my lovely cat.

I don't know why the "ที่" is there. Is it possible to do without the "ที่"?

Yes you can without it, but it would be more proper to use with ที่.

In this case ที่ means "that/which is"

So technically the sentence would be translated as:

(BTW, I think you wrote wrong: สัม is Sam, while ส้ม is Som, note the slightly different character at the top)

ส้ม Som

เป็น is

แมว (a) cat

ที่ which is

น่ารัก cute/lovely

ของผม mine

These things are automatically for me since I'm a native speaker, but I don't think it's really that problematic in getting understood if you tend to drop it or use it too often.

ได้ - when it is used to signify ability to do something. Sometime It is placed immediately before the verb, sometimes immediately after the verb and sometimes almost at the end of the sentences. I'm not sure if there's a way to tell or I must memorise it.

Just beware that where ได้ is placed in a sentence may change the meaning of it.

For example

ได้กินแล้ว would mean "already eaten"

กินได้แล้ว would mean "you can now start to eat"

Usually, if it's placed at the beginning, it usually means past tense as in something which happened already.

While at the end, it would mean something in the future or going to happen.

Thanks for the clarification. I did type wrongly. I understand ได้ much better but I still have trouble with ที่. I just don't know when to stick the ที่ and how I should translate the sentence from Thai to English.

[klons]

Perhaps you know Angel. I thought the last Harry Potter movie was

called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What is the Thai

translation? Harry Potter and the Angel of Deaths’ Amulet?

รีบจองตั๋วล็อกที่นั่งกันได้แล้วค่ะกับแฮร์รี่ พอตเตอร์กับเครื่องรางยมทูต ภาค 2 วันนี้ทุกโรงภาพยนตร์

[Mole]

That is correct translation.

[Peppy]

For ยมทูต, I'd use "Grim Reaper" instead of "Angel of Death".

[klons]

Do Thai cats have 5 lives?

ต้องยอมอด เพื่อเก็บอาหารที่มีเพียงน้อยนิดไว้เลี้ยงแมวที่มาอยู่ด้วย อีก 5 ชีวิต

Needs to take care of the cat for another 5 cat lifes?

[Mole]

No, it says the person got 5 cats.

In this case, ชีวิต is used metaphorically as "5 (cat) souls" to feed.

[klons]

Thanks again for the help. Just one more quick question and I’ll

stop hogging this thread and let other forum posters get their

questions in. How does แล้วนั้น translate? Is it like นั้นเอง ?

Here is a sample phrase concerning Miss Palmnut trying to

สร้าง her กระแส to get back in the entertainment industry.

ที่แขวนเต้าไปนานแล้วนั้น

[Mole]

No, it's not the same.

In your example, นานแล้ว belongs together while นั้น is another word.

So นานแล้ว means "long time already" and นั้น I think is just a word to emphasize นานแล้ว.

I know written Thai can be confusing for foreigners due the fact that everything is written together so it may be difficult to know which word or even which character belongs to which word.

[klons]

แดดรำไร and ร่มรำไร are a couple of lighting terms for placement of plants which I saw

in an agricultural story. What’s the difference between the 2? It seems

akin to partly cloudy vs. partly sunny.

[AngelofDeath]

My questions is regarding pronunciation. When I listen to words like "เมื่อ" in a sentence, it sound like it is pronounced with only 1 syllables. But if I listen to it as an individual word, I can hear the second syllable very clearly. Does this has to do with the fact that words like this, is spoken as if it has been "glide over" (not sure how to explain this term) in sentences. The second explanation would be people don't pronounce every single pronunciation of the words. (I read this in a book for English Language but not sure if it applies to all languages).

Secondly, I have no "spotters" for my pronuniciation. I think I have problems with pronouncing words ending with "ng/ง" and "n/ณ,น etc". I know "ng" sounds nasal but not for "n". I believe part of this problem is also due to the wrong placement of tongue. But if I use words in this catergory when I'm speaking, the Thais can understand. Maybe I think too much. The other thing is "เปง" and "เป็น" meant the same thing. There got to be a difference between their pronunciation?

Lastly, my biggest problem would be differentiating and pronouncing words like อิง , ยิง (this is purely for illustration purpose, if these words don't exist, don't get too upset). For words that start with "ย", sometimes I can hear a puff of air when they are pronounced, It sounded like "hy". I think this has to do with the movement of the jaw.

Thank you if anyone can enlighten me.

Edited September 2, 2011 by AngelofDeath

[bifftastic]

Not sure that เมื่อ has 2 syllables! I think I know what you mean though, when spoken quickly, it's shorter and you might not necessarily get the full length of it.

Similar to 'and' in English, if said with a pause, you'll get the full word, but in a sentence it will be reduced to it's shortest possible form so that the words can 'flow' better.

