Online Thai dictionaries

[Kanga Japan]

Can anyone recommend a good Thai ONLINE dictionary which I can use to enter Thai and see an explanation of that word (not just a translation)? Up until now, I have been using th.w3dict, which was very good, but appears to be no longer available.

For basic word translations I use:

thai-language.com

google translate

thai2english

These provide translations of the word, but no explanations, which I need to further understand the meaning. An ideal dictionary for me would include English, but if something like that is not available, just Thai would be OK, as long as it included an explanation. Then I could copy it into Google Translate to get an idea of what the explanation was (as my Thai reading ability is very very basic).

Thanks for your help.

[CaptHaddock]

http://dict.longdo.com/ has definitions sometimes with examples. Also, synonyms. It has one particularly nice feature. As you type in the Thai word it offers matching words with various completions. Makes searching for a word very efficient. No pronunciation guide though, for which I use thai-language.com

[Kanga Japan]

Dear CaptHaddock,

Thank you very much for that. I have noticed that longdo comes up sometimes when I am looking for words, but I found it difficult to use. I will open it and look into it. Much appreciated.

[inbangkok]

I always found google translate to be pretty good for single words. Translate a whole sentence and it becomes unreadable.

[Kanga Japan]

Dear inbangkok,

Thank you for your reply. Google Translate is quite helpful for those who can't read Thai, but is sometimes incorrect and too general. Rather than translations of sentences, I need explanations of words.

[inbangkok]

Dear inbangkok,

Thank you for your reply. Google Translate is quite helpful for those who can't read Thai, but is sometimes incorrect and too general. Rather than translations of sentences, I need explanations of words.

Yes, some are incorrect. However, I have found the greater problem is that it often translates to a very formal version of the word which isn't often used. I have yet to find one good translation source, so I generally start with google and maybe compare it to another site or dictionary.

[Kanga Japan]

Dear inbangkok,

Thank you. Unfortunately, I am still at the stage where I am unable to tell whether the Thai word is formal/not often used, so I am afraid that some of the words I am using in my dictionary may be like that.

I do the same as you - start with Google Translate and check with 2 other dictionaries, as well as the net.

[Oxx]

http://thai-notes.com/tools/predictionary.shtml provides example sentences (in Thai) for many words. It also lets you mouse-hover over the words in the example sentences to see a translation of the individual words. Its "bulk lookup" feature will do the same for a chunk of text you copy and paste into it.

The same site also has a version of the Royal Institute Dictionary at http://thai-notes.com/dictionaries/RIDictionary.shtml After you've done a word lookup and got the definition (in Thai) you can copy/paste the definition into the "bulk lookup" mentioned previously. You can also look up the word in thai-language, thai2english, LEXiTRON and Wikipedia in one click by hovering over the headword in the definition and clicking.

[Kanga Japan]

Dear Oxx,

Thank you very much for those 2 site links and your explanation also. I will give both of them a try.

[bearpolar]

There's apps that connect people of 2 languages for them to help each other

If you could find through that or anywhere else a young educated(by that i mean educated by his parent) thai(preferably a woman, they tend to speak better) and bomb him with constant questions.

[Kanga Japan]

Thanks bearpolar,

I appreciate your ideas, however I live in Japan and don't really have any Thai friends.

[bearpolar]

Keep making topics, i dont think anyone minds. I have learned a lot from your constant posting.

[Kanga Japan]

Thanks bearpolar,

I appreciate your good wishes.

The forum members have been so kind and helpful to me. It is an education for me also.

[CaptHaddock]

Dear inbangkok,

Thank you. Unfortunately, I am still at the stage where I am unable to tell whether the Thai word is formal/not often used, so I am afraid that some of the words I am using in my dictionary may be like that.

I do the same as you - start with Google Translate and check with 2 other dictionaries, as well as the net.

This is the big deficiency in Thai dictionaries: they don't indicate the level of usage: ordinary, formal, half-formal, obsolete, poetical, doctor's language, etc. As it happens using the appropriate level when speaking with Thais is much more important than in European languages. Thais seem mildly offended by using formal language in an informal setting. One teacher explained to me how he cut off permanently a friend of longstanding simply by using one of the more formal versions of "you." Both parties understood their friendship was over at that point.

Thai language needs and OED or a Petit Robert. There's a project for someone.

