—— INTRODUCTION — About Thal ‘Thai Is the national language of Thailand and is spoken by approximately fifty million people in that country, Lao, spoken in next-door Laos, is very closely related to Thai (although most Thais from Bangkok would have considerable difficulty understanding it), but the other neighbouring languages, Burmese, Cambodian and Malay, are completely different. Distinet dialects of Thai are spoken in the north, northeast and south of the country, but it 1s the language of the Central Region and Bangkok which is used throughout the country as the medium for education and mass media and which is taught in this course. ‘Thai is @ tonal language. In tonal languages the meaning of @ syllable is determined by the piteh at which it is pronounced. kao, for example, means news when pronounced with a low tone, white with a rising tone and rice with @ failing tone, If tones make pronunciation in Thai seem more complex than in more familiar European languages, the learner will probably find Thai grammar considerably easier to absorb, for there are none of the complex verb tenses and noun endings which seem to dominate many people's experience of language-learning. ‘Thai is written in its own alphabetic seript which has developed from a script originally found in India. It is written across the page from left to right, with certain vowels appearing above the line of writing and others appearing below.mar There are no spaces between words and spaces only occur as a form of punctuation, similar to commas and full stops. About the book This book is intended for the complete beginner. It aims to equip the learner with the necessary vocabulary and grammar to cope with the day-to-day situations a foreigner is likely to encounter in Thailand. A further important aim of the course is to provide a solid introduction to the Thai writing system so that the learner will have the means to extend bis or her knowledge of the language beyond this course. Each unit is built around a dialogue (bdt sén-ta-nah), marked. (ZI This is followed by a brief cultural background note entitled pab-sdh Idir sdng-kom which draws out aspects of the linguistic or soclal context of the dialogue. Key phrases and expressions (siim-noo-un)_are highlighted, while the full vocabulary Usta, marked MJ and explanatory language notes (kum, at-{- hai), marked [J will enable you to understand the conversations ‘without too much difficulty. A variety of practice exercises (bairp feuk hit), marked (WJ, reinforce the material covered in the dialogue, and the Key at the end of the book allows you to keep track of your progress, A considerable part of each unit is devoted to reading and writing Thai. The script 1s presented in manageable chunks in Abn Iéir kée-un (Reading and writing) and tested in the reading exercises (bairp feuk Ahn). The later unite include an additional reading passage (bot Abu). A cassette has been produced to accompany this course. You are strongly advised to purchase this to gain a clear idea of how ‘Thai should sound. How to use the book Individuals will have their own preferred way of working through the course, if you have the cassette, you might like to start each unit by listening to the dialogue on tape a number of times with your book closed, simply to get your ear attuned to the INTRODUCTION language. Alternatively, you may prefer to work out what the dinlogue means before you consider listening to it. It does not really matter what approach you adopt as long as you are happy with it and you are prepared to follow tt regularly. Whatever approach you adopt however, you are ultimately faced with the task of memorising and accurately reproducing unfamiliar combinations of sounds. It is probably best to memorise words in meaningful phrases rather than in isolation and your pronunclation and intonation will obviously be greatly aided if you have the cassette to use as a model. Frequent review of earlier lessons and exercises is essential if the language in them Is to become almost second nature. People learning a language whieh 1s written in an unfamiliar seript will often say, ‘I only want to learn to speak it, I'm uot bothered about writing.’ They usually imagine that learning 1 new script will be extremely diffoult and time-consuming, and that they will be able to steam ahead rauch more quickly if they just concentrate on the spoken language. You can, if you choose, work through this book in that fashion, simply ignoring the sections on script. But if you do, you won't be getting your money's worth from the course and you'll be adopting a short-sighted and self-limiting view. Just think how ridiculous you would think it if a Thal told you he was studying English conversation from this dialogue because he couldn't read western seript. A nauefis tuuudscaty B nauofis Sminofroda monfynin? + (When you have reached Unit 11 you will see how silly itis!) ‘The familiar Thal script would encourage him to pronounce these English words with a Thai accent and he certainly wouldn't be able to get English speakers to write down new words for him if he was trying to expand his vocabulary; in short, he would never progress beyond the one or two books where English {s written phonetically in Thai letters, You may not intend to write letters in Thal nor read newspapers and novels; but if you want to build upon whet you ean learn from book such as this, becoming literate {n Thal {s an absolute must!Ha ‘Now that you have decided that you do want to learn to read ‘Thai, here is the good news. The Thai script is presented in this course in such a way as to persuade you that it is neither xtremely difficult nor time-consumi d that even if you re one of the least gifted language learners, you can, with regular practice, learn to read and write Thai. All it really Fequires is the patience to copy out letters, words and then phrases a sufficient number of times until it becomes almost second nature. Eventually, copying out whole passages will improve not only your reading and writing skills but will also reinforce everything else you have learned about the language, including pronunciation and grammar. Keep going back 0 earlier lessons, because by reading material that is familia you will begin to read more quickly and develop the ability to recognise words instantly without having to laboriously identify individual letters each time. Remember that when learning a foreign language, ‘a little and often’ is much more effective than long but infrequent sessions. Ten to fifteen minutes every day is far more productive than one long session once a week. Romanisation of Thal For westerners learning the language it is convenient to use romanised Thai at the beginning, but it must be stressed that this is no more than a learning aid. It is not an acceptable alternative to the Thai script and most Thais would not be able to read Thai written in romanised form. There are a number of different systems of romanising Thai, each with their advantages and disadvantages. As with all systems, the one used in this book can offer only an approximate representation of the Thai sound. The most effective strategy is to learn pronunciations from the tape and to memorise Thai script spellings rather than romanised spellings. You should treat the Tomanisation system simply as a crutch and aim to discard it as quickly as possible. ——PRONUNCIATION— ‘There are a few sounds in Thai that do not exist in English and which can cause some problems. But generally speaking, the vast majority of Thal sounds have a reasonably close equivalent in English. Consonants At the beginning of a word, consonants are generally pronounced as in English, A few sounds, however, need further clarification: us in get (not gin) ng A single sound which we are familiar with in English at the end of words like wrong and song but which also occurs at the beginning of words in Th ngaha gt ngakm ngoo bp A single sound which is somewhere between a b sound and a sound in English. Many learners find it hard to both produce this sound accurately and to distinguish it from b. Don't be discouraged if you do have problems; you will probably find that over a period of time you will gradually master it. pat bpen poo bptao dt A single sound which is somewhere between a d sound and a find It difficult to {sound in English, Again, many learnshort-tived. dtatr anit dtorn dtrong, At the end of a word the sounds k, p, and ¢ are not ‘released’. An example of an ‘unreleased! ¢ in English is the final letter in rat when rat trap is said quickly. At first you may feel that words ending in k, p, t all sound the same, but within a very short time you will find that you can hear a distinct difference. pak babp babe vyahk yiht vyahp Many Thais have difficulty pronouncing an r sound and will substitute an l sound instead. Thos, a-ral? (what?) becomes a-lai? In words that begin with two consonants, you mig! ‘algo hear some Thais omit the second consonant sound, Kral? (who?) becomes kai? and bplah (fish) becomes bpab. An even more bewildering change is when kw at the beginning of a word becomes f, so that kwah (right) is pronounced fila! Vowels Most Thai vowels have near equivalents in English. In the romanisation system used in this book, vowels are pronounce’ as follows: asin ago . e asin pen F asin bit ° w asin cot asin fan ah agin father al asin Thai afrasin fair 40 asin Lao ay asin may 0 asin feo er asin number ewas in fow 00 agin book PRONUNCIATION 00 ps in book 00 as in food oy us in boy Other sounds, however, have no near equivalent in English, and you need to listen to the cassette to gain a proper idea of how they should be pronounced: eo meu keo owe miu wena alr-o lire tair-o er-ee ler-ee ner-ee © Tones ‘There are five tones in Thal: mid tone, low tone, high tone, rising tone and falling tone, These are represented in the romanisation system by the following accents: mid tone (no mark), low tone (*), high tone (“), rising fone ( ) and falling tone (*), To help attune your ears to the sound of the different tones, the cassette begins with a Thai speaker saying the following words, Don't worry about meaning at this stage - simply concentrate on listening? midtone: = kOOn—skral = mah_—bpai pairng mee —dairng pen lowtone; jahk = bpairt slp abt yai fort Gok ntung high tome; «maiko. Lt lek 160 rot nghm pike rising tone: sdo-ay pom = sorng— kar sbe-n ‘kérng nal dée-o fallingtone: mAi chi date. gio m&hk chérp — pot 1( is obviously important to be able to both hear and reproduce tones correctly if you are going to make yourself understood. Wut don't let a fear of getting a tone wrong inhibit you frommaa practising. Surprisingly, wrong tones are seldom the cause of misunderstandings and communication breakdowns. indeed, many non-Thais operate confidently and effectively in the language with far from perfect accuracy in their tones. 