Thai conversations with transliterations

Krit:	Mái, “hāi fái” nî khūe àrāi	ไมค์ “ไฮ ไฟ้” นี่คืออะไร	Mike, what is hi-fi?
Mike:	“hāi fái” … ē… khūn mǎithǔeng “high five” châi mǎi	“ไฮ ไฟ้” … เอ… คุณหมายถึง “ฮาย ฟายวฺ” ใช่ไหม	Hi-fi … eh … do you mean high five?
Krit:	châi châi phǒm òk sǐang dōi mâi mī sǎang thái ìk láeo châi mǎi	ใช่ๆ ผมออกเสียงโดยไม่มีเสียงท้าย อีกแล้ว ใช่ไหม	That’s right! I left out the final sounds again, didn’t I?
Mike:	châi nà sì khūn mâi òk sǐang “ve” phǒm lōei ngōng	ใช่นะสิ คุณไม่ออกเสียง “วี อี” ผมเลยงง	Yeah, you did. you dropped the v sound. That confused me.
Krit:	sǐang ní òk sǐang yâk mâk nāi phāsǎ Thāi mâi mī	เสียงนี้ออกเสียงยากมาก ในภาษาไทยไม่มี	That sound is very difficult to pronounce for me because we don’t have that in Thai.
Mike:	châi dōichàphó sǐang tūa “v”	ใช่ โดยเฉพาะเสียงตัว “วี”	Right, especially the v sound.
Krit:	châi rāo chà òk sǐang pēn tūa “wō” mòt lōei	ใช่ เราจะออกเสียงเป็นตัว “ว” หมดเลย	Yeah, we say all the v as the Thai wo.
Mike:	châi láe thâ lōng sǐang nàk mǎi thùk ìk chà thām hâi phûfāng khâochāi yâk khôen ìk	ใช่ และถ้าลงเสียงหนักไม่ถูก อีกจะทำให้ผู้ฟังเข้าใจยาก ขึ้นอีก	Yeah, and if the stress is on the wrong syllable, it’s even more difficult for the listener to understand.
Krit:	nǎi khūn lōng yók tūayàng nòi sì	ไหนคุณลองยกตัวอย่างหน่อยซิ	Can you give me an example?
Mike:	lêk chèt kàp sìp-èt khūn òk sǐang yàngrāi	เลข 7 กับ 11 คุณออกเสียงอย่างไร	How do you say the figures 7 and 11?
Krit:	“sē-*wên” kàp “ì-lē-wên*” thùk mǎi	“เซ-*เว่น” กับ “อี-เล-เว่น*”ถูกไหม	“Se-wen” and “E-le-wen”, right?
Mike:	mâi châi tông phût wâ “*sév-vèn” kàp “ì-lév*-vèn”	ไม่ใช่ ต้องพูดว่า “*เซพ-เวฺน” กับ “อิ-เลพ*-เวฺน”	No, they’re sev-en and e-lev-en.
Krit:	mí nâ wān kòn fáràng thǎm wēlā phǒm phǒm bòk wâ “sē-*wên* pát fái” khǎo thām nâ ngōng mâk mâk	มิน่า วันก่อนฝรั่งถามเวลาผม ผมบอกว่า “เซเว่น พาต ไฟ้” เขาทำหน้างงมากๆ	That’s why! The other day a farang asked me the time and I said, “Se-wen paat fi”. He was completely baffled!
Mike:	thâ phǒm mâi dâi yù mūeang Thāi mā kòn phǒm kô khōng ngōng sùt sùt mǔean kān	ถ้าผมไม่ได้อยู่เมืองไทยมาก่อน ผมก็คงงงสุดๆ เหมือนกัน	If I didn’t live in Thailand for a long time, I would be very baffled, too.

Language watch

Last week we looked at a small particle at the end of a statement. This week let’s look at some common particles at the end of a question or command:

—    lâ (falling tone) softens an otherwise blunt ending = láeo khām wâ ājārn lâ (What about ajarn?)

—    sì (falling tone) suggests a mild force of the word please = khǎ thǎm àrāi nòi sì (Can I ask you something?)

—    sì (falling tone) suggests a mild emphais of the sentence = chǎi nà sì (Yeah, you did.)

— sí (high tone) suggests an intensive to modify the verb = nǎi khūn lōng yók tūa-yàng nòi sí (Can you give me an example?)

This lesson was prepared by Acharn Sunee Siidao, Educational Specialist.

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Read our other phuut phaasaa Thai columns here.

Welcome back to a new adaptation of Phût Phāsǎ Thāi after our transitional Songkran break. As per the valued suggestions of our readers, the transliterations now follow the Royal Institute's system (http://www.royin.go.th/th/profile/index.php), which includes tone markers. In terms of content, the column will continue to provide you with everyday language on specific topics.

๑๗ tulakhom ๒๕๔๙ ( 17 October 2006)

Phût phāsǎ Thai

Sounds that Thai doesn't have / sǐang thî mâimī nāi phāsǎ thāi

Remember to say “sév-vèn – ì-lév-vèn” not “sē-wên – ì-lē-wên”

Last week we discussed a problematic aspect of Thai pronunciation. That problem exists because Thai doesn't have a v sound and the v sound is converted into a w sound. For example, we pronounce Suvarnabhumi as "Su-wan-na-phum".
As we discussed in a previous lesson, Thai has six final consonant sounds: -ng (ง); -m (ม); -k (ก); -t (ด); -p (บ) and -n (น). Thai doesn't have a v or an f in the final position.
There are two more final consonant sounds, ย and ว that are treated specially. Both function as consonants as well as vowels. Unfortunately, when words ending with the two letters are transliterated following the Royal Institute system, the ย and the ว disappear and are replaced by other vowel clusters. The ย is replaced by ai, ao, ui, oi, oei, ueai, uai. In the same way, the ว is replaced by ao or io. Of all the sounds, only ai, ao and io are found in English words.
Therefore, when we say any word ending with a v or an f, first, we tend to: drop the sounds abruptly if the words contain those vowel clusters. For example, words like wife, five, and hive become wai, fai and hai, respectively. Second, we automatically substitute them with a p, which is the closest final sound. For example, have, give, love, and move are pronounced haep, gip, loep, and mup.