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Thai words that are impossible to pronounce.

sipi

By sipi
in ASEAN NOW Community Pub

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Old Guy Apprentice Member

Old Guy

Posted
Posted

When I was learning Thai I spent 20 minutes altogether trying to say Meu (hand). Just unable to do so, until at long last I discovered that what I was pronouncing wrong was the consonant M, not the vowel. It is a sort of explosive sound apparently - keep the mouth closed until the last moment ! At least I think that's what you are supposed to do.

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alien365 Gold Member

alien365

Posted
Posted

For me it's infuriating just going to fill the car up with petrol. Can I have 1,000 baht 91 gasohol please. It doesn't matter if I say neung pan or pan neung, whichever order I use I get told it's wrong and they don't understand my pronunciation. Like others mention here I will mostly figure out what a Thai is trying to say in English. It seems only my MIL has the ability here to figure out what I'm trying to say if my pronunciation is not spot on. What's strange is that most thais say my pronunciation is very good...

  • Like 1
atyclb Platinum Member

atyclb

Posted
Posted

the most basic fundamental requisite for learning any language correctly is learning the alphabet (consonants and vowels)

once the sounds of these are mastered the word pronunciation becomes much easier and natural feeling.

the same holds true for non latin/roman character language native speakers when they learn roman/latin based languages in a proficient meaningful way.

ebonykap Senior Member

ebonykap

Posted
Posted

No such thing as impossible, just difficult.

Can anyone really distinguish between klai (near) and klai (far)?

Yes you can 2 different tones far away gai is a down tone ...close by glai is an up tone. ..;-)

Yes, the difference is in the tone of the word. Far - Glai ( middle or flat tone) Near - Glai (falling tone)

Most of the time you can simplify by using the flat tone for both by saying "mai glai" (not far).

But remember that "mai" in this case is falling tone. "Mai" low tone means "new".

Luxfare Advanced Member

Luxfare

Posted
Posted

No matter how hard I try I cannot get Taro twice in a row, pueck or however it's spelled. I can get it once , then when I try to say it again my wife just cracks up and says I got it right then wrong. Any word with the ng sound as well stumps me. Looking forward to AEC when English becomes more widespread as I've tried Thai and believe I'll master it by age 60- Shame I'm only 35.

  • Like 1
thejcb Advanced Member

thejcb

Posted
Posted

The ULTIMATE English word that Thais can't pronounce is....SQUIRREL. Try it out, they pronounce it sqw-uw or similar. Hours of fun.

No it isn't. It is CRISPS

bigwhitewarrior Senior Member

bigwhitewarrior

Posted
Posted

The ULTIMATE English word that Thais can't pronounce is....SQUIRREL. Try it out, they pronounce it sqw-uw or similar. Hours of fun.

No it isn't. It is CRISPS

Voluptuous is another word .. my GF speaks pretty good English ..but when I get the tones wrong I make her say words with an S sound in it ;-)

AnotherOneAmerican Ruby Member

AnotherOneAmerican

Posted
Posted (edited)

How is it however, that whenever they butcher up a word in English that I can 99% of the time know what they are trying to pronounce/say whereas when I butcher one of their words all I'm going to hear back from then is 'huh?" The answer is that I try to understand what they are saying by listening carefully and consider the contest of the usage. They do not try but just find it easier to say "huh?"

No,

It's because they don't have any interest in listening to what you want or what you have to say.

Best to choose different Thais to speak with. These ones have a chip on their shoulder.

Edited by AnotherOneAmerican
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TPI Gold Member

TPI

Posted
Posted

Ngu. I'd hate to have to call out "snake" in an emergency...

Somehow, calling out "look out for the big mouse!" doesn't quite cover the feeling of urgency! laugh.pngwai.gif

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THssii Explorer Member

THssii

Posted
Posted

Just practice more. As someone who's native language is not english or its causin language I think English is much harder to pronounce than Thai.

Si Thea01 Silver Member

Si Thea01

Posted
Posted

The bottom line is this.

There isn't a single Thai consonant combination sound that you do not know how to do already that I know of, it's just in a slightly different place in the word.

It's a very simple spoken language, it's a very complicated written one for reasons that are very obvious to anyone with a touch of learning (keep the peasants down)

There are so many more sounds in 'our' language that Thais find almost impossible to say.

Thirty thousand thieves thought it was thursday and instead of going to school started a game of football which ended in a draw.

Milk break.

Discuss

Actually ... whistling.gif

There is one sound I know I can't make.

The rolling of the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Can do the guttural Germanic style, but not the tongue vibrating 'Spanish' style ... despite much trying over the years.

So, for me ... 'Krrrap' becomes 'Crap' with my best attempt to 'roll' the 'R'.

Maybe I'm a retard?

.

Not thinking you're a retard but thanks for the laugh. My wife is a teacher of the Thai language and because I am like you, cannot vibrate my tongue, she has told not me not to worry, as many Thais cannot either. You will find if you say Khrup, then you will be understood by all. Even if you said crap many would not know what it means. If you said Kee, which is the impolite Thai equivalent, then you could be in trouble. I spelt it that way for easy pronunciation.

AnotherOneAmerican Ruby Member

AnotherOneAmerican

Posted
Posted

The bottom line is this.

There isn't a single Thai consonant combination sound that you do not know how to do already that I know of, it's just in a slightly different place in the word.

It's a very simple spoken language, it's a very complicated written one for reasons that are very obvious to anyone with a touch of learning (keep the peasants down)

There are so many more sounds in 'our' language that Thais find almost impossible to say.

Thirty thousand thieves thought it was thursday and instead of going to school started a game of football which ended in a draw.

Milk break.

Discuss

Actually ... whistling.gif

There is one sound I know I can't make.