1 kOOn chéu a-rai? What's your name? qmBooels In this unit you will learn «how to state your name, nationality and occupation how to ask someone else for the same information how to ask for confirmation the most frequently occurring consonants and six vowel symbols numbers 1-10 to read some simple words and sentences © — bétsdn-ta-nah unaunw (Dialogue) — nding some time working at his company's Bangkok he first person he meets at the office ts Malee. Peter i braneh. [El Matee — sa-wat dee ka. Nindies 00m chéu a-ral ka? gofeeton Peter chéu Peter krip. io Theo’ niu Malee — bpen kon a-may-ri-gun, chai mai? ‘Dunnoutiulatnn Peter mai chai krdp. lldniy unudonqeaiu bpen kon ung-grit krip.| Thar ‘mah jahk Manchester. anvinuuuteiney kér-tont krip, valnuniy X00n chéu a-rai krip? qnifosr lei good maming /afternoon/ aA evening | hello; gooabye (see pa-sah télr siing-kom) fir, Ais, ATU you on first name - q tohave the frst name. what? tobe ‘person ‘American isn't that so? ro (to... chill mat? questions) English tocome tom WHAT’ YOUR NAME? Malee — nahm sa-g00n Green ka. Official bpen kon chdht a-rai krip? Male bpen kon ung-grit ka. dwaudanquri: Official kon unggrit, chai mai? evdengulilay Malee — ehdi ka, ‘sel wruana nity fiz Aduewmnfie: tani Official tum-ngahn a-rai? sewers Male bpen ndk tO0-ré-git ka, dhutingafiviz tum ngahn gipbor-risit AIG. thswivuisn ie ta 4 Kao ‘he; she; they: m nahm eagOOn —sumame: wens to have the surnames. chant ration ne ‘tum-ngahn to work yan nak tOQ-régit businessman sings op wth fy vite lS Comprehension ‘What nationality does Malee assume Peter is? 1 Malee has taken Peter down tothe Labour Departmenttosortout his 2 What is Peter's real nationality and where does he come from? work permit. An official is asking her for the information he needs + What is Peter’s occupation? toll in his form, 4 Who are his employers? TD oficial kao chéu o-rat krap? wnfoorliniy Malee chéu Peter ka. do tant ¢z Oftelal_nahm sa-g00n a sruaests —0— -u- aHA — pah-sah lair sting-kom miwuasdoaa — (Language and culture) First names are used in both formal and informal eituations in Thailand. Thais, both male and female, should normally be ad- dressed by thelr rstname preceded by thetitle kOOn (fo)-uaually spelt Khun In romanised letters. Thus, Mrs. Patcharee Salbua, Mr. Sompong Tongkum and Miss Araya Jaroenwong should be ad- dressed as Khun Patcharee, Khun Sompong and Khun Araya respectively. Thais dealing with westerners in a formal professional context witloRenprefertowsoktun withthe westerners Charles Phillips being addressed as Khun Phillips rather than Khun Charl Surnames have only come into goneral usage in ‘Thailand within the last hundred years and their usage is restricted to written documents. sim-noo-un dwn {Key phrases and expressions) BD row to: © greet someone witt dee kritp (male speaking) sintiniu ‘at dee kA (female speaking) wiedds somebody's name and say your own k0On chéu s-ral? anions pém (dee-chéin) chéu.. nu (@diu) do ... ‘© ask somebody's surname and say your own On nahm sa-g00n a-ral? qrawuanae:ts pém (dee-chén) nahm s0-g00n ... cau (au) WIAA... —2— WHAT'S YOUR NAME? ‘¢ ask somebody's nationality and state your own 00n bpen kon chaht a-rai? qnailweusfiesls pdm (dee-chiin) bpen kon ung-grit nu (@du) Guan fonqy «ask somebody's occupation and state your own On tum ngahn a-ral? qavhnworls pdm (dee-chin) bpen ... wu (Adu) lw... pom (dee-chin) tum ngahn giip ... sa (@du) vt. kum ut-t-bal gradu (Language notes) 1 se-witt dee kripka sindesu/a: ‘This is a general greeting which can be used regardless of the time ‘of day. In informal spoken Thai it is often abbreviated to ‘wat dee. ‘The expression is also used when saying goodbye. 2 krip, ka, ka @Fu dz az ‘Thoee are a number of words in Thai which are extremely difficult totranslateinto English. Among these are the ‘polite particles’ krdp, kaand kd, which are added to the end of statements and questions to make the speaker's words sound more polite. Male speakers use krup at the end of both statements and questions, while females use kaattheend of statements and ké after questions. Itis not necessary to use these particles after every sentence it a conversation, al- though for the western learner it Is probably best to risk sounding too polite; to get # real ‘feel’ for using particles, however, it is necessary to interact with Thais. Wwma 3 Pronouns ‘There are many more pronouns in Thai than in English; the correct choice will depend on such factors as the relative status and degree of intimacy between speakers. For the western learner, however, It is quite possible to use Thai effectively with a limited number of Pronouns, the most common of which are: i(male) Xlemale) ‘you (sing. and plur) he, she, they Unlike western languages, the word for / varles according to the gender of the speaker; of the two female forms, chin is the less formal, However, Thais frequently omit pronouns altogether when itixclene from the context who is speaking, being addressed or being referred to. ln many of the examples in this course, you will find that (he pronoun has been omnitted in Thal to make itsound more natural and that an arbitrary choice of pronoun has been included in the Ynglish translation: ehéu arai? chdu Peter. What's your name? His name is Peter. ‘The first example could just as correctly have been translated as What's his/her name? and the second as My name is Peter. If you study the conversation, you will notlce that bpen ken ung-grit in the first dialogue means I'm English and in the second, He's English. 4 .. chal mai? ... dla questions ‘The words ... chal mai? can be tagged on to the end of a statement to, transform it into a question, rather like ... ian’t it, .. don't they?, ete, in English. It is @ very useful question form for checking that you —4— WHAT'S YOUR NAME? have heard or understood correctly what has just been said, for example, when you are told somebody's name... chal mai? questions are answered either chai (It!) yes or mat chal (Lalla) no. chéu Peter, chai mai? His name is Peter, isn’t it? = chal - Yes bpen kon a-may-ri-gun, ch&i méi? He's American, ian’t he? ~ mit chal = No. 5 ‘What?’ questions ‘The Thai word for what? isa-ral (ozs), Itnormally occursattheend of @ sentence: kéo chéu What's his name? do nahm sa-g00n a- What's his surname? kkéo bpen kon chant What nationality is he? ko tum ngahn a-ral? What (job) does he do? ‘To answer such questions, substitute s-rat with the appropriate word; an exception is the question kdo tum ngaha a-ral? to which the normal response is khe bpen ... (He isa...) followed by the name of the oceupation: kfo chéu a-rai? ~~ ko chau Som-chai kéo bpen kon chaht a-ral? ~ ko bpen kon tai but ‘ko tum ngahn -ral? ~ ko bpen mor His name ia Somchai. He is Thai. Hes ¢ doctor. — balrp fauk hit uuuflnvia (Exercises) — 1 Answer the following questions. (@ Kho chéu a-rai? (®) ko nahm sa-g0On a-ral?(© kdo chéu a-ral? ko bpen kon chant a-ral? () ho tum ngahn ghp bor-ri-sit AIG, chal mai? We How would you answer if'a Thai asked you these questions? () kOOn chéu a-rai? — 16 — Wmar’s YOUR NAME? 3. Applying fora visa a visa to study in England. Match the questions she w when she went tothe British Embassy with the answers she gave. Questions Answers (@ bpen kon tal, chai mai? (i) nahm sa-g00n BOOn-dee. () tum-ngahn a-ral? (ii). chai ke. (© nabm 58-001 (iii) dee-chin cheu Chim-ta-nah ka (@ k0On chéu e-rai? (iv) bpen ndk-sduk-sih kA. 4 How would you introduce these people? a) o © @ ame: Somehal John Makoto Paula surname: Torngkum Stevens Iwasaki Besson nationality: Thal American Japanese French hometown: Chiangmai Florida Tokyo Paris ‘oceupation: doctor student businessman teacher Rample: kéo chéu Sém-chai nahm s2-g00n torng-kum, bpen kon tai mah jahk chee-ung-mai bpen mar Here are some of the words you will need: French fu-rimg:-sayt Japanese —_yée-bpOOn ‘loctor = mér teacher abrjahn How would you ask the following questions? (a) Excuse me, what’s your name? tb) His name is Somehai isn't it? —7—i —— abn lair kée-un sovuaciian (© What is his surname? ‘the? er, isn’t he? (Reading and writing) 1 Consonants ‘Consonants in Thai are divided into three groups or ‘classes’ called low class, mid class and high class, It is important to remember which class a consonant belongs to as the class of the initial conso- nant in a word will partly determine the tone of that word. The consonants in this unit are all low class consonants. ‘Thal consonants are all pronounced with an inherent ‘-or’ sound; thus we can say at the end of this