[Oxx]

This is the big deficiency in Thai dictionaries: they don't indicate the level of usage: ordinary, formal, half-formal, obsolete, poetical, doctor's language, etc. As it happens using the appropriate level when speaking with Thais is much more important than in European languages. Thais seem mildly offended by using formal language in an informal setting. One teacher explained to me how he cut off permanently a friend of longstanding simply by using one of the more formal versions of "you." Both parties understood their friendship was over at that point.

Thai language needs and OED or a Petit Robert. There's a project for someone.

It's already been done, and it's called the Royal Institute Dictionary (พจนานุกรม ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน).

At the risk of repeating myself, you can access a recent version of it at http://thai-notes.com/dictionaries/RIDictionary.shtml where by hovering over many of the usage terms have been translated into English.

The current online version is at http://www.royin.go.th/dictionary/

[CaptHaddock]

This is the big deficiency in Thai dictionaries: they don't indicate the level of usage: ordinary, formal, half-formal, obsolete, poetical, doctor's language, etc. As it happens using the appropriate level when speaking with Thais is much more important than in European languages. Thais seem mildly offended by using formal language in an informal setting. One teacher explained to me how he cut off permanently a friend of longstanding simply by using one of the more formal versions of "you." Both parties understood their friendship was over at that point.

Thai language needs and OED or a Petit Robert. There's a project for someone.

It's already been done, and it's called the Royal Institute Dictionary (พจนานุกรม ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน).

At the risk of repeating myself, you can access a recent version of it at http://thai-notes.com/dictionaries/RIDictionary.shtml where by hovering over many of the usage terms have been translated into English.

The current online version is at http://www.royin.go.th/dictionary/

Maybe I'm being a little obtuse today, but looking in the first of the urls you listed, I don't find information identifying the level of usage. For example, I want to look up the word สหาย. The definition is easy enough since all dictionaries have that. It means a friend through thick and thin. But I suspect it is formal, poetical or obsolete. When I find it on your recommended site I can hover over a part of the definition that indicates that it comes from both Pali and Sanskrit. That doesn't answer my question though since many common words come from Pali and Sanskrit.

Am I missing something?

[bearpolar]

the benjawan dictionary has all those formal, put, vulgar and scientific tag, but no definition

[Kanga Japan]

Dear bearpolar, Oxx and CaptHaddock

Thank you all so much for that information. I appreciate it very much. I was surprised to hear that a friendship was broken by using the formal version of 'you'. I guess there are differences between formal expressions and polite expressions.

[CaptHaddock]

Dear bearpolar, Oxx and CaptHaddock

Thank you all so much for that information. I appreciate it very much. I was surprised to hear that a friendship was broken by using the formal version of 'you'. I guess there are differences between formal expressions and polite expressions.

That discussion was one of the most interesting I have had on the subject of Thai with my various teachers. That teacher, who had done a PhD at the Sorbonne, recounted the story of how he once asked his French roommate what it meant to speak French well. The roommate replied without hesitation: to make the liaisons and enchainements correctly. (Agrees with my experience. After a few days of lessons in exactly making the liaisons and the enchainements, French people suddenly starting complimenting my French despite the grammatical and other errors.)

The teacher then asked me what did I think it meant to speak Thai well? I had no clear idea. He replied with finality, it means to use pronouns correctly. At that moment a light flashed on in my brain. The Thais are constantly negotiating rank, status, degree of closeness to a high degree of precision. But, contrary to the impression we may have had of the Thai social hierarchy, it's actually much more dynamic than we had thought. The Thai language is extraordinarily rich in the linguistic opportunities of pronouns. For instance he mentioned that Thais may even sometimes use "I" to mean "you" along with "you" to mean "I" in a conversation with an intimate, although I can no longer recall the example he offered. The mind boggles.

His description goes a long way to explain why the Thais seem hypersensitive to our mistakenly employing a more formal usage than appropriate. If I am correcting a foreigner speaking English I expect him to speak more formally since that's what students learn in school. But with the Thais, I suspect it feels like we are pushing them away.

[CaptHaddock]

the benjawan dictionary has all those formal, put, vulgar and scientific tag, but no definition

Is that online or in print only?

[Seligne2]

The Benjawant (Paiboon) dictionary is in paper, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android http://www.paiboonpublishing.com/products.html

[bearpolar]

Dear bearpolar, Oxx and CaptHaddock

Thank you all so much for that information. I appreciate it very much. I was surprised to hear that a friendship was broken by using the formal version of 'you'. I guess there are differences between formal expressions and polite expressions.

