Thai conversations with transliterations

Michael:	sànǎmbīn mài nî òk sǐang wâ “Sù-vān-ná-phūm” rǔe “Sù-vān-ná-phū-mī” Krit	สนามบินใหม่นี่ออกเสียงว่า “สุวรรณภูมิ” หรือ “สุ- วรรณภูมี” กันแน่ คุณกริต	Is the new airport pronounced “Su-van-na-phum” or “Su-van-na-phu-mi”, Krit?
Krit:	“Sù-vān-ná-phūm”	“สุ-วัน-นะ-พูม”	“Su-v[w]an-na-phum”
Michael:	tàe thâ dū tām tūa sàkòt phāsǎ Āngkrìt ní tông òk sǐang pēn “Sù-vān-ná-phū-mī”	แต่ถ้าดูตามตัวสะกดภาษา อังกฤษนะ ต้องออกเสียง เป็น “สุ-วัน-นะ-พู-มี”	But if we look at the spelling in English, it should be pronounced “Su-van-na-phu-mi”.
Krit:	ūem nî kô pēn ìk pānhǎ nùeng ná rûeang kān sàkòt khām Thāi pēn phāsa Āngkrìt	อือ นี่ก็อีกปัญหาหนึ่งนะ เรื่องการสะกดคำไทยเป็น ภาษาอังกฤษ	Um, this is another problem; the way we spell some Thai words in English.
Michael:	pēn rábàp mài rǒe	เป็นระบบใหม่เหรอ	Is this a new system?
Krit:	mâi châi pēn rábàp râek râek lōei mī chái tângtàe phō sǒ sǒng sì sì hòk níyōm chái kàp chûe phrá-rât-chá-thān	ไม่ใช่ เป็นระบบแรกๆ เลย มีใช้ตั้งแต่ พ.ศ. ๒๔๔๖ นิยมใช้กับชื่อพระราชทาน	No, actually it’s a system used since 1893, when many names were bestowed by the monarchy.
Michael:	ô láeo “mī” nāi “Sù-vān-ná-phū-mī” mā chàk nǎi	อ้อ แล้ว “มี” ใน “สุวรรณ ภูมี” มาจากไหน	I see. And where does the “mi” in Suvarnabhumi come from?
Krit:	mā chàk rûp dōem khǒng khām “phūm” phûea hâi rú wâ rûp dōem pēn khām nǎi tàe mâi òk sǐang	มาจากรูปเดิมของพยางค์ “ภูมิ” เพื่อให้รู้ว่ารูปเดิมเป็น คำไหน แต่ไม่ออกเสียง พยางค์ท้าย	It comes from the syllable “bhumi” in order to recognise the original word, but we don’t pronounce the final ending.
Michael:	láeo fáràng yàng phǒm chà rú dâi yàng rāi là	แล้วฝรั่งอย่างผมจะรู้ได้ อย่างไรล่ะ	And how would a farang like me know?
Krit:	āo yàng ní láeo kān Mái tàt sàrà tūa sùtthái àk khūn mī ōkàt thùk chèt sìp hâ pōesēn	เอาอย่างนี้แล้วกัน ไมค์ ตัด สระตัวสุดท้ายออก คุณมี โอกาสถูก ๗๕ เปอร์เซ็นต์	Let’s try this, Mike. Cut off the last vowel. This way you have a chance of being 75 percent correct.
Michael:	phǒm khǒ lōg ná “Shīnnáwátrā” kô pēn “Shīnnáwát” châi mǎi	ผมขอลองนะ “ชินวัตรา” ก็ เป็น “ชินวัด” .ใช่ไหม	Let’s me try one. “Shinnawatra” is pronounced “Shinnawat”, right?
Krit:	thàk tông Mái láeo “Chūlānōndà” là	ถูกต้อง ไมค์ แล้ว “จุลานนดา” ล่ะ	Correct! You’re the expert now, Mike. How about “Chulanonda”?
Michael:	kô pēn “Chūlānōnd”	ก็เป็น “จุลานน”	It should be “Chulanond”.
Krit:	châi dâi hěn mǎi	ใช้ได้ เห็นไหม	It works, see?
Michael:	láeo ìk yî sìp hâ pōesēn lâ chà chái wíthī nǎi	แล้วอีก ๒๕ เปอร์เซ็นต์ล่ะ จะใช้วิธีไหน	Yeah, what about the other 25 percent?
Krit:	kô lōng thǎm wâ khām ní òk sǐang wâ “Sù-vān-ná-phūm” rǔe “Sù-vān-ná-phū-mī”	ก็ลองถามว่า คำนี้ออกเสียง ว่า “สุวรรณพูม” หรือ “สุวรรณภูมี”	Well, it’s good to ask someone. For example, “Is this word pronounced “Su-van-na-phum” or “Su-van-na-phu-mi”?

For further reference, below is the Romanisation table by King Vajiravudh.

Table courtesy of Asst Prof Wirote Aroonmanakun, PhD, Dept of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University.

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.

๒๖ kanyayon ๒๕๔๙ ( 26 September 2006)

Phût phāsǎ Thai

Say ‘Suwarnabhuum’, not ‘Suvarnabhumi’ / sù-wān-ná-phūm mâichâi sù-vān-ná-bhū-mī

Three women and two men were selected as ambassadors for the new Suvarnabhumi Airport at a competition hosted by the Airports of Thailand on September 14. The five winners will be offered one-year contracts to help promote the new airport.

With the opening of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport in two days', the question of why the name is pronounced differently from the way it is spelled has been raised with me repeatedly.
To answer this question, we need to change our focus from pronunciation, per se, to the Romanisation system for Thai words, which sometimes makes it difficult to know how to pronounce Thai names. We'll look specifically at the system set up by King Vajiravudh or King Rama VI.
As mentioned in the last lesson, Pali and Sanskrit influenced the development of the Thai language. This is also true of other languages spoken in this region, e.g., Burmese and Khmer. King Vajiravudh's system aims to differentiate Thai words from words borrowed from Pali and Sanskrit. Borrowed words are then transliterated with the original spelling of the source language, not the sounds as they are pronounced in the Thai way, so that the borrowed words can be recognized easily.
It's useful to understand King Rama VI's system because he bestowed about 6,500 family names to members of the royal families, military and government officers as well as commoners. All of the names are still in use and based on this system. Places and objects named by His Majesty the King also follow the same system.
There's no generalisation for pronouncing those words. Therefore, the simplest way to pronounce such words correctly is to get help from your Thai friends. One suggestion: the chances are about 75 percent that you should not pronounce the vowel at the end of a word.
For example, Vajrodaya is correctly pronounced Vajroday. Likewise, Isarankura is pronounced Isaranku[n]. Also, since Thai doesn't have a "v" sound, you'll have to change any "v" sound to a "w" sound. Therefore, an even more accurate pronunciation of Suvarnabhumi would be: "Su-war-na-bhuum"