unit that we know the letters ‘ner’, ‘mor’, ‘ngor’, ‘ror’ and so on. Each Thai consonant also has a ‘name’ ‘nor’ is known as nor noo (nde means mouse) and then there is mor mah (nh means horse), ngor mgoo (agoo means enake) and 0 on. ‘When Thais learn their alphabet at school, they always learn the ‘name of the letter but it Is not necessary for the foreigner to know these names in order to be able to read. Look carefully at the letters below. They are all written with a single stroke starting from the inside of the loop and moving outwards. oy 4 4 7 a v a a ng r 1 y w —%8- WHAT $ YOUR NAME? Inletters where there aretwo loops, the starting point is the top loop on the left hand side. Copy each letter a number of times until you can reproduce it accurately and naturally; say the name ofthe letter (eg, mor) each time you write it to help you memorise it, 2 Vowels Vowels are classified as elther ‘long’ or ‘short’. In English, an example ofa short vowel sound ia the in bin, while the vowel sound in seen (s long, As each vowel symbol is introduced you will need to remember whether it is a long or short vowel, as vowel length plays a part in determining the tone of a word. ‘The vowel symbols in this unit, with the exception of -u-,are written aller a consonant symbol, the dash representing the position of a consonant, In subsequent units, however, you will see that certain vowel symbole are written above the consonant, others below and some in front, a a oe 0 m ah “um ou or “a0 dong) Ghort+'m’) (shor) (long) Gong) (long) 3 Words Mere are some simple words combining the consonants and vowels vou have met in this unit. If you have the cassette that accompanies ‘he course aten to them on cassette and then copy out each word a fow times. The first two words occurred in the dialogue at the hexinaing of the unit , Go back to this section and see if you can ‘lentily them in the Thai script. —19—ar an am we ww an mab ngahn = nahn nai leo to come work along time Mr Lao a iu eT) wou num mun ror yorm tolead it to wait to agree 4 Numbers BH Although Arabie numerals are widely used in Thailand itis useful to be familiar with the Thai system of writing the numbers 1-10. ‘These numbers are, incidentally, written the same way In the Lao and Cambodian scripts. WHAT’ 8 YOUR NAME? ——— balrp féukahn awuuflndw (Reading exercises) 1 Howmanytetters can you identify in this sample of Thai? Puta faint pencil stroke through every tetter you can recognise, amamedruylsusonniunoudyaltinlytdmn Troan: Abinnuenudinelidundos neudteutannndonts Wuundubnodionds Guneeludasnatmnaniunne sosnafhuflosdusonmusceuyanmndenqevulaiduion, ann Perhaps tearning to read Thal isn't quite as daunting as you ‘thought! You probably found, however, that it required quite an effort of concentration to scan through these few lines. As you become more accustomed to the Thal script, you will flnd that you can pick out letters and words quickly and effortlessly. 2 Read the words in the table several times until you can read both rows and columns quickly and accurately. When you can do this, pick words at random and see how quickly you can read them. As a further test, listen to the exercise on cassette and write down the words as dictation. Don't worry about what the words mean at this stage. Pa) ani ww cary i ah n 0 wou nu wu no and om ™m towTal ‘3. In Thai writing there are no spaces between words. Spaces are used rather for punctuation purposes and tend to occur where there would be a full stop or comma in English. For the western learner, this means that there is the added complication of having to recognise where one word ends and another begins. In fact this ts not nearly such a formidable task as It may at first seem. Try to work out where one word ends and the next begins in the sentences below. If it helps, draw a faint pencil line to indicate the boundary. Note that all of the vowel symbols in the sentences must occur after a consonant; they cannot occur asthe Airst letter of a word. You can cheek your answers in the Key. enuany anew wuRw nui 4 How would you dial these Bangkok telephone number: @ leab-cado ®) ddo-ciade ©) bed-cade @ vwa-wocd © acle-ddcd Whar § YOUR NAME? Learning a new script You ean only learn to read and write Thai by regular practice. Ten to fifteen minutes practice every day is much more effective than one hour twice a week, and as long as you stick to daily practice you should find that you make rapid progress. You might, for example, try some of the following ‘learning strategies’: copy each letter and ‘each word a dozen or so times until you can write it quickly and accurately; look at the dialogues in Thai seript and see how many letters, and how many parts of words you can recognise; and get into the habit of doodting in Thai so as to improve your handwriting, or making up sentences with the Thai words you can spell.NOW MUCH is THIS? mai palrng, une ado-ny nd. mou “ } se thi Sue abe dairng mee mal? Gunsilny — née tao-rai kA? How much is this? — Vendor mee kd tne au " ~ furinlaaz séedaimagsSoay minkndkk. — funsmuannncns See —_hok-alp baht mA di lér ka? wn@uunlllawton: Vendor jet-alp baht g6r Iélr-o gun. Giefuunniudain ‘mal paimng né. ‘Wunaus, Sue ob kay. Town tbl long Jet-sip bat, aneaaiuuin In this unit you will learn me t . © how to negotiate a discount ‘how much? whts © how tofind out the names of things eighty waty ‘© some more numbers: 20, 30, 40. 100 |e the main mid class consonants ‘baht (unit of currency) wn ¢ some new vowels (question word) vio \ ‘expensive uw o bét sén-ta-nah unawny? iti 00 w Wuwlou i sixty i! Peter's wife, Sue is admiring the shirts at one of the pavement stalls can | along Sukhumwit Road in central Bangkok. a can you...? \|, || MR) Sue née tho-rai ka? dhrntinz not | Vendor bpairt-sip baht ka, ulaauurnez ‘can't; no (in... dM mA? questions) Sue _bpairt-sip baht lér ka? uvemuunvion: beautiful, preity mu | pairng bpai ndy. uwdhiwsles (600 kum i4-bai 10) uw iI hok-sip baht di mai? anauvinlllan red funa Vendor mii dBi ka. ‘WildesMe HOW MUCH 1S THiS? have (question word) very, much seventy 1H sate tor OK, Peter, meanwhile, has gone to a market, where he spate some unfamiliar fruits. Peter néea dostsniy Vendor néy-nah ka. stouwnrels: Peter a-raing kraip? artery ‘Vendor rée-uk wah ndy-nah ka, Guninioumine: Peter néy-nah, chai méi? Mountain Vendor chal ka. Vise: a-roy nd. wiihn, ojopus WIN Jorng chim mai? sastulyy se @erby mal? .. efeulwe Peter a-rby krip. Loh la tdo-ral? otounty Taasirils Vendor oh le sde-sip babt kd, Tnacftauurneis Peter I6t ndy, dt mai krp, anvnioulalnaniy Vendor sée-slp mAi pairng ka. Fev lauwsrie kit sdeng loh jat-sip-hah fnnoslintusy gor léir-o gun, fudorin Peter krip... niu. Idir-o gléo-ay wée Ia tdo-rai? udondauwiaciriats Vendor wée la yte-sip ka. wineliure néy-nih custard epple oom eraind? pardon? orks rhe-uk wat . (it’s) called... Gunn ... ery to be tasty ejeu win to be sweet wm forng chim to taste; try out asda toh ito Ta Toh In thoi? how much a kilo? Tanzivinty et fo reduce an nay abit vilou kt (o think; charge fia gido-ay banana ni woot... per bunch wint ... Comprehension What colour shirt does Sue want? How much does the vendor ask? What price do they finally agree on? Does Peter like the custard apple he tries? How many kilos does he buy and how much does he pay? ‘How much are the bananas? ~ pah-sah ldir sting-kom mwuartean = — Most financial transactions in Thailand, whether shopping. booking hotel rooms or taking a taxi, have traditionaliy been open to bargaining, While there are now areas of Bangkok life where this practice has disappeared (e.g. fixed prices in de- a7mal partment stores, the recently introduced meter-taxia) the ability to haggle politely over prices is a must for the foreigner in Thailand. The best thing to do Is to try to get some idea in advance of a reasonable price for the goods or services you are trying to purchase so that your bargaining showa some credibility: to assume that all prices have been marked up by a certain percentage is too simplistic. Above all else, the bargaining should be carried out in « relaxed and easy-golng manner; a smile and a sense of humour are far more likely to secure 48 satisfactory deal than an angry and aggressive approach. ‘The best place to practise bargaining Is in the markets, Even in central Bangkok there are still traditional-style markets selling fresh foodstuffs, household goods and cheap toiletries. If you want to watch Thais haggling over the prices, the best time to go is early in the morning, at about 7 a.m. By mid-morning, when things have quietened down, it is worth returning to practise your own language skills. Like Peter, in the second dialogue, you can ask what unfamiliar (and familiar) fruits are called in Thal (née acral? or née rée-uk wih a-ral?), ask the vendor to repeat what she sald (a-rai n47), confirm that you have heard it correctly (rée-uk wah, ~« Chil mi?), ask her the price of her produce and try to knock the price down a little. If you have the three different vendors, you will find days it becomes second nature. Bangkok's largest market Is at Chatuchak Park opposite the northern bus terminal, Once a weekend market, it is now open every day. The vast range of goods on sale includes plants, pets, books, tapes, clothes, material, furniture, antiques, electrical goods — in fact, just about everything. stim-noo-un dw Wtowto: © ask the price of something ne tho-ral? dlrs HOW MUCH IS THIS? ‘© say that something is too expensive pairng bpai noy uwshivsian © suggest a price jet-alp baht dai maiz Gnauuinlitna © ask fora discount 16t mdy dt mai? semioulalny ¢ ask what something is called 1 née a-ral? doz nde réo-uk wah a: durhosls ‘¢ ask how much something costs per kilo Xloh la téo-rai? xTsasiiils kum it-t-bal #aafu7w 1 ‘How much?’ questions ‘The Thai word for how much? is the-rAi? (i7in11). It always occurs at the end of a sentence: nde tao-rai? How much is that? séu (buy) tho-rhi? How much did you buy it for? s6u r6t (car) tdo-rai? How much did you buy the car for? 2 Numbers tn the first unit you learned the numbers 1-10. This unit adds the multiples of ten up to 100. These are formed in a regular way with the exception of twenty. yée-sip sthm-sip tuenty wo thirty m0may Sorty see-sip «o Sity hahsip fo rity hokeslp bo seventy itsip oo eighty bpairtaip do ninety sto-slp fo one hundred = (ndung) roy 00 3 ..16t? ¥4o ‘This is another question word, similar in use to... chai mA? in that it ts seeking confirmation. It is rather like the English .., eh? Notice that in the conversation, Sue makes a second - and rather half-hearted - attempt to knock the price down to sixty using ... ml dal lér? which might be transtated as Youcan't..., then? baht, You will often hear lér? as a single word response to a statement; in such situations It can be translated as Really? 