Translation

[stockholm1995]

What does ชิ mean in เล่นด้วยชิ?

[kriswillems]

according thai-language.com:

a particle placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize or indicate a request.

It's usually written like this : สิ

[Songhua]

'how about ..'

Can also be spoken in another tone as more-or-less a soft command or in the sense of 'of course'.

[AyG]

'how about ..'

Can also be spoken in another tone as more-or-less a soft command or in the sense of 'of course'.

Not sure this is correct. Have a look at http://siamsmile.webs.com/thaiparticles/thaiparticles.html#SI which suggests that it's imperative or for emphasis, which was my understanding.

[wprime]

It's a cute spelling of สิ

It can mean 'of course' as Songhua says

e.g.

คิดถึงฉันไหม

คิดสิ

or it's added at the end of an imperative as AyeG says

e.g.

เล่นด้วยสิ

[AyG]

It's a cute spelling of สิ

Not "cute" in the sense of the teen-speak and SMS-slang. It's actually a pretty orthodox spelling, though สิ is considered technically more correct. It is, for example, featured in the AUA course books of 1967.

[rgs2001uk]

according thai-language.com:

a particle placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize or indicate a request.

It's usually written like this : สิ

I dont know about request, I have always understood its use to be more of a command or instruction than a simple request.

In this case it sounds more like a parent telling/ordering their children to play together.

[kriswillems]

according thai-language.com:

a particle placed at the end of a sentence to emphasize or indicate a request.[/size]

It's usually written like this : สิ[/size]

I dont know about request, I have always understood its use to be more of a command or instruction than a simple request.

In this case it sounds more like a parent telling/ordering their children to play together.

I don't think it's always a command. It sounds in many cases more like an encouragement.

For instance if you tell your friend you love a certain girl, but she isn't aware of it, your fiend might say:

โทรไปหาเขาสิ -Just call her.

Or if you have a party at home and you want your friend to come to you might say:

มาด้วยสิ

So in this case it's like a request with an encouragement.

Also in your example the สิ is more like an encouragement than an order. An order wouldn't have the สิ. สิ more or less has the function of changing an order into a request, so สิ makes it softer or more emphatic.

[rgs2001uk]

^^^^^, Kris,

I am only going on how I hear the mrs talking to the boys.

มานี่ a simple request to come here.

มานี่น้อย a polite request, hence the น้อย on the end.
Edit for spelling forgot to insert a hor heep before noy.

มานี่สิ more of a command (to my ears), hence the สิ on the end.

[meadish_sweetball]

มานี่หน่อย (หน่อย at the end of imperatives has a low tone, when spelt น้อย it means 'few', 'little' [of a quantity]) - come over here for a bit

สิ in and of itself is not a really a softener in my experience, I'd say in itself it is a neutral imperative marker, but depending on the rest of the circumstances and also on the emphasis (whiny, drawn out, or short and curt, respectively) it can be used both imploringly and sternly.

[Ajaan]

มานี่หน่อย (หน่อย at the end of imperatives has a low tone, when spelt น้อย it means 'few', 'little' [of a quantity]) - come over here for a bit

Haha...it most certainly does NOT mean "come here for a little bit"...you're translating it literally. หน่อย does mean "a little [amount]" in other contexts, but in its usage as a final particle, it simply softens the request, and has no sense of "little bit" whatsoever. Do you think if I ask you to เปิดประตูให้พี่หน่อย when I'm carrying a stack of boxes, that I only want you to "open the door a little bit" to make my walking through as difficult as possible? Of course not, it means I'm asking you nicely to open the door for me!

[meadish_sweetball]

I don't really blame you for misunderstanding my post, I could have arranged my points better.

My main point was that the words น้อย and หน่อย aren't the same word, and that หน่อย does not mean 'little, few'*, but น้อย does.

You are correct that my translation into English was a bit(!) off. Perhaps influenced by Swedish, as we also use a word similar to 'little' as a softener at the end of commands.

* If you have an example to the contrary where หน่อย is used as a
standalone word without นิด to mean 'little, few', please share.

Haha...

Yes, yes, very droll.

[kriswillems]

หน่อย is like "please" in English. While สิ is more encouraging I think หน่อย is more like begging (or politely asking for). They both express a feeling, but the feeling is different.

มานี่หน่อย : come here, please

มานี่สิ: Come on, come here (I know this is not a correct translation, but it's the closest I could find).

มานี่ (without ค่ะ or ครับ) : Come here!