That discussion was one of the most interesting I have had on the subject of Thai with my various teachers. That teacher, who had done a PhD at the Sorbonne, recounted the story of how he once asked his French roommate what it meant to speak French well. The roommate replied without hesitation: to make the liaisons and enchainements correctly. (Agrees with my experience. After a few days of lessons in exactly making the liaisons and the enchainements, French people suddenly starting complimenting my French despite the grammatical and other errors.)

The teacher then asked me what did I think it meant to speak Thai well? I had no clear idea. He replied with finality, it means to use pronouns correctly. At that moment a light flashed on in my brain. The Thais are constantly negotiating rank, status, degree of closeness to a high degree of precision. But, contrary to the impression we may have had of the Thai social hierarchy, it's actually much more dynamic than we had thought. The Thai language is extraordinarily rich in the linguistic opportunities of pronouns. For instance he mentioned that Thais may even sometimes use "I" to mean "you" along with "you" to mean "I" in a conversation with an intimate, although I can no longer recall the example he offered. The mind boggles.

His description goes a long way to explain why the Thais seem hypersensitive to our mistakenly employing a more formal usage than appropriate. If I am correcting a foreigner speaking English I expect him to speak more formally since that's what students learn in school. But with the Thais, I suspect it feels like we are pushing them away.

My thai teacher often goes in dept over these things as i spend my time asking which of the 50 synonyms should i use in which situations, it goes really deep. For most of us we just have to keep offending lower level thais a little bit as even she is unable to explain them most of the time, its too emotional.

I rarely use thais when using a service or business because they never understand the formal thai i use, which isnt "high class" but its words that you need to have gone to school beyong age 10 to know. Im in the south, it might have to do with this, less educated thais here do not understand much of bangkok & formal thai

[Kanga Japan]

Dear CaptHaddock and bearpolar,

Thank you both for that interesting information. Unfortunately, I am still a beginner when it comes to the Thai language, however I will keep this information in mind. I have never heard of such a relationship between the language and relationships in Thailand. Quite different from Japan.

[Johpa]

I still often defer to my trusty 35 year old copy of the Mary Haas Thai-English dictionary although admittedly it does not help on newer tech vocabulary.

[evilebxxx]

Same here was recommend from Social Culture Thai, many years back

[Saastrajaa]

I still often defer to my trusty 35 year old copy of the Mary Haas Thai-English dictionary although admittedly it does not help on newer tech vocabulary.

Haas and other dictionaries are included in the SEALANG Thai dictionary, http://sealang.net/thai I used to work for the guy that developed it (though on another language, not Thai).

It's not a "true dictionary" in that when you search for a term, all entries that contain that term will come up...so the more you know about what you expect to find when you do a search, the more useful you will find it (i.e. it's not really useful for beginners). However, some of the other functions like "Bitext" can be very useful to see words in action (usage), plus the entries contain lots of useful information like etymology and IPA transcription. I use it almost exclusively for my Thai dictionary needs these days.

[CaptHaddock]

I still often defer to my trusty 35 year old copy of the Mary Haas Thai-English dictionary although admittedly it does not help on newer tech vocabulary.

Haas and other dictionaries are included in the SEALANG Thai dictionary, http://sealang.net/thai I used to work for the guy that developed it (though on another language, not Thai).

It's not a "true dictionary" in that when you search for a term, all entries that contain that term will come up...so the more you know about what you expect to find when you do a search, the more useful you will find it (i.e. it's not really useful for beginners). However, some of the other functions like "Bitext" can be very useful to see words in action (usage), plus the entries contain lots of useful information like etymology and IPA transcription. I use it almost exclusively for my Thai dictionary needs these days.

Thanks. This one looks useful. However, it's not very consistent. It gives only some level of usage information. None of the words that I know are poetical or formal get that designation. When the bit text works, it's great because it gives a lot of examples. But most of the test words I chose didn't have any. Still, a useful addition.

[Johpa]

Same here was recommend from Social Culture Thai, many years back

Hate to date myself, but that could have been me making the recommendation on SCT over 20 years ago. There are a few of us grizzled veterans of the Usenet era around.

[evilebxxx]

I can recall Johpa from somewhere, properly from SCT perhaps.

I do admire your sapience also do remember you are from Las Vegas.