4 Adjectives as verbs Adjectives in Thai occur after the noun. They do not require the verb is/are In front of them; a word like palrng can be thought of as meaning both expensive and to be expensive, or even it is expensive. séu-a a60-ny A beautiful shirt / The shirt is beautiful. gldo-ay a-roy A tasty banana / The banana is tasty. 5 Negative sentences The negative ts formed by adding the word mit (%si) in front of the main verb or adjective: mai paimng 1's not expensive.* mai sdo-ay 18 not beautiful ‘mAii bpal (go) T'm not going. — 30 — HOW MUCH 1S THIS? + temember that the pronoun (1, you, he, she, we, you, they, it) is. aiien omitted in Thai when it is clear what is being referred to. vhis is, especially so in the case of the Thai word for it, (ia) which Thais avoid in formal speech because it is noymirited as impolite. 6 dai Ww ‘rhe most common meaning of the verb dal is can. It occurs after tise natn verbs pon bpai dai Tean go. (J-go-ean) kao paot tal dai He can speak That, (He-rpeak-Thai-can) In uewative sentences, the word mAl occurs immediately before dai: wom bpai mal dai—Tean't go. kaw poot tal mAi dai He can’t speak Thai. “phe question formula... dal mdi? (... Wilva) can you she /1 ete. ..? ikewnse comes at the end of a sentence: yom bpai d&i mai? Can I go? -gocan-question word) kon poot tai dai mal? Con he speak Thai? (He-speak-Thai-can- question word) 7 Colours Phe word sée (#) is both a noun - colour - and a verb, to be the vento: 9, se 48 normally used in front of the specific colour wort] when describing the colour of something. see acai? What colour is it? sve dlaieng. (Ihisited, seu asco eral? What colour is the shirt? seu aséedaieng mee méi? Do you have a ted shirt? Vu: most commen colour words are: oe dairng red funy C0 green fiua see Leung yellow finfios aséomimngern blue thiu sée dum Black séondmdtahn brown time ade ko white in 8 ...m&l? ..tuw questions ‘You have already met the question forms... chil msl? (ien't that 30?) and... di mai? (can you...?). The question word mal can also be used on its own to make simple questions: s6o-ay mal? Init pretty? néy-nah a-roy mal? In the custard apple tasty? aldo-ay pairng mal? Are bananas expensive? Ifyou want to say yer to a ... mAl? question you simply repeat the main verb in the question: ‘sGo-ay mai? Init pretty? = ado-ay ea. palrng mai? Isit expensive? ~ pairng - Yes. To say no, use the negative word ml in front of the verb. pairng mai? Init expensive? = mal pairng ~ No. acroy mal? Is it tasty? mai a-roy - No. Be careful not to confuse the question word .., mai? (... ww), pronounced with a high tone, and negative mal (lil) pronounced with a falling tone! 9 Word order Normal word order in Thal is subject + verb + object. Notice how Sue puts sée dairng at the beginning of the sentence when she is, ing if the vendor has any red T-shirts. This strategy of putting the topic at the beginning of the sentence is very common in Thai. It would also have been perfectly correct for her to have said mee se dairng mnél? 2 — HOW MUCH IS THIS? 7o nd we you sil bear Thals use the word ma very frequently, There is no single adequate: Engilsh translation but it means something like ight’ OK? oF .. you know, It is the kind of word that you will ota feel for by listening to Thais. 11 loh la tho-ral? Taseitily la (az) cane translated as per. Notice that the word order in Thal isquite different from English when asking and stating the price of oy nah Toh a tho-rai?” custard apple kilo per how much? sim Tob a ste-sip baht orange kilo per forty baht not all fruits are bought by the kilo. Bananas are bought (ma-la-gor), pineapples (stp-bpa-rét) and mangoes vung) are bought individually. When asking about the ot these, substitute the word loh with wée (which literally 1s comb) for bananas and bai for individual fruit. slow ay wee la tho-rai? How much are bananas per bunch? ima li tor bal la to-rai?- How much are papayas per fruit? balrp féuk hut uuuélnvia 1 How well can you bargain? Imagine that you have been quoted the trices below. Say that it isa little too expensive and suggest 31 price twenty baht cheaper, The first one has been done for you. sip baht img bpai ndy kriip/ka jot sip baht dai mai?Ml Ta ‘HOW MUCH IS THIS? () jat-stp baht on the dialogue. Peter is trying to find out the Thai (© ‘aieesip bane 4 Complete tengo This is what the vendor sald to him, But (@ see-sip baht hie. question ! (© hahslp baht what were Ris a | 2 How would you say: (@) How much is this? (®) That's a bit expensive. (©) Can you lower the price a little? (@) How about fifty baht? |) | (@) The red (one) isn't pretty. | (f Doyou have green? 8 How would you ask the price of the different kinds of fruit below? ——— Abn iéirkée-un éwuardiow = ——— 1 Consonants In the first unit you learned the most common low class consonants, / < ~ oO In this unit you meet the main mid class consonants, AToa RU: Bs # j a dt bp C00"? i (@) sdpdparst @) sdm (©) gldoay (d) mala-gor ‘hi () maméo-ung (f) dtairng-moh @ néy-nah2 ‘Zero’ consonant Notice that the final symbol of this group is identical in appearance to the vowel -or you learned in the first lesson. When the symbol occurs at the beginning of a word, however, it is a consonant, which we can call ‘zero consonant’ because it has no sound of its own. It is used when writing words which begin with a vowel sound, ahng 019 ao AT] um 81 ai ow ©: 3 Vowels 1) Fae ¥, &, Te: a a vai ai -oh ai ee 00 00 (short) (short) (long) (short) (long) (short) (long) ‘The first three vowels are written in front of the consonant, even. though the consonant is pronounced first. Although the first two vowels are pronounced exactly the same, when it comes to writing, they are not interchangeable and you have to memorise the correct spelling of a word. bairp fauk ahn uuvilndw 1 Here is the same sample of Thai script that you met in the first unit. Again, put a faint peneil stroke through all the letters you can now recognise. HOW MUCH 1S THIS? ssramatruylalvosinlunoudiysleitutdiny Tria: Assnquaondmaluiforfos nuiufionfuainindon fniwundudnedhondatinvre: lisosnstunnduwn: gasnsiludioduenns unsnuyamindongumulaiiy anann fiw fis le q a mo a fy lu W 1 lw y Ta a &y Look out for these words in the dialogue. woof fu Te nes In You should now be able to read all of the above words. While this may soem a fairly smaii number, you will notice that ihere are many other words that you can cimost read, such as the following: i how Ww ow | Itut they afl have a little mark at the top which you have not ane yet ‘These sentonces all have five words. Check where the word bonndaries ovcur and read the sentences aloud. (All of the words that you are reading atthe moment are pronounced with # mid tone) « ystslluguan fs astufing oo Tuwnthyehmusanim € Tags S Match the dates. In Thailand, the year is normally counted according to B.E(Buddhist Era) which is 543 years shead of the A.D. year. 2500 B.E. is thus 1957 A.D. (@) 19 July 1981 WO t/e/eced () 8 November 1948 GD we/an/otaw (© SJanuary 1954 did ee/d/odtos @ December 1966 (iv). m/#/wemod (©) 3 September 1994 @) d/ae/neda Floating markets at Damnonsaduok in the Rajburl Province. 3 bpai rohng rairm ree-noh tao-rai? _—~ How much to the Reno Hotel? —- LuissusSluirials In this unit you will learn ‘© the Language of taxi transactions © numbers 20-100 ‘¢ lair-o asa past time marker © verbs of knowing ¢ reduplication of adjectives and adverbs . rork in simple contradictions ‘live’ syllables and ‘dead’ syllables —— bodtson-ta-nah unaunn Sue las flagged down # meter-taxi and before getting into the lucles asks the driver if he will take her to Sukhumwit Road Sol 33, where she is staying swe hpaitandnsdo-kdomwt = Weuumarin soy sahm-sip sdhm mél ka? voumumumaltman: oxi bpaikrdp... ‘eiu... ama As they approach their destination, the taxi driver asks Sue if she wants him to drive into the soi (lane). Taxi ko soy méi krap? vison muni Sue kflo kA che: bpal s00t soy. Waesou téung ste-yairk ldir-o Aatuanusta lée-0 kwah, down Tax! lee-o kwh t€e-née chai mai krip? aura anAAle lm Sue _—Kd. Ifir-o Iée-o si tée-n6hn. seuduaurhoaliy w ler-ee bpai dek nit neung tau luénsends fort te-nde ka, Bef Taxi dirong-née chi mai krup? areilatwuniy Bue kd. tori ka? whlane ‘Taxi hh-sip jet baht krip. Wiuiauinndy Sue kit hdke-slp gOr Iélr-o gun. fiewnfufudaiy Taxi korp-kOOn krip. vougainiy chohk dee krép, Tanfiniu Sue chdhk dee ka. Tanti: ogo Ww road oun Sukhumwit Road nungiuin 80), jane wou thirty-three muituew to enter wh end of the sof qovou foreach fia HOW MUCH TO THE RENO HOTEL? over there (er-ee bpal ‘carry on, goon tavlal ek ‘again; further fn