The meaning(s) of "Ja"

[Squeegee]

Hi, sorry I have no idea what the Thai script would be for this, in fact what I am asking about may not even be one single utterance.

Anyway, it's something that appears to occur in numerous contexts as far as I can tell, seemingly to my untrained ears to be the same sound and used in informal situations....

It seems to be used mostly by women, children and occasionally men and often between lovers or family members or as an alternative to the female gender specific particle "Kha" used in the affirmative.

Examples that I know of:

1. A Thai lady buying street food from a fellow Thai lady, though they don't really know each other, is speaking informally in the affirmative and saying "Ja, ja...." as if she would say "Kha, kha...." or "Yes, yes...."

2. Thai lady speaking to her lover using "Ja" instead of "Kha." When I tried to ask a Thai person about this I got the impression a man can use 'Ja' in exactly the same way, as long as it's with a lover or family member (ie. loved one).

3. I was over at my girlfriend's place last weekend and one of her friends came over with her little baby girl who was just starting to talk. It seemed in the same way a native English speaker might start with 'da da' or some other basic utterance, this little baby girl was approaching people and saying "Ja!" I was told to respond to her myself with "Ja!" and when I did nobody batted an eyelid.

Am I referring to the same utterance in these examples, that is used in differing contexts, similar to the gender specific particles, or are these uses of the apparent sound 'Ja' actually something completely different in each case?

It seems to me it is the same, and is something primarily used by ladies, but that guys can use it too as long as it's towards a loved one or a small child, but that a guy probably should not use it with a street vendor like a lady can. In that case, could he also use it with a good friend (not lover) of the opposite sex if in informal situations or should he use it only with a wife/girlfriend/gik?

Thoughts, info?

Cheers

Edited May 30, 2014 by Squeegee

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Ja is Lanna version of Ka.

Only supposed to be used by women and men dressing as women.

Training babies is done by repetition, nobody thought you were a girl for helping train a girl.

Women would use kap when training a baby boy.

Edited May 30, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[AhFarangJa]

Judging by the amount of times my wife uses it in a telephone conversation, I would say it represents approximately 65% of the Thai vocabularly

I myself have often asked her what it means and I am told.......yes you guessed it.........I don't know, it is just a word.... so now I just limit myself to taking the mickey.

P.S. guess why my forum name ends as it does!!

Bless them all I say!!

[neverdie]

The script is จ้า

[inzman]

Ja is to indicate future tense in the Thai language, that is what my adult Thai students told me. The word "will" .

[PoorSucker]

Ja is Lanna version of Ka.

Only supposed to be used by women and men dressing as women.

Is it not geow?

[Totster]

Ja is to indicate future tense in the Thai language, that is what my adult Thai students told me. The word "will" .

You are talking about จะ

totster

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Ja is Lanna version of Ka.

Only supposed to be used by women and men dressing as women.

Is it not geow?

One is village Lanna, one is CM Lanna.

Ja, Jow, take your pick.

[PoorSucker]

One is village Lanna, one is CM Lanna.

Ja, Jow, take your pick.

Wife uses jow, from Chiang dao.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

As Biftastic put it in an earlier thread on the same subject.

"The more abrupt shorter version can be heard from family or close friends as a version of 'ka' as in an affirmative response, mostly from females, in my experience."

[AyG]

There are three forms of the particle ja, all with different tones: จ๊ะ, จ้ะ and จ๋า.

Details and authoritative explanation at http://siamsmile.webs.com/thaiparticles/thaiparticles.html#JA

(This is a copied version of the original, but I can't remember where the original author wrote her piece.)

[Richard W]

One is village Lanna, one is CM Lanna.

Ja, Jow, take your pick.

Wife uses jow, from Chiang dao.

Mine too (same word, same place), at least when she's talking carefully.

[MW72]

One is village Lanna, one is CM Lanna.

Ja, Jow, take your pick.

Wife uses jow, from Chiang dao.

Mine too (same word, same place), at least when she's talking carefully.

The gf uses Jow instead of Ka. She's from Wang Chin in Phrae province. Only females use it.

Sent from my KFTT using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Fookhaht]

Thank you for this thread. I just realized someone has fallen in love with me.

[bifftastic]

As Biftastic put it in an earlier thread on the same subject.

"The more abrupt shorter version can be heard from family or close friends as a version of 'ka' as in an affirmative response, mostly from females, in my experience."

I use it (จ้า) with my family. จ๋า (with a rising tone) is reserved for the wife. The kids use แม่จ๋า when they want something.

Instead of สวัสดีครับ you can use the more friendly หวัสดีจ้า which is often used as a farewell with จ้า หวัสดีจ้า

จ้า can be used as a replacement for ดะ ด่ะ and ครับ if you want to appear very friendly towards someone. Like they were your family, and equal in status (the kids don't use it with people who are older, they use เจ้า).

I have heard men using it as well as women. When, for instance, my wife meets someone who is from near where she grew up, and they have established that they know some of the same people, their conversation takes on the level of 'family' or 'family friends'.

จะ on the other hand, is a word that signifies the future tense.

เจ้า would be the northern Thai equivalent of คะ/ด่ะ Used all the time where we are in Chiang Saen, by females.

[katana]

There are three forms of the particle ja, all with different tones: จ๊ะ, จ้ะ and จ๋า.

Details and authoritative explanation at http://siamsmile.webs.com/thaiparticles/thaiparticles.html#JA

(This is a copied version of the original, but I can't remember where the original author wrote her piece.)

Hi AyG,

It's not a copied version. The site moved to a new domain after Geocities closed down their free site.

[Totster]

One is village Lanna, one is CM Lanna.

Ja, Jow, take your pick.

Wife uses jow, from Chiang dao.

Mine too (same word, same place), at least when she's talking carefully.

The gf uses Jow instead of Ka. She's from Wang Chin in Phrae province. Only females use it.

Sent from my KFTT using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I'm sure they use this in Laos also, at least they do in Savannakhet.

totster

[johnsmith8888]

So my GF whos an excellent English speaker says that in Chiang Mai they just say it longer so 

Gaoooowww

And in Lanna it is just a quick gaow

[checkered flag]

Ja is used by both women and men. Men use when talking to girlfriends but not male friends (unless gay). It's not confined to Lanna. Jaw (rising) is Khum Muang (northern language) and is used instead of Ka. Northern girls have perfected the use which is hard to resist. 

I once (years ago) bought something in the market and tried to bargain to get a lower price with a sweet old lady. Her answer was "My Die Jaw". It was so sweet that I paid full price and told her she made my day.

I tease my nephew when he was talking to his girlfriend from Bangkok. I told him her name must be Ja Ja because he said it many times. He laughed. 

[Jai Dee]

@johnsmith8888 You do realise that this is the first post in over 6 years on this topic? 

 

How did you find it?