By may
Today I think I am talking about tones and meanings. If you are foreigners living in Thailand, making the right tone might be something interesting for you.
When you think you hear “maa”, it might be the real “maa” which means “come” or it might be “máa” or “horse” or it could be “măa” or “dog”. Most of Thai words have meanings and some of them are pronounced in five different tones but might be heard the same by farang.
For example:
A: wan-nee-jeuh-tàeh-phôo-yĭng-suay-suay/วันนี้เจอแต่ผู้หญิงซวย ซวย (Today I met only damned women.)
B: wan-nee-jeuh-tàeh-phôo-yĭng-sŭay-sŭay/วันนี้เจอแต่ผู้หญิงสวย สวย (Today I met only beautiful women.)
A: wan-nee-suay-jing-jing/วันนี้ซวยจริง จริง (Today I really got bad luck.)
B: wan-nee-thóng-fáa-sŭay/วันนี้ท้องฟ้าสวย (Today the sky is beautiful.)
***suay (ซวย) means bad luck and suay is pronounced with the first tone
***sŭay (สวย ) means beautiful and sŭay is pronounced with the fifth tone
A: chăn-chôb-doo-khàw/ ฉันชอบดูข่าว (I like to watch news.)
B: chăn-yàag-gin-khâw-râad-gaehng/ ฉันอยากกินข้าวราดแกง (I want to eat rice and curry.)
C: chăn-chôb-chúd-sĕe-khăw/ ฉันชอบชุดสีขาว (I like white dresses.)
*** khàw (ข่าว ) , pronounced with the second tone, means news.
*** khâw (ข้าว ) , pronounced with the third tone, means rice.
*** khăw (ขาว ) , pronounced with the fifth tone, means white.
A: chăn-chôb-sa-làd-khài/ ฉันชอบสลัดไข่ (I like egg salad.)
B: chăn-kíd-wâa-chăn-bpen-khâi/ ฉันคิดว่าฉันเป็นไข้ (I think I have a fever.)
C: chăn-jam-dâi-wâa-chăn-khăi-gun-jaeh-pra-dtoo-láew/ ฉันจำได้ว่าฉันไขกุญแจประตูแล้ว (I remembered that I unlocked the door already.)
*** khài (ไข่ ) means eggs, we pronounce it with the second tone
*** khâi (ไข้ ) means fever, we pronounce it with the third tone
*** khăi (ไข ) means unlock, we pronounce it with the fifth tone
A: chăn-súh-dtúg-ga-dta-khŏn-sàt-tua-mài-maa/ ฉันซื้อตุ๊กตาขนสัตว์ตัวใหม่มา (I bought new stuffed animal.)
B: chăn-mâi-chôb-bpai-hăa-mŏh/ ฉันไม่ชอบไปหาหมอ (I don’t like to see the doctor.)
C: chăn-dâi-glìn-a-rai-mâi-ná/ ฉันได้กลิ่นอะไรไหม้นะ (I smelt something burning.)
D: Phâa-măi-thai-dâi-ráb-gaan-yóg-yông-nai-thăa-na-phâa-thoh-thêe-dee-thêe-sùd-nai-lôhg/ผ้าไหมไทยได้รับการยกย่องในฐานะผ้าทอที่ดีที่สุดในโลก (Thai silk is acclaimed as the finest fabric in the world.)
E: khun-chôb-aa-hăan-thai-măi/ คุณชอบอาหารไทยไหม (Do you like Thai food?)
*** mài (ใหม่ ) means new and is pronounced with the second tone.
*** mâi (ไม่ ) means no and is pronounced with the third tone.
*** mâi (ไหม้ ) means burn and is also pronounced with the third tone.
*** măi (ไหม) means silk and is pronounced with the fifth tone.
*** măi (ไหม) , also pronounced with the fifth tone, put at the end of the Yes/No question.
A: chăn-yàag-jà-bòhg-laa/ ฉันอยากจะบอกลา (I want to say goodbye.)
B: chăn-kíd-wâa-laa-nâa-rág/ ฉันคิดว่าลาน่ารัก (I think donkeys are lovely.)
C: khun-chôb-lâa-sàt-măi/ คุณชอบล่าสัตว์ไหม (Do you like to hunt?)
D: chăn-rúh-sèug-láa/ ฉันรู้สึกล้า (I feel tired.)
E: rao-khăay-phâa-măi-bpen-lăa/เราขายผ้าไหมเป็นหลา (We sell silk by the yard.)
*** laa (ลา) means goodbye, this word is pronounced with the first tone.
*** laa (ลา) this word is pronounced with the first tone also but means donkeys.
*** lâa (ล่า) means hunt, we pronounced it with the third tone.
*** láa (ล้า) , pronounced with the fourth tone, means tired.
*** lăa (หลา) means yard and is pronounced with the fifth tone.
As above, I hope you might see how it works.
Khru May Thai Teacher @ Thailanguagehut
Want to learn more Thai….then come to have a look at our Thai Language School
www.thailanguagehut.com
By Jang
Kam-Puăn is a style of playing with Thai words by swapping the vowels and final sounds of the first syllable with the last syllable. This will create a new word which might not have a meaning but the sounds of the word will rhyme with the original word. Kam-Puăn is practically used with 2 or 3 syllable-words because it is easier to swap the positions of vowels and final sounds.
Ø Kam-Puăn with 2 syllable-word can be done by swapping the vowel of the first syllable with the vowel of the second syllable by keeping the initial consonants in their own places.
Examples:
Original Kam-Puăn
Doern-nam เดินนำ à dam-noern ดำเนิน
Hĭw-kaâo หิวข้าว à haăo-kîw หาวขิ้ว
Kaăi-naâ ขายหน้า à kaâ-naăi ข้าหนาย
Mòd-dtua หมดตัว à mua-dtòd มัวตด
Glûm-jai กลุ้มใจ à glai-jûm ใกลจุ้ม
Ø Kam-Puăn with 3 syllable-word can be done by swapping the position of the second syllable with the third syllable by:
1. Replacing the vowel of the third syllable with the vowel of the second syllable
2. Replacing the vowel of the second syllable with the vowel of the third syllable
3. Replacing the final sound (final letter) of the third syllable with the final sound (final letter) of second syllable
4. Replacing the final sound (final letter) of the second syllable with the final sound (final letter) of the third syllable
5. Keep the first syllable in its own place. There is no need to change anything
Examples:
Original Kam-Puăn
สวัสดี (สะ-หวัด-ดี) sà-wàd-dee à สวีดัด (สะ-วี-ดัด) sà-wee-dàd
ข้าวเหนียวดำ kaaô-niăw-dam à ข้าวหนำเดียว kaaô-năm-diaw
ต้มยำกุ้ง dtôm-yam-gûng à ต้มยุงก้ำ dtôm-yung-gâm
มะม่วงเปรี้ยว má-muâng-bpriâw à มะเมี่ยวปร้วง má-miâw-bpruâng
**The other way of making ‘kam-puăn’ of the 3-syllable-word can be done by:
1. Replacing the vowel of the first syllable with the vowel of the third syllable
2. Replacing the vowel of the third syllable with the vowel of the first syllable
3. Replacing the final sound (final letter) of the first syllable with the final sound (final letter) of third syllable
4. Replacing the final sound (final letter) of the third syllable with the final sound (final letter) of the first syllable
5. Keep the second syllable in its own place, there is no need to change anything.
Examples:
Original Kam-Puăn
ไม่รักคุณ maî-rák-khun à มุ่นรักไค mûn-rák-khai
ไปโรงเรียน bpai-rong-rian à เปียนโรงไร bpian-rong-rai
ภาษาไทย paa-saă-thai à ไภยษาทา pai-saa-taa
บ้านผีสิง baân-peĕ-sĭng à บิ๋งผีส้าน bĭng-peĕ-saân
ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ guăy-dtiăw-ruer à เกื๋อเตี๋ยวรวย guĕr-dtiăw-ruay
This might sound complicated and difficult but once you know how to do it you will enjoy teasing Thai friends or your Thai teacher at your Thai Language School with Kam-Puăn.
Kru MulanJ
Want to learn more Thai….then come to have a look at our Thai Language School www.thailanguagehut.com
By may
At my Thai language school most of my Thai students from America and Europe almost said the same thing the first time they learned how to speak Thai. The students of Thai said they couldn’t tell the difference between gai (ไก่ or gài) means chicken and (ไข่ or khài) kai means egg and they said these two words sounded the same to them. Most problems come from pronunciation.
For example:
You pronounce ใกล้ or glâi(near) and ไกล or glai(far) with the same tone because you are not familiar with mark tones.
Or you pronounce ไม่ or mâi(no) and ไม้ or mái(wood) the same because you do not know that these two words have different meanings.
Or you pronounce ก ไก่(gor gài) ข ไข่(khŏrr khài) and ค ควาย(khorr kwaai) all the same because you think they are the same sound, such as “Who sells eggs? ใครขายไข่ไก่(krai-khăai-khài-gài?)”, “Enjoy talking about funny things. พูดขบขันกันครื้นเครง(phôod-khòhb-khăn-gan-kruén-kreng)”, etc.
Please remember that different tones make differences ….get it right or you will be misunderstood!
Khru May (Thai Language Teacher)
Want to learn more Thai Language …then come have a look at our Thai Language School www.thailanguagehut.com
