Borrowed Words in the Thai language

[meltingpot2015]

Has anyone come across loanwords in the Thai language.

On the Bangkok BTS Skytrain as you approach Phaya Thai station, the woman announcing says "Air port rail link" in Thai. Definiete loan words.

Any more please...

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Thai language

[mesquite]

คอมพิวเตอร์ (Computer)

If you take a Thai language course they will explain this. Yes, they have borrowed many technical and engineering terms from English.

They will also make up acronyms and wonder why a native English speaker doesn't understand them.

At Bumrungrad hospital years ago they had on my bill STAT charge for a lab result, STAT standing for "Short Turn Around Time" as they expected me to already know.

Edited April 3, 2015 by mesquite

[AyG]

They will also make up acronyms and wonder why a native English speaker doesn't understand them.

At Bumrungrad hospital years ago they had on my bill STAT charge for a lab result, STAT standing for "Short Turn Around Time" as they expected me to already know.

They are not making up acronyms (at least in this case at least). It's from the Latin statim (adverb) meaning, amongst other things "immediately" or "at once".

[mesquite]

They will also make up acronyms and wonder why a native English speaker doesn't understand them.

At Bumrungrad hospital years ago they had on my bill STAT charge for a lab result, STAT standing for "Short Turn Around Time" as they expected me to already know.

They are not making up acronyms (at least in this case at least). It's from the Latin statim (adverb) meaning, amongst other things "immediately" or "at once".

Hmmm ...live and learn.

[meltingpot2015]

They will also make up acronyms and wonder why a native English speaker doesn't understand them.

At Bumrungrad hospital years ago they had on my bill STAT charge for a lab result, STAT standing for "Short Turn Around Time" as they expected me to already know.

They are not making up acronyms (at least in this case at least). It's from the Latin statim (adverb) meaning, amongst other things "immediately" or "at once".

LOL ....sorry, another acronym. But this one we all know. For those that don't LOL = Laugh Out Loud or Lots of Laughs...

It is annoying when unknown acronyms are used, maybe the Thais' or actually the medics (take your pick..or pick both) think spelling them out would be demeaning the readers intelligence.

Statim...Short Turn Around Time..STAT (Short Turn around time)...Funny..one word to begin with..then four words....then one word again..(maybe five words if you count the words to make the acronym clear).

Edited April 3, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[KhunBENQ]

Came across loanwords?

Must be in the hundreds if you look at topics like IT/computer, mechanical engineering, automotive, electrical installation etc.pp.

About every "modern" field (invented in the last 50 to 100 years) is full of English loanwords.

Some loanwords might be shortcut/not easy to associate, like แบต (bat) for battery (แบตเตอรี่).

Also the pronounciation can be very different. Example สวิต (switch) which sound like "saweet" or so.

แอร์ (air, for aircondition) sounds like "aeh".

But "railway link" is just a fixed term, like a brand name.

There are generic Thai words for railway and link.

A field for the experts: tons of loanwords from the old Indian languages (in Bhuddism, Royals/Nobles) and Chinese.

Some of them adapted, so sounding very different from their roots.

One that everyone should know?:

มอเตอร์ไซค์ (motoesai) from "motorcycle".

Typical example for the "morphing" of pronounciation to adapt to Thai rules (limitations).

The WiKi article is nice, but very far from complete:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_loanwords_in_Thai

(but it shows some prominent examples like bus, TV(television), taxi...)

Much more comprehensive list, somewhat arbitrary though:

http://www.thai-language.com/ref/loanwords

An example that surprised some time ago:

cantaloupe แคนตาลูป

a type of melon, everyone in the Isan family was familiar with this.

Edited April 3, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[AyG]

They will also make up acronyms and wonder why a native English speaker doesn't understand them.

At Bumrungrad hospital years ago they had on my bill STAT charge for a lab result, STAT standing for "Short Turn Around Time" as they expected me to already know.

They are not making up acronyms (at least in this case at least). It's from the Latin statim (adverb) meaning, amongst other things "immediately" or "at once".

LOL ....sorry, another acronym. But this one we all know. For those that don't LOL = Laugh Out Loud or Lots of Laughs...