As for "ng/ง" and "n/ณ,น etc" with ง your tongue comes up at the back of your mouth whilst your mouth stays slightly open, with ณ,น etc. mouth is closed and the tongue doesn't do the 'blocking off of the throat' thing! (I'm sure there are MUCH better linguistic descriptions of what happens in the mouth when pronouncing words, but I hope that description comes close!)

I think the last problem, of aspirating ย, that would depend on the style of the speaker. I don't think that it's a universal trait, although I may well be wrong (happens a lot!).

Cheers,

Biff

[bifftastic]

with ณ,น etc. mouth is closed ...

Sorry, meant teeth are closed, not mouth

[midas]

Can anyone throw some light on the subject of why

some words in Thai end with letters that have no resemblance to the

sound of the consonant? I can think of two just as an example but there are many.

โทรศัพท์ toh-rá-sàp (this ends with t so why does it have an an ending sounding with a p)?

ภาษาอังกฤษ paa-săa ang-grìt (this ends with s so why does it have an an ending sounding with a t/d )?

Edited September 7, 2011 by midas

[Richard W]

โทรศัพท์ toh-rá-sàp (this ends with t so why does it have an an ending sounding with a p)?

It's rather like English psyche and tmesis, except that it's final clusters that Thai deals with by dropping a consonant is speech. (It's a bit more complicated, because the final consonant was followed by a now-dropped vowel in the source language.)

ภาษาอังกฤษ paa-săa ang-grìt (this ends with s so why does it have an an ending sounding with a t/d )?

Again, it's a loan word. Traditionally, Thai has only 9 permitted final consonants - /p/, /t/, /k/ (or /b/, /d/, /g/ if you prefer), /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ (usually written 'ng'), /w/, /j/ (as in ทราย /saːj/ 'sand') and /ʔ/. (The last three may be treated as part of the vowel.) Thai therefore uses the closest final consonant or drops the consonant. The closest final to /s/ is /t/, and the closest final to /r/ and /l/ is /n/.

[mangkorn]

โทรศัพท์ toh-rá-sàp (this ends with t so why does it have an an ending sounding with a p)?

It's rather like English psyche and tmesis, except that it's final clusters that Thai deals with by dropping a consonant is speech. (It's a bit more complicated, because the final consonant was followed by a now-dropped vowel in the source language.)

Another answer is that the symbol above the final consonant in โทรศัพท์" means: "This letter is silent." Therefore, the word does not end with a "t," at least not in terms of Thai pronunciation.

Such is the case with the beer so commonly mispronounced as "Sing-HA." In Thai, the consonant equivalent to the English "h" in the Indic loanword for "lion" is clearly marked as silent by that same symbol, and there is certainly no equivalent to "a" at the end of the word, neither in writing nor in pronunciation.

To be fair to unsuspecting farangs, however, the Thai beer company itself chose the unfortunate transcription "Singha" for its brand label - which is just plain ridiculous, and essentially demands mispronunciation.

The word "singh" is also known the world over, being the name of India's premier (in addition to just about every other religious Sikh male). I'm not absolutely certain how Sikhs pronounce it, but internationally nobody has ever said: Prime Minister Manmohan Sing-HA.

And surely no Thai person has ever said "bia Sing-HA" to another Thai - at least when no foreigners are around - unless they were just acting silly...

[mangkorn]

ภาษาอังกฤษ paa-săa ang-grìt (this ends with s so why does it have an an ending sounding with a t/d )?

Thai syllables cannot end with an "s" sound. It is just not the way that Thai speech works. The same is true of other sounds, which one can readily consult in a beginners' book or any decent Thai-English dictionary.

Thus, the sound of some Thai consonants at the start of a syllable change when they come at the end of a syllable.

Case in point: the ridiculous"Sawasdee." No Thai person has ever pronounced the word like that; it simply boggles the mind as to why it is so often transcribed that way.

[Mole]

I can shed some light on "Singha".

This is because the company has for some reason decided to transcribe the word according to it's original Sanskrit pronunciation. Most Sanskrit words endings usually must end in an inherit "a" vowel unless a special marker is used to tell that "a" should not be pronounced.

Most modern Indian languages has also lost this inherit "a" ending sound after consonants. For example, today they say Ganesh while Sanskrit pronunciation is Ganesha. (but it is written the same)

In a nutshell, all words which has the ์ (karan) character on it are loan words from other languages.

This is also for words which end in other characters but pronounced as น (n) or ท (t).

They are all loan words and Thais will have to pronounce according to the limitations of it's language.

Edited September 8, 2011 by Mole

[Richard W]

This is because the company has for some reason decided to transcribe the word according to it's original Sanskrit pronunciation.

Perhaps because this is the graphical system promoted by Rama VI?

[klons]

What sort of พิธีกร are these? one talkative the other funny?

พิธีกรขาเม้าท์

พิธีกรสุดฮา

[AngelofDeath]

How do you say: I don't know what you are thinking now in Thai. ไม่รู้ว่าคุณคิด.........??

[bifftastic]

นี้(ฉัน)ไม่รู้คุณคิดอะไรอยู่ ?