The rolling of the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Can do the guttural Germanic style, but not the tongue vibrating 'Spanish' style ... despite much trying over the years.

So, for me ... 'Krrrap' becomes 'Crap' with my best attempt to 'roll' the 'R'.

Maybe I'm a retard?

.

Not thinking you're a retard but thanks for the laugh. My wife is a teacher of the Thai language and because I am like you, cannot vibrate my tongue, she has told not me not to worry, as many Thais cannot either. You will find if you say Khrup, then you will be understood by all. Even if you said crap many would not know what it means. If you said Kee, which is the impolite Thai equivalent, then you could be in trouble. I spelt it that way for easy pronunciation.

You have 3 choices,

Cap (no r), clap (r to l) or Ka (girly)

Trentham Advanced Member

Trentham

Posted
Posted

Anytime I have to use that snake NU sound I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it wrong. It's just a hard one for me. And often I'll ask my Thai friends to spell the word they are saying so that I can "see" the letters in my head and then I have a better chance of saying what I think I may be hearing.

How is it however, that whenever they butcher up a word in English that I can 99% of the time know what they are trying to pronounce/say whereas when I butcher one of their words all I'm going to hear back from then is 'huh?" The answer is that I try to understand what they are saying by listening carefully and consider the contest of the usage. They do not try but just find it easier to say "huh?"

I also think it is very funny that they can convert a word in English to whatever they want and call it "Thai talk" but I cannot do the same with a Thai word.

Tis the Land of Frustration. Cheers!

When I begin a conversation with a Thai I do not know I tell them to "chai jintanagarn - ใช้จินตนาการ - use imagination - if they do not understand me. After that they always do understand.

For those having trouble with the letter ng - ง - try using an English word ending with ing. An example is if you want to say the word for money - ngern say hanging in your mind but out loud only sound the ng at the end. Then add the ern. this in writing is hangingern but you don't sound the hangi. You will quickly get used to the ng letter and no longer have to go to all the trouble.

bigwhitewarrior Senior Member

bigwhitewarrior

Posted
Posted

The bottom line is this.

There isn't a single Thai consonant combination sound that you do not know how to do already that I know of, it's just in a slightly different place in the word.

It's a very simple spoken language, it's a very complicated written one for reasons that are very obvious to anyone with a touch of learning (keep the peasants down)

There are so many more sounds in 'our' language that Thais find almost impossible to say.

Thirty thousand thieves thought it was thursday and instead of going to school started a game of football which ended in a draw.

Milk break.

Discuss

Actually ... whistling.gif

There is one sound I know I can't make.

The rolling of the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Can do the guttural Germanic style, but not the tongue vibrating 'Spanish' style ... despite much trying over the years.

So, for me ... 'Krrrap' becomes 'Crap' with my best attempt to 'roll' the 'R'.

Maybe I'm a retard?

.

Not thinking you're a retard but thanks for the laugh. My wife is a teacher of the Thai language and because I am like you, cannot vibrate my tongue, she has told not me not to worry, as many Thais cannot either. You will find if you say Khrup, then you will be understood by all. Even if you said crap many would not know what it means. If you said Kee, which is the impolite Thai equivalent, then you could be in trouble. I spelt it that way for easy pronunciation.

You have 3 choices,

Cap (no r), clap (r to l) or Ka (girly)

You forgot option 4 ... Ha (ladyboys) 555 ;-)

Trentham Advanced Member

Trentham

Posted
Posted

No such thing as impossible, just difficult.

Can anyone really distinguish between klai (near) and klai (far)?

The word for near is has a long rising sound. Far is pronounced short in normal voice.

AnotherOneAmerican Ruby Member

AnotherOneAmerican

Posted
Posted (edited)

No such thing as impossible, just difficult.

Can anyone really distinguish between klai (near) and klai (far)?

The word for near is has a long rising sound. Far is pronounced short in normal voice.

Near is long singsong, far is flat hard.

Maaaaiiii glaaaaiiiii, maaaaiiii glai, nitnoy glai. (3 singsong, 3 hard)

Not near, not far, little bit far.

Edited by AnotherOneAmerican
Trentham Advanced Member

Trentham

Posted
Posted

No such thing as impossible, just difficult.

Can anyone really distinguish between klai (near) and klai (far)?

The word for near is has a long rising sound. Far is pronounced short in normal voice.

Near is long singsong, far is flat hard.

The tones I know are normal voice, falling, low, rising ,and high. I have never heard of the singsong tone.

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orpheus454 Advanced Member

orpheus454

Posted
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Posted

The secret is learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA.) Renditions of Thai words without it, using only approximations of the sounds represented by standard consonants and vowels, cannot duplicate the correct pronunciation. For example, there is no "r" sound anywhere in the Thai word for hand.

No, the secret is becoming literate in Thai.

Thai is very regular, with very few exceptions.

  • Like 5
THssii Explorer Member

THssii

Posted
Posted (edited)

The secret is learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA.) Renditions of Thai words without it, using only approximations of the sounds represented by standard consonants and vowels, cannot duplicate the correct pronunciation. For example, there is no "r" sound anywhere in the Thai word for hand.

No, the secret is becoming literate in Thai.

Thai is very regular, with very few exceptions.

Indeed. Why would anyone want to "learn" IPA? Its totally useless. Same as we should learn writing English in Thai script. Edited by THssii
Benmart Platinum Member

Benmart

Posted
Posted

One other place name, and this is purely from memory, that I learned just to annoy people.

Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch.

Wales.png

I've been there.

Well, the Train Station!

Wales?

Yes, I believe so. I stamped a "Passport" purchased at a gift shop there with the ...."ogogogoch".

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