It is annoying when unknown acronyms are used, maybe the Thais' or actually the medics (take your pick..or pick both) think spelling them out would be demeaning the readers intelligence.

Statim...Short Turn Around Time..STAT (Short Turn around time)...Funny..one word to begin with..then four words....then one word again..(maybe five words if you count the words to make the acronym clear).

Good grief, man. "STAT" IS NOT AN ACRONYM. It's even included in the Miriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary complete with etymology. The dictionary also mentions that it's "used chiefly in medicine".

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/stat

[nikmar]

corruption

[meltingpot2015]

corruption

excuse

[Ombra]

I have only been in Thailand for about seven months and so my knowledge of Thai is basic. However, I came across a loan word which I was unaware of this week in a branch of HomePro. I was looking at some hooks to keep windows open when a salesman came up to me and pointed out a particular hook and said something repeatedly which sounded like 'stan-let.' He clearly expected me to understand, but I searched my small Thai vocabulary in vain. When I asked my wife what 'stan-let' meant, she said the same word only louder. She also asked me why I couldn't understand the meaning of 'stan-let steel.' It was all quite amusing.

[jspill]

free, sex, beer, three of my favorites

[IMA_FARANG]

As I was explaining to someone last week I had to o to apply for a new U.S. passport at the U.S embassy on Wiittiyu road.

That name comes from what was originally called "wireless road".

It was called "wireless road" from the British embassy that long ago had a radio or wireless station to communicate. That was when a wireless or radio was an uncommon thing.

The British term "wireless" somehow was changed to the term "Radio" over time

The Thais found the name "radio" hard to pronounce, and the nearest they could come was to call the "radio road" as "Wittiyu" road.

So the street signs today call it Wittiyu Road

Another fine example is when you are going somewhere in a taxi and the Thai driver asks you if you want to take the "tollway" to avoid the street traffic.

Tollway is not a Thai word.

Or, although it's not Thai, as I was once asked when arriving in India, "Sir, from what previous

destination are you currently embarking?"

That was Bangkok, of course.

Edited June 6, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[AyG]

As I was explaining to someone last week I had to o to apply for a new U.S. passport at the U.S embassy on Wiittiyu road.

That name comes from what was originally called "wireless road".

It was called "wireless road" from the British embassy that long ago had a radio or wireless station to communicate. That was when a wireless or radio was an uncommon thing.

The British term "wireless" somehow was changed to the term "Radio" over time

The Thais found the name "radio" hard to pronounce, and the nearest they could come was to call the "radio road" as "Wittiyu" road.

So the street signs today call it Wittiyu Road

This is some of the most complete and utter spherical male genitalia I've read in this forum in a long time the last few minutes.

First, the name of the road is "Wittayu" or "Witthaya" (note the spelling).

Second, the word is not derived from the English Wireless; it's of Indic origin. (The spelling in Thai is a dead give away for that. The first syllable means something like "science" or "knowledge".)

Third, Thai people don't find radio hard to pronounce, and "wittayu" is not a mispronunciation of radio.

And finally, "wireless" isn't specifically a British term. "Wireless" was the normal term in the United States in the late 19th century. "Radio" in its current sense appeared in the States in 1907. It was only by the time of WW II that radio predominated over wireless thanks to the military's preference for the term radio.

Edited June 6, 2015 by AyG

[RickBradford]

accident แอ๊คซิเด็นท

air hostess แอร์

air-conditioner, air-conditioning แอร์

album อาละบั้ม

alcohol แอลกอฮอล

aluminium อะลูมิเนียม

. . . . .

snip 350 . . . .

......

website เว็บไซต์

whisky วิสกี้ wine ไวน์

work เวิ้ก

works (pretty) well เวิร์กดี

wow! ว้าว

I stopped actively collecting these a while back -- almost every sphere of activity lifts English loanwords freely -- even Prayut, good Thai nationalist that he is, keeps going on about the government's "roadmap".

Edited June 6, 2015 by RickBradford

[Tim207]

aparmen = apartment

lif = lift or elevator

[Richard W]

My favourite example is เบอร์ [M]boe 'telephone number'.