nitnaung ait bit finntls Jort park (verb) von atrong-ne right here ant hateelp jot fitty-seven thinida korp-k0On thank you rouge chohk dew good fuck Ton Peter, meanwhile, Is taking a ‘tuk-tuk’ to meet a friend at a small hotel In central Bangkok, Before getting into the vehicle, he checks ‘that the driver knows where it is. RENO HOTEL area sirnaseasoncnuns nian sox nso wbabanigh on maTonat StoouM AanEnOR usta Y NgIRES Ted. S180020- 2150029 Ins, sisonze- 2180027 Sreter tuk-tok rohng rairm ree-noh lér? réo4uk rohng rairm ree-noh mai? fSnlssuasilalwa Trawniluvio agldi glAi sa-ndhm ge hairng chaht. chai mai? réo-j0k, Peter pai tdo-rai krip? tuk-tuk bpairt-sip baht krap rot dit mibk na. Peter hak-sip dai maiz tuktuk mai dai krap. Peter oh kay. bpai. ré0-Juk rohng ralrm Fohng rairm ree-noh yoo soy gaaiym-siin hd lal an-nihm gee-iah haleng chant ‘bphirt-elp mil. rte e6t abt Peter —knip, yoo soy ga-siym-siin e-lah tuk-tuk oh sandhm gee-lah hairng chaht Peter —_pairng bpai ndy kriip. tuk-tuk mai paimng rork krip. Ait jet-sip g6r Iair-o gun, to know pote! Reno Hote! piv adsounwudtud Ang swt uvismnai To suwwimuvien’ \dinw Hh wand wiaaunineiy uwsluvdauaiu ‘biunswtonndy anfiawiaus wnfuldtiny ‘Wilieiy faiiamurudain Town Wd #n Taw Trusty tobe sivatedat of Soi Kesemsan near sounvudid Inky National Staclum munnifimuKeTTa eighty rot... at alt trattc jan uve ‘Gi..wren ante HOWMUGH TO THE RENO HOTEL? Comprehension 1 Does Sue want to go into the sol? Which way does she want to go once they have reached the crossroads? How much is her taxi fare? ‘What soi is the Reno Hotel situated in? What is tho nearest major landmark? How much does the ‘tuk-tuk’ driver want to charge? What fare does Peter finally negotiate? —pah-sah lair siing-kom = mwuardean — ‘You ean travel around Bangkok by ordinary bus, air-conditioned bus, samlor or ‘tuk-tuk’ (a three-wheeled motorised pedi-cab) or taxi On ordinary buses there is a fixed fare within the city centre, while on air-conditioned buses, fares are calculated according to the distance travelled, Street maps with full details of all the bus 13 are readily available from bookshops and ho:els in Bangkok, while route maps in English are also now posted at many bus-stops. Ruses are frequent although nearly always overcrowded, fares are cheap, and with exclusive bus lanes on some busy roads, the public Iransport system somehow manages to run reasonably efficiently amu the general chaos of Bangkok traffic. axis offer a less stressful way of travelling around. To hail a taxi you should raise your hand and signal to the driver witha beckoning motion with the fingers pointing downwards. All taxis in central Mangkok are now air-conditioned and the vast majority have secently installed meters, thus making it unnecessary tohaggle over the price, Before getting into a vehicle, you do, however, need to quite whether the driver is prepared to take youto your destina- tion (he may decide that the traffic is just too bad to go that way), It isnot a bad idea to also check that he knows the place that you want to yo to: he, too, may be a newcomer to the city. Although tipping is hot customary, many passengers seem to round-up the meter price. As your That improves, you may find that a taxi journey offers an excellent opportunity for a spot of conversation practice. Polite — 8 —m1 conversation is out of the question if you go by samlor (literally, ‘three-wheels’ or ‘tuk-tuk’, so-named because of the spluttering sound of its engine. You will also have tonegotiate the price with the driver before getting into the vehicle. Beware of causing offence by placing your feet against the rail behind the driver's seat; to do s0 is extremely bad manners and is likely to disturb your driver's concentration - with potentially disastrous consequences, Many of the major roads in Bangkok have small roads or lan« called soy (spelt sot in English)~ teading off them. These are usually residential areas with a few small shops and vary in length from a couple of hundred metres to a kilometre or more. If you are nego tating a price with a taxi driver or ‘tuk-tuk’ driver (¢ ean obviously make some difference as to whether you Intend to get off at the entrance to the soi (bpabk soy), the middle (glahng soy) or the end (2008 soy). sum-noo-un dwn How to ask a taxi driver: fhe knows x P6o-jak X mai? fin x =ifhe will take you to X bpai X mai? Wx ww how much he will charge to goto X bpai X tto-rai? WX uns How to tell a taxi driver: ‘© the fare ts too expensive and suggest an alternative pairng bpai noy X (baht) d&l mai? uwslumsion x (um) Winw © to go Into the sot kAo soy ohaay HOW MUCH TO THE RENO HOTEL? to goto the entrance / middle /end of the soi ya bpabk /glahag /#00t soy Wuhn nena /qnroy jo turn Jolt right . \ ets Ae ust sa Jo yo stralght on . 1 . co bpai eek, sauluin o stop here /over there . it Veonbe dentin sonttd / Alin a kum ut-ti-bal ¢nefiuw 1 Numbers on he pumbers 11-20 are ws: " " ‘iP Ot 16 sip-hdk Ww 17 sip-jet 13 18 sip-bpairt 4s 19 sip-gao 1 sip-hah 20 yee-sip emai bers between 10 and 100 are formed in aregular v Mththe exception of 21, 31,41, ete. where the word forone ist ‘and not nduag. Remember that twenty is yée-slp.) Ah yee 41 stesipat 2 Joe atpebrag 2 steaipaime sce sip-adhm 51 hab-slpet yee spade 52 hah-slp-sorng yee sip-hah 61 hdkesip-et yee ap-hok 42 hdkslp-sirng op 12 jepson es p-sor seaipapum ei m-sIpat 82. bpdirt-slp-sérag \mn-s1p-80rng OL sihm-sip-sihm 92 Idlr-o uaa ¢ word ldtr-ohas alresdy occurred in the idioma i dr-o gun. It occurs most frequently, however, afer a verb to shee thatthe ection ofthe ver has been completed eho ko bpai léir-o have om dtdk tong léir-o have apr Inthe dialogue lélr-o joins two simy Inthe dialogue leo joins wo iple sentences together and might 3 ‘Here’ and ‘there’ me Dasie words for here and there are tebe (Af) and te-nan (Ain) respectively. de-nbho (filtiu) suggests something further away - over there - while dtrong-née (#194) is a more emphatic right here. 4 kA andkrip dz andaiu In the first unit you met the particles kk and krip whi ich are t ontothe end of asentence to make it sound more polite. Whenthese parte es occur on thelr ‘own, they simply mean yes. If you listen to a ona telephone hal man ona tele ‘4 ; one you may hear him saying little more than with people, places or things. A different word, rée (4) or more politely, sdhp (V7), is used for knowing facts. réodak mal? know him? mi rojak nominee nt — 48 HOW MUUCH TO THE RENO HOTEL? Are you going? I don't know. 6 Reduplication ature of spoken Thai is the repetition ‘linguists call it a juplication) of an adjective or adverb, Thus in the second part of {le thalogue, Peter tells the ‘tuk-tuk’ driver that his destination ix lai rat, near) the National Stadium. Reduplication searcely "es the meaning; it simply sounds nicer to the Thai ear in n situations, You will sometimes find Thai market vendors us the process to English as they assure you thattwo items live sanne, same’ in either quality or price. conan fe lai htt 7 mai... rork lai .. wien Whe mai is used with rork, for example in statements like mai paivng rark or mal sdo-sy rir, the word rork conveys the sense that the speaker is contradicting an opinion or assumption held by the joes he op she is speaking to. Thus, » wife complaining about her {"s latest purchase might say palrng in adisapprovingtone of nly for him to retort, mal pairng rork. hus aie m bairp fauk hut uuuélnia Ti tow would you ask @ taxi driver if he would take you to the fatlowing places? 4) Siam Square (sa-yahm sa-kwalr) uy Sukhumwit Road, Soi 39 let Wat Phra Kaeo (The Temple of the Emerald Buddha) (wilt pra galr-o} ii Don Muang Airport (sa-nihm bin dora mew-ung) 0) Regent Hotel 2 Match the numbers in the three columns. tw 56 @ jet-stp-sde Aad te) 9 di) see-mp-adrng Bd anTar © 38 iD gho-slp yet C oe @ 4 dv) sdhm-sip-bpairt =D te @ 42 ) hah-sip-hok. E aes 3 Complete the dialogue. Peter is taking a taxi to a friend's house at the end of Suk! a ft 3! chumwit Read, Sol aw ‘The tuk-tuk’ driver's words are given below. What tuk-tuk ko soy mal krap? Peter tuk-tuk Peter tok-tuk Peter tuletuk Peter ftuk-uk kit hdkealp baht gor L4ir-o gun. 4. How would you say: (a) Tura leR at the erossro: © Parkoverttere © Goonabit (@) Goto the end of the sol. (© Turn right juat here. soy chal mai krap? ahn [dir kée-un dyuuaciion ‘The words that you learned to rend i inthe flrst two unit Pronounced with amid tone. Now ti tine to star Tearningtow vo read words pronounced with some other tones. By the end ofthis section you wl have begun fo read words with high tones, falling yen a jones. In order to do this, you will have to bear th things in mind when reading Thai wordorayllable:() whether the nitial consonant is a low class, mid class or high class consonant, — 4 HOW MUCH TO THE RENO HOTEL? coywhether the vowel is a long vowel ora short vowel; and (3)whether the syllable is a ‘dead’ syllable or a ‘live’ syllable. 1 ‘Live’ syllables and ‘dead’ syllables ithe terms ‘live’ and ‘dead’ refer to the way a syllable ends, Alive’ syllable can be prolonged ina droningvoice, whereasitis physically impossible to do this with a ‘dead’ syllable, Line syllables end either with long vowels(e.