SPEAK THAI

Welcome to our speak thai page, here you will learn some basic thai words.

For centuries, the Thai language, rather than tripping from the foreigners' tongues, has been tripping them up. Its roots go back to the place Thais originated from, in the hills of southern Asia but overlaid by Indian influences. From the original settlers come the five tones which seem destined to frustrate visitors, one sound with five different tones to mean five different things

Five tones:

• Rising /
• Falling
• \ Flat
• ___ High '
• Low _

When you mispronounce, not only are you saying the word incorrectly, chances are you're saying another word entirely. It is not unusual to see a semi-fluent foreigner standing before a Thai running through the scales of tones until suddenly a light of recognition dawns on his companion's face.

There are misinformed visitors who will tell you that tones are not important. These people do not communicate with Thais, they communicate at them in a one sided exchange that frustrates both parties

From the languages of India have come polysyllabic names and words, the lexicon of literature. Thai names are amongst the longest in the world. Every Thai first name and surname has a meaning. Thus by learning the meaning of the name of everyone you meet, you would acquire a formal, but quite extensive vocabulary.

There is no universal translation system from Thai into English, which is why names and street names can be spelled three different ways. For example, the surname Chumsai is written Chumsai, Jumsai, and xoomsai depending on the family. This confuses even the Thais. If you ask a Thai how you spell something, he may well reply "how do you want to spell it?" Likewise, Bangkok's thoroughfare of Ratchadamern is also spelled Rajdamnern and Ratchadamnoen. Ko Samui can be spelled Koh Samui. The spellings will differ from map to map and book to book.

Consonants

The way the Thai consonants are written in English often confuses foreigners. An "h" following a letter like "p", and "t" gives the letter a soft sound; without the"h" the sound is more explosive. Thus "ph" is not pronounced "f" but as a soft "p". Without the "h" , the "p" has the sound of a very hard "b".

The word Thanon (street) is pronounced "tanon" in the same way as "Thailand" is not meant to sound like "Thighland". Similarly, final letters are ofen not pronounced as they look. A "j" on the end of a word is is pronounced "t"; "I" is pronounced as an "n". To complicate matters further, many words end with "se" or "r" which are not pronounced; for instance Suriwongse, one of Bangkok's main thoroughfares, is simply pronounced "Suriwong".

Vowels

Vowels are pronounced like this:

'a' like the 'u' in cup

'aw' like the 'aw' in law

'ee' like the 'ee' in feet

'ue' like the 'ui' in French

'aa' like the 'a' in spa

'e' like the 'e' in set

'o' like the 'oa' in board

'ai' like the 'i' in fight

'ae' like the 'a' in man

'eh' like the 'ea' in bear

'u' like the 'u' in put

'i' like the 'i' in fit

'oo' like the 'oo' in food

'dt' is a consonant and is somewhere between a 'd' and a 't'

In Thai the pronoun "I" and "me" use the same word but it is different for males and females.

Men use the word phom when referring to themselves; women say chan or dichan. Men use Khrap at the end of a sentence when addressing either a male or a female i.e. "Pai nai, Khrap" (Where are you going? Sir). Women add the word Kha to their statements as in "Pai nai, Kha". To ask a question, add a high tone mai to the end of a phrase i.e "Rao pai" (we go) or "Rao pai mai" (shall we go?). To negate a statement, insert a falling tone between the subject and the verb i.e "Rao pai" (we go), "Rao mai pai" (we don't go). "Very" or "much" are indicated by adding maak to the end of a phrase i.e ron (hot), ron maak (very hot).

It is difficult to learn to speak a language through reading, especially one such as Thai. It is therefore recommended that you try www.learningthai.com and listen then repeat the spoken examples.