Nobody's mentioned that there are 13 letters (ฆ ฌ ฎ ฏ ฐ ฑ ฒ ณ ธ ภ ศ ษ ฬ) in the Thai alphabet and two or three vowel symbols (ฤ ฤๅ (ฦ)) whose sole legitimate purpose in the Thai language is to write loanwords. They do crop up in a few native words as a result of mistakes as to their etymology.

[KhunBENQ]

And some of these letters are used in very few words only.

I found a statistics where the most rare letters go down to a one in a thousand letters occurance.

Just came to my mind:

เฟอร์นิเจอร์ for furniture, both r's silent of course

[StefanBBK]

How about "pump" used for gas station.

[uhuh]

When a Thai uses the word "fossil" ฟอสฃิล is this a loanword or is it just plain English?

[jacky54]

Just about every condo and moobaan has an English name these days, the Coast, the Grand, Greenville, Parkland, Ideo, Manhattan, the Ritz etc etc. Unfortunately the quality usually remains very Thai.

[KhunBENQ]

When a Thai uses the word "fossil" ฟอสฃิล is this a loanword or is it just plain English?

Almost got me (need new glasses)

There is a typo in the Thai script:

ฟอสฃิล -> ฟอสซิล

And ฟอสซิล is indeed frequently used as a loanword as well as for the brandname.

But the WiKi article used the Thai word (ซากดึกดำบรรพ์) and refers to "ฟอสซิล" only as redirected term.

http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%B6%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%9E%E0%B9%8C

Edited June 14, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[AyG]

Of course, there's a native expression for "fossil": คนคร่ำครึ

[KhunBENQ]

Of course, there's a native expression for "fossil": คนคร่ำครึ

needed a moment to understand the joke

[uhuh]

I hear ฟอสซิล pronounced with a final [l]

Why not final [n]?

Edited June 14, 2015 by uhuh

[AyG]

I hear ฟอสซิล pronounced with a final [l]

Why not final [n]?

It depends upon the education level of the speaker. If someone doesn't speak any English they'll use /n/ since a final /l/ doesn't exist in Thai. If they've learned a certain amount of English they have the ability to pronounce a final /l/ and will probably do so.

[uhuh]

I have to correct myself. What to me (not an English native speaker) sounded like an American dark l, is really more [w]

And that's the pronunciation Paiboon gives [iu]

The speaker is quite uneducated btw.

Edited June 14, 2015 by uhuh

[lostinisaan]

They will also make up acronyms and wonder why a native English speaker doesn't understand them.

At Bumrungrad hospital years ago they had on my bill STAT charge for a lab result, STAT standing for "Short Turn Around Time" as they expected me to already know.

They are not making up acronyms (at least in this case at least). It's from the Latin statim (adverb) meaning, amongst other things "immediately" or "at once".

LOL ....sorry, another acronym. But this one we all know. For those that don't LOL = Laugh Out Loud or Lots of Laughs...

It is annoying when unknown acronyms are used, maybe the Thais' or actually the medics (take your pick..or pick both) think spelling them out would be demeaning the readers intelligence.

Statim...Short Turn Around Time..STAT (Short Turn around time)...Funny..one word to begin with..then four words....then one word again..(maybe five words if you count the words to make the acronym clear).

Good grief, man. "STAT" IS NOT AN ACRONYM. It's even included in the Miriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary complete with etymology. The dictionary also mentions that it's "used chiefly in medicine".

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/stat

Stat, used as a directive to medical personnel during in an emergency situation, is from the Latin word statim, which means"instantly" or "immediately."

[Aforek]

I have to correct myself. What to me (not an English native speaker) sounded like an American dark l, is really more [w]

And that's the pronunciation Paiboon gives [iu]

The speaker is quite uneducated btw.

You mean he prounced " fossiu " ? If so, it reminds me when a girl told me about " Biu Gates " ( or Bew Gates ); after some times , I guessed she was speaking of " Bill Gates "

true, the sound L doesn't exist at the end of a syllabe, and when they are not used to the English sound, it's difficult for them, and they say " iu " if English name , or " n " like in their language

Edited June 15, 2015 by Aforek

[Mooner]

Hear "Mai serious" quite alot.