¢. ah, al, a0, ¢¢, 00 etc.) or ‘an’, ' or ‘ng’ sound, All the words in the script exereises in Unit {and Unit 2 are live syllables. Here are some examples to remind yet nom Ww ¢ m mab ngahn bpal doo lao Notice that they are all pronounced with a. mid tone. bead syllables end with either a short vowel (e.g, |, w) 01 ‘ie’ sound. Here are some examples: a q wu fe ann at 00 réep nit mabk Virstly, you will see that these words are pronounced with different tones; the remainder of this section on the script will explain how the tone of a dead syllable is determined by the class of the initial consonant and the length of the vowel. Secondly, notice that in our transcription ,U (b) and @ (d)have been wrillen as p and t. This Is because the sounds that can occur at the end of Thai words are quite limited and so certain letters change their pronunciation when they occur at the end of a word. Here are the consonants you learned in Unit 2 once more, indicat: ing how they are pronounced when they occur asan initial consonant \ as a fina! consonant:mar n a f a uv a o initial g i a dob bp Gero) final k t t t P P A ful as HL lst of inital and final consonant sounds appears in the 2 Dead syllables syitab with low class Initial Ifthe initial consonant in a dead syllable is 1 u low class, the tone will be otter high oF falling: the vowel Is ehort (eg. =, =; >the fie iu an alt rap 160k Iethe vowel Is long (e.g. -8, ~7, =, = ) the tone ts falling: ann ban wy qu mabk yort reep Wop 3 Dead syllables with yl with mid class initial ‘Ifthe initial consonant in a dead syllable is mid cl lass, the tor always be low, regardless of whether the vowel is long or thor fu ovin fin fie yw won wop jahk anit det j00t_—— fore 4 Summary of tone rules ‘The tone rules you have just met can be summarised in the following HOW MUCH TO THE RENO MOTEL? chart, You may find it helpful to make a copy of it to use for reference and checking until you feel completely confident about the rules. Low class FALLING TONE MID CLASS LOW TONE ——— balrp féukahn = uutindaw Use the summary chart above to help you work through these exereises. Don't worry if It takes you some time; Ifyou understand theprinciplesat this stage, you will find that your reading speed will quickly Improve. Itis well worth taking the time towork through this lesson two or three times, rather than pushing on to the next with a rather wobbly grasp of how tone rules operate! 1 Dead or (ailive? The words below occur in the dialogue. How many ‘live’ syllables are there? When you can read all these words, turn back tothe dialogues and try to pick them out in the ‘Thai seript. W Gn Gn sen ann fiw a ay ain he 2 What tone? The tone mark has been deliberately omitted in the transcription of these Thai words. What tone should they be pronounced with? — Bamal iu wa fin yn ta deep mabng = gut Joot nut a mu wu =n my bpee daap jabn jabk dias mu m ile wou abn lahp rao meet Torp bpabk in the table, takin, sure youge the tone correct Dothe exercise several mer ant you can read through from right to left and top to bottom at a Feasonable speed. You can give yourself further practice by using the cassette recording of the exercise fordietation practice. @ on a ta fw m y tia wn wn By mw wow peu an Ww son ‘A tuk-tuk’ in Bangkok 4 ao kao pit gai __— I'll have chicken fried rice iortinialn In this unit you will fearn «how to order drinks and simple meals © classifiers and counting © more Low class consonants and four new vowel symbols © how to read words with no written vowel symbol ——_—— bdt sdn-ta-nah unswnwi eter is taking his three children out for lunch in a coffee shop. © waitress ao a-rai ka? umerlins eter kor doo may-noo ndy krép. voquyxdouniy Waitreva née Ke. aes Peter ao kao pat gal sorng jabn. vertratalrieoss1y iho pat gO0ng jahn neung Srafngasnundls Isir-o gor bamée nébm udsfuenihh chahm néung. snunits akaonherlsn: Waitress {éir-o ao nm a-rai ka? — 83 —FLL HAVE CHAGKEN 1 HILO HIG) eal : er kor bpép-sée sdrng gair-o soddaosut mH iim ma-néo gAir-o nung shusiourtants | wh lairobor-asing out ndung — wridffovinnemis \ oud a0 niim kiirng bplao vorwhugauls uth ghir-0 néung dOo-ny. ufandidan : nimmento —‘famonade whew tress bpép-see mal mee. audit : Wout bottle mm koh-lah dai mai? Tretetnns : been shng Singha beer duff eter di keap. Weiv : im kileg bpiko ced wator shudiauin jaltress no bee-a koo-ut yai toudefarelng) too: also ww réu koo-ut 1€k? wiovimiin eter kdo-ut yal krdp. soelnginiy | ‘age twa) or vio mail én dbo-ay konsh Coca-Cola Ten yal ru ee want (verb) kar. (aby) ke. 0 ‘ “oo took at t Malee has been having lunch with three friends atthe noodle shop ~ oom ae | onthe corner. ar fe « ere yous [Bh mate nio,néo gdp dtung. ny vy unmot ho. vice mm 1 aed’ pan In tiod ta Waltress née ba-mée néhm chalméi? = WUEW paldln ou chicken i Malee chfi ka, Iir-o gbr Vise wih beng wo 09 mee gée-o néhm chahm ndung Adiahwunt kkto nah bpét sorng Jahn towhanoss plate lir-o gor bpép-ste kbo-ut neung udaidhdyaenils Ys rndim kairng bpldo gAir-ondung shudisulihurants 1élr-o gOr say-wen up s6rng kbo-ut. udafndnaesyon x l ‘Waitress ting mot bphirt-sip-hdk baht kA. Fomeulegummnneds _ a : ~ 85 — ————towns eto nth ght towhile ‘ko nah bpet tonquns ko mio dairng thatin Wh fs wy ko pit gai g0Ong mio enh ba-mée néhm uswiumts ba-mee bairng ¥ iu géeonéhm ack rice rad pork rice fried rice - chicken shrimp ork 99 noodle soup egg noodies won fon soup PLLKAVE CHICKEN FRIED RICE 1 (way of addressing ‘young waitresses) to collect, keep money send ay, won ton soup ra) duck ile duck lee tome Seven-Lip andin vonun Comprehension How many plates of fried rice did Peter order? ‘What did he and his children have to drink? ‘How many people in Malee’s group had duck rice? ‘What had been in the empty bowls on Malee's table? What did Malee’s final bill come to? mewnTHA pah-sah dir sting-kom }=9=——— muinuardian Most Thais eat three meals a day although many will supplement this with snacks throughout the day. Traditionally rice formed the basis of all three meals and would be accompanied by various side dishes such as fried or pickled vegetables, curry, soup, and meat and fish dishes. ‘Thais living in towns and cities tend to eat outa lot. There are eating places to suit nearly every pocket, ranging from road-side stalls and noodle shops to air-conditioned coffee shops and restaurants. In recent years western fast-food restaurants have become increasingly popular in Bangkok. ‘When yougointoa restaurant you will usually find someone waiting attentively to serve you. But if you do need to attract a waiter's atlention beckon with your fingers pointing downwards (as when calling a taxi). Ifthe waiter or waitress is achild, then you can call out, néo, néo (literally ‘mouse, mouse’ ~ but also an affectionate way of addressing children!); otherwise it is more appropriate to say kOOn krip (ki). When you want to poy, you can say either ehék bin of gep dtung; although there are no strict rules, the former is more appropriate in air-conditioned restaurants - where tipping is customary = and the latter in noodle shops, where it is unnecessary to sUm-noo-un aww How to: attract a waiter's or waltress’s attention ‘kOOn Rruip (ka) amniu (Fie) TLLMAVE CHICKEN FRIED FICE ask for the menu kor doo may-noo noy vequiywion «ask for a glass of water rae 4. uo nim kélmng bpldo gair-ondung wwiwruisulsurnay © ask for the DIL ep dung krip (ca) chéek bin Kerdp (kA) uiusmafieiy (Fiz) vGnila niu (sz) kum utti-bal desu 1 Polite requests: asking for things When asking for something the most polite word to use is kar .. (iio...) Td like... The word may (#MOU), which literally means « lttie is added at the end of the phrase to make It sound a little more polite. if, however the actual amount of the thing requested is specified (i.e. two plates of fried rice, one bottle ‘of heer), the word mdy is dropped. In restaurants it is perfectly acceptable to use ae (11) 7 want... when ordering. 2 Classifiers tn Knglish. uneountable nouns, such as coffee, rice and milk are usually counted by the container in which they are purchased. ‘The word bread is quite unusual in having its own special ‘count wort’, Jouf. In Thal, however, every noun has to be counted using ‘count word? or classifier. The classifiers for nouns in this unit exuct equivalents in English; in later units you will meet fiers that cannot be readily translated. Study the examples uurefully, Notice that if the number is one It comes after the ssifier, but otherwise, the word order is noun + number + classifier. you will meet more common classifiers in subsequent units,Tal noun number classifier kob-lath, sing —kdo-ut 10 (bottles of Coke ‘kto pit sibm = jahn three (plates off fried rice gab-fair bpairt —tdo-ay eight (cups of) coffee ba-méenéhm abe cham four (bowls of) noodle soup but noun classifier number koh-lah Kbo-ut nung —_a@ (or ‘one') bottle of Coke gab-fair too-ay nung —acup of coffee péu-un kon neung —afriend 3 dtung smd tung is a shortened form of ‘satang’. It has the more general meaning, money in the expressions gép dtung (iiterally, collect the money) and mii mee dtung (I haven't any money). The satang is the smallest unit of Thai currency. There are 100 satang in one baht, although today, It exists only in the 25-satang and S0-satang coins, Et PLLHAVE CHICKEN FRIED RICE __-— balrp féuk hit uuvilavia {Match the following orders with the right drinks. ca) bpep-sée hah koo-ut to) uiim ma-ndio see gAlt-o «cy bee-u sing adm koo-ut cit nda kairng bplao sérng gair-o ce) gah-fair s6rng to-0y 2 How would you ask the waiter for the following items? va the menu (h)_(wo bowls of noodle soup (o> three plates of chicken fried rice five glasses of water wo the bill 3 Peler and a friend have stopped off for lunch at a small noodle shop. What did they want to eat? And what did they eat in the end? — 6 —mat Waltress ao a-rai ka? Peter kor ko pat gOOng sdeng jan kritp. Waitress ‘ko pat gOOng mal mee kA. mee kao pat gai IAir-o g6r kao pit mo. Peter a0 ko pit gti jabn ndung Idir-o gor kao put méo jahn neung. XA, [flt-o a0 ndhm a-rai ké? a0 bpép-aée kbo-ut néung Ihir-o bee-a sing kbo-ut yal, bpép-sée mal yen (‘cold’) ka. Xkob-1ah di mui? Peter dal krap. Waltress lair-o bee-a sing kdo-ut yal mai mee ka. kodo-ut lék dai mai? Peter dai krap. 7 —— ahn léir kée-un sowuaciien — 1 Consonants The new consonants in this unit are all low clasos consonants (like those 'in Unit 1), Be careful not to confuse fl (k) with ® (d) which you learned in Unit 2; % (ch) and '§ (s) also look very similar, although the latter has an additional ‘noteh’ on its PLLHAVE CHICKEN FRIED RICE - 4 2 4 t I u -eu eu “ay -air (short) dong) (long) (long) ‘The symbol = is unusual in that if there is no finsl consonant (i.e. if the word ends with an ‘eu’ sound) the zero consonant symbol must he added: with final consonant no final consonant (add ~B) fu keun fo kew in méut fo mew ‘The symbol 1 changes from an -ay sound to er-ee when it occurs with the consonant U at the end of the word: tau ine ler-ee keree ‘You may remember the word \8U in the exptesston waululain im Unit 3) 3 Vowel shortener symbol: £ When this symbol, which is identical to the number eight, appears above @ consonant and in conjunction with the vowel symbols l- and L~ the vowels change from long vowels to short vowels: Wa in iu win bpen ek sep chéirk — 6 —rr, ie maar ‘There is one spectal case where the symbol appears on top of a gonsonant with no accompanying written vowel. This 1s the word A pronounced ger. 4 Words with no vowel symbol! When a word consists of two consonant symbols with ao written vowel aymbol, a short ¢ vowel must be supplied: AM wn ue ony na kon bok mot jon got Note that both kon and mé¢ begin with a low class consonant but that mét hes a high tone because it is a dead syllable and the vowel is short. gat and bdk have mid class initial consonants and thus are pronounced with a low tone. |] —— balrp féuk abn uuuilndaw 1. This exercise give you practice in reading words containing some of the new letters you have learned in this unit. Don't forget to distinguish between ‘live’ and ‘dead’ syllables’ Look back to your tone rules chart in Unit 3. Better still, make 1a copy of it so that you can keep referring to it when reading ‘Thal words. This will ease some of the burden of memorisation and you will find that you gradually absorb the rules through practice. Pome oso um ff ty mom woot mn fu ls fn fio sau tau ud ung rn FLL HAVE CHICKEN FRIED RICE pot the word, All of these words occur in the Dialogue Spevon. When you can read them, turn back to the beginning wieiNeunit, cover up. the romantsed part of the dialogue and 2 jrought the Thal script until you can locate them, a any m fi ow i Bin was vy fla wana ule wn um 4 You may not be able to read very much Thai yet, but already 1 make practical use of what you do know. You can, for tat choose the cheapest bottle of beer: Vv. 8 w gam db) aaum did véunn iby find your way to your friend's house on Soi 10: paved «Gd Tew —lD Ta ow (e) yo through the correct door at public conveniences (if you know that chal means men) wane do ngs—— _ Howare you progressing? —— One of the potentially frustrating things about learning to read and write Thal is that you have to absorb so many rules initially before you can read even the simplest dialogues or passages One good plece of news, however, Is that once you have learned these rules, you will find that in Thal there is a much closer match between the spelling of a word and the way it is Pronounced than there is in English. Another good piece of news is that you are nearly half-way there. By the end of Unit 8 you should be able to read most of the dialogues in the book and by Unit 10 you wiil be attempting special reading passages. So keep working through the script sections, retracing your steps If necessary, reviewing earlier material until it becomes second nature, and ‘doodling’ until your writing becomes quite elegant, & —— bdt son 5 horng korng kOOn Sém-chai yoo tée-nai? —— Where's Khun Somchai's room? — Hosnooqomamwodilnn In this unit you will learn = how to ask where things are. © how to degertbe the location of things © how to express possession how (o say thank you the main high elass consonants silent W at the beginning of a word nah oundunue Peter has come to visit Somchai at his office. He stops to ask a sveretary where Somehai's room is. EB Peter kbrt0ht kedp velneniy homg kémng kOOn Sém-chai Wosvesqnamiyy ybo tee. agitwu Secretary ydo kahng bon ka, ogisuweis aPeter Secretary —mitl bpen rai ka. Sue mar x chdn sabi, umn ‘korp-00n mahk krip. ‘veugnasinAiy lahtalaris kor-toht ka velnyAs tiir-onée mee bpral-se-nee mal? unrddlurwdilna bpral-sa-nee lér? lunetidnio mee ka, ez -ybo soy néung bysoU Idi gid tana-kahn grOOngtayp. Inq maminginw lai mai ka? Inainues mai glai ke. ‘Wilnariz dern bpai tahng née talus bpra-mahn hah nab-tee abana Idir-o gbe téung. aiafs WHERE'S KHUN SOMCHAIS ROOM? aqinwy ‘tna au mail ihanm wil ‘And now Peter is asking the way to a restaurant. Peter kbr-tObt kriip velnuniy bpal réhn ak-hihn kwin jai = Whuowwarsigile bpal tahng nal krp? ‘ims nuntu Passer-by téung fai sin-yahn léir-o fstWaganuud 1é0-0 kwih ko soy sshmsip-ste RAWSON met réhn ah-hithn ydo tabng s6i. rwormegmathy Peter kdrp-kOOn mahk krap. ‘saugoanneiy lai mai krop? “natwuniy Passer-by mal glai ror, “allnavzen der bpal sak sdrng si Wuludinsesmy nah-tee tfo-nin, waflivinst Le rahrahehiin restaurant Fue réhrvah-hithn kwin jal Khwan Jai Restaurant FManwTVigle pal tahng nél? which way isitto..?—. Wns {al sinyahn trafic lights Wagqy uk {900 Grammar 8,on page 73) in rng ahem two or thao; afew ADSNTAI the-nin wrymar Comprehension On which floor is Somchat's office? Where is the nearest post office for Sue? ‘What is near the post office? How long will it take Sue to walk there? What soi is Khwan Jai Restaurant in? Which way does Peter have to go when he reaches the traffic lights? How far away is the restaurant? denen — pah-sah léir siing-kom miwiuasioan — It is unrealistic at this stage to expect to be able to understand complicated directions given in Thai. Asking directions, however, is an excellent way of practising speaking Thai with strangers, even if you don’t always catch the answer, You can always start by asking the way to somewhere you know, so that you can say ‘thank you’ and ‘walk off confidently in the right direction even if you actually understood very liftle. Repeat the exercise a number of times, however, and you will find your listening skills steadily improve. sum-noo-un #wa4 How to: © ask and state the location of something yoo teil? ~ ogflay © askif there is. in the vieinity * tiir-o née mee... mél? word... Iw ‘© express and acknowledge thanks ‘korp-kOOn (mah) ‘vauna (1170) ~ 7 — WHERE'S KHUN SOMCHATS ROOM? mai bpen ral Wits ‘the way to somewhere pal tabng nél? W... Wmstan bpai kum it-t-bal drefune 1 ‘where?’ questions tde-nil? (M!lwu?) where? always occurs atthe end ofa sentence in ‘Thal. The word tee is dropped when the main verb is bpal (to go), K00n pitk ydo tee-ndl? Where are you staying? Ikho eéu the-ndi? Where did he buy it? ‘kOOn bpai nai? ‘Where are you going? 2 Possession ‘There are no special words for his, hers, my, yours etc. in ‘Thal. ‘Ownership or possession Is indicated using the word kérng (189) of In the order object « kirag (of) + owner: hOrng krng kOOn Sém-chai Khun Somchai's room. baan kérng chin ‘my house (house-of 1) ‘bpép-ade korng krai? WhosePepsi? (Pepal-of who?) ‘The word kérng is optional and frequently omitted: bahn chiin ydo al ‘My house is a long way away. rétkOOn Sém-chai ydo tée-ndi? Where's Khun Somchai's car? 3 kahng t9 kang, which bi fallowing phrase: kAhng bon on top, upstairs thw ically means side, occurs commonly in the —me-abng lahng below, underneath, downstairs Tati ‘kahng nal inside thay ‘kbbng ndrk outside then kabng ling behind thimis kang nah in front tim 4 chin i British people sometimes find themselves on the wrong floor because Thais call the ground floor chin néung and what the British call the first floor is ehtim sérag. Note that although the Thai word for floor is pronounced the same as the informal female word for J, they are spelt differently. i chun floor, storey iu chun I 5 talr-o una ‘You will quite often hear the word tair-o reduplicated when people are making fairly vague statements about the location of something. bahn kéo ydo tdir-o His house is in the tair-o bpra-dtoo néhm Pratu Nam area. dtair-o dtatr-o bahng lum-poo In the Banglampu area mee robng rairm took there are cheap hotels. 6 ‘Near’ and ‘far’ ‘To any westerner learning Thal it seems particularly perverse that two words with opposite meanings should sound almost identical. To a Thai, of course, there is a world of difference between gai (ind) near and giai (Ina) far. But if you have difficulty hearing the difference between mid tones and falling tones, don't despair; you will often find that glal (near) Is reduplicated and becomes lal lal. _nm— WHERE'S KHUN SOMCHATS RCOM? 7 Bangkok The Thai word for Bangkok ls grOOng-ttyp (NYNNW4) which can be tra das ‘City of Angels’. In fact, this is a hugely abbreviated form of the full name of the city, which is recorded in the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s longest place-name. ‘Bangkok’ was the name of a small village on the Chao Phya River which became Thalland’s capital after 1782, 8 suk in ‘You wili very often hear the word sik used in front of numbers in ‘Thai. It generally conveys the idea of ‘just’ or ‘as little as’ but it usually does not need to be transtated at all in English, suk adengsihm nahtee (just) two or three minutes sitk tdo-edt? how much? ——— balrp féuk hit uuflaia —— 1 Where are they? Use the pictureon the following pageto make up sentences describing where these people are. Example: Peter, Sue [4ir-o gor Tom ydo kkhng nai (@) ... yoo kAhng nai (®) ... yoo kahng nork (©)... ydo kAhng bon (@ ...ydo kang lahag © ...ydo kahng nah ® ... yoo kahng ling2 How would you ask if there was one of the following nearby: @ Oy @ @ © telephone box (dt60 toh-ra-sip) photocopy service (bor-ri-gahn tai ayk-ga- toilet (hdrng néhm) hospital (rohing pa-yab-bahn) bank (ta-nab-kabn) _~m WHERE'S KHUN SOMCHA'S ROON? ‘These were some directions Peter was given. Follow them on the map. What was he looking for? @ @ © téung sée-ylirk Ldir-o Iée-o kwah léiro lée-0 afi ko soy néung. dern bpal bpra-mahn hah nah-tee, ydo s00t soy. dern bpai téung fai siin-yahn Idir-o lée-o adi. ler-ee bpal ek nit ndung Iéir-o lée-o kwah. yoo bpahk soy 16k 16k, téung sde-ybirk Idiro Iée-o shi Ihir-o lée-o shi de kho soy néung, yoo glai glai ta-nah-kahn groOng-tayp. — 7% —mar ahn Idir kée-un dawuariien §=—— 1 Consonants All of the new consonants in this unit are high class consonants. High class consonants are pronounced with an inherent rising tone; so when reading the letters below, we would say kér, chér, ete. You will notice that there are three different high class ‘s' symbols. Of these, the moat common Is the first, with the other two appearing mainly in words of foreign origin. VAD toe If you compare the consonants in this unit with the low class consonants you met In Unit 4, you will see that they can be paired up. The basic consonant sound is the same with only the Inherent rising tone distinguishing the high class consonants from the low class consonants, 2 High class consonants at the beginning of live syllables Live syllables with an inital high elass consonant are pronounced with a rising tone. nu WW fay kal pém sorng A rare exception is the female word for J, dee-chiin and ehiin where the tone on cba is high. aay a dee-chin chin 3 High class consonants at the beginning of dead syllables ead syllables that begin with a high class consonant are always pronounced with a low tone, regardless of whether the vowel is long ‘or short. wn fu gn mo hok alp tdok kant 7mua 4 Silent w at the beginning of a word ‘There are a number of words in Thai that are spelt with an initial % which ls not pronounced, The function of this ‘silent h’ is to convert the consonant that follows Into a high class consonant, All such words then follow the tone rules of words with an initial high consonant, wu nye ‘wnon nuit ydot lort An {mportant exception to note is the question word mél? which ts spelt ag if it should have a rising tone, although in normal speech it {s pronounced with a high tone. wa mai? 5 Summary of tone rules ‘The tone rules for syllables and words with initial high class consonants can be summarised as follows: — bairp fuk abn uusilndaw 1 On the next page are some common words that begin with a high class consonant. The live syllables will have a rising tone and dead syllables will have a low tone. Read through the exercise several times until you can do it quickly and accurately. WHERE'S KHUN SOMCHATS OOM? mu ue ty da my gn fa hn a an wow "7 ain fw tn a ni win wmu wy 2 Spot the word. You should now be able to read all these words from the dialogue. Turn back to the beginning of this unit and try to find each one without referring to the romanised section. uelny wes munu wou aan viuls un iw vou ms wit fi fiy ami le Wl Wo ain noo mu * Remember, this ispronounced with ahigh tone in normal speech. ‘++ The letter’ at the end of a word is pronounced as ifit were an‘n’. 3° Mateh the figure with the word. @ © @ ula ao ® wn did oy © ayo @ my wid © vin Wi @0 © Fes m2 -HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO SEND TO ENGLAND? 6 sihm-sp-hok baht krap. mudunninnndy Wsironde song bpal amay-rigeh udaidsllanim i 4 . (io-rdi ka? witli: song bpai ung-grit tao-rai? Clerk song bpai taltng ab-gaht réu aslumsermenie — How much does it cost to send to — (ahng reu-a krap? monty England? daludsnquinils sae tahngabegabt kb. mnseamaaris: yahk ja long te-bee-un déc-ay —atnnesaynziuwAay Clerk hdkestp baht krap . nniuunedy ... hing mdtgo-sip-hok babtknip. Yinunihiuwmnnndy soe dee Wann .. dlorng-gahn jot-mai ah-gabt soinmremnnumme song pairn Ifir-o gor sa-dtairm — wadurMudafunnai) In this unit you will siihm baht sde doowung ddo-ay ka. MUUrMaRraeawe: ‘s learn how to carry out basic transactions at the post office learn how to change money song send learn how to ask people to do something © learn three different words for want bpoht-gahnt postcard ¢ Atiew te maor points you have learned o the Thal script seoung (classier fr stamps) ‘read a short passage of simple Thai amay-ri-gah America tahng ah-gaht byair maine (©— _hétsdn-ta-nah unaunwa tahng reve by sea motte vyabk (fa) to want to eunn (az) Sue is at the post office to send some postcards and a package. ong ts-beean register saneciiow sue —sdngdpont-adht bpaiungerit —_koluannfellldonny toro watt a moment nud .. to-rhi ka? whisar aerogramme amuanme Clerk glo baht krip. ifannety (classi for anrogrammes) Uris Sue a0 de doo-ung ks. wrdinasi: stamp amd — 81 —mar Peter wants to change some traveller's cheques at the bank. Wilpeter _yahkjo Idirk bplee-un chek sinnezuanivinuin dern-tahng d&i méi? raumstélnn Clerk dai krip niu kér doo ning-séu derntahng lair woRMVTMOLAMM SURE chek dern-tahng krap. datumanty Peter nde krip. diniu Clerk ja ldirk bplde-un sémg r6y aeuannliuuaesion bporn, chai mAt krip? dowdly auniy Peter chai krdp. \ieiu Clerk attra alr bpldewn wun ne Serusnaldowind sdealp-hah bit dtr néung bporn chdo-ay sen chtu tde-néekrip. Suuldudleftantuy toexchange uanilium | vinitiums passport wiatiums and pound rate today | | . to the pound [ " please... to help | to sin HOW MUGH DOES IT COST TO SEND TO ENGLAND? Comprehension 1 How many postcards is Sue going to send to England? 2% Doesshe planto send the package to America by alr-mallorsea mall? How much do the stamps and package come to? ‘What does Sue nearly forget to buy? ‘How much money does Peter want to change? What is the exchenge rate? ¥ ¥ —pah-sah Iéir suing-kom mwmuardoan— Post offices in Thailand are open from 8.30 a.m, to 4.30 p.m. on weekdays but are closed at ‘weekends. In Bangkok, the Central Post Office, located on New Road, is however open on oth Saturday and ‘Sunday, and offers, in addition to normal post office services, a 24- hour telegram service. Post office facilities are also available in many of the larger Bangkok hotels and on university campuses. ‘Banksare open from8,30a.m.to3.30p.m.on weekdays andareclosed atthe weekend. In Bangkok, many of the major banks have currency ‘exchange kiosks outside the main building, rome of which are open until 8 p.m, seven days a week. sum-noo-un = fw How to say: ‘© How much is it to send to England? sbng bpal ung-grit to-ral? daludonquatts eHow much Is it to send it by alt? song bpal tang ah-gabt tho-rhl? saldensernannritls © Td like to register it yabk ja Long ta-bee-un aurnerasnetiunTH © [need four nine-baht stamps dtorng-gohn sa-dtairm gaobant = eae see doo-ung amas kum it-t-bal afin 1 Classifiers ‘In Unit you learned that classifiers have to be used when counting things in Thal, In this unit the classifiers doo-ung for counting stamps)and patra for counting aerogrammes and flat-shaped objects such as sheets of paper or slices of ham) are Introduced. Notice that when Sue asks for four nine-baht stamps In the Dialogue, she uses only the classifier without mentioning the word for stamp because it 4s quite clear from the context what she is referring to. 2 ‘want’ ‘The verb yahk Ya) (AUIN (9z)) want to, would like to is always followed by another verb: yahk bpal ddo-ay T want to go too. mai yahk mah He doesn't want to come. ‘The verb ao (104) want is always followed by a noun: ‘ao bpép-ste sorng kdo-ut We want two Pepsis, ao jdt-mai ab-gaht pairn ndung = want an aerogramme. ‘The verb diérng-gahn (#047177) want (to), need (to) can be followed by either a verb or a noun: I need to register it. I need a botite of beer. dtorng-gahn long ta-bee-un dtorng-gahn bee-a koo-ut néung: Cr , HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO SEND TO ENGLAND? 3 chdo-ay #19 c’chée-ay {s used to indicate politeness when asking someone to do something. Like kér (see Unit 4), which is used when asking for something, t is often used in conjunction with nby. chéo-ay sen chéu tée-née (ndy) Please sign here. chéo-ay bplt bpra-dtoo nby Please ahd the door. chdo-sy bpért ndh-dtahng ndy Please open the window. chbe-ay also oceurs as a verb meaning to help. ——— balrp fauk hot uuuilniia 1 Atthe post office. Read the short dialogues. What did the peopie want and how much did it cost? @ A née song dpal yée-bp0On tdo-rai ké? B adng bpal tahng ah-gaht chai mal krip? A chhi ka. yak ja Long ta-bee-un doo-ay. B gho-sip-hah baht krap. (©) A jdt-mit ab-gaht tao-rai krip? B pirn 1a slp-sdrng baht ka. A ao shim pairn [4ir-o gor sa-dtairm hah baht sée doo- tung. ting mot tho-rai krap? (© A song bpoht-gaht bpai fa-ring-shyt tho-rai ka? B gho baht krip. A a0 sahm doo-ung ké Léir-o gor jdt-mai ah-gaht pairn nung. ting mot tho-rai ka? 2 How would you ask: (a) how much it costs to send a postcard to America? «) how much it costs to send something by airmail? (c) for five nine-baht stamps? (qd) for four aerogrammes? () how much all that comes to?ma 2 Supply the correct classifier in these phrases. @) ®) © @ @ co @ dtalrm gho baht hab... gefalr sdrng.. péu-un ... noung bande néhm sabm ... koh-lah se ... jdt-mai ah-gaht..., neung kfo pat gO0ng sérng... f@——ahn dir kée-un do wuaziien —— Atthisstage itis worth pausing to review the key points thatyouhave learned s0 far. 1 Consonants You have learned the following consonants: (note that the consonant sound of each letter Is given when it occurs both as an initial and as a final consonant). = e e f mo om of toy ow n m om on on a 3 s n wow moos ot > of t t ' pe 0 a # vou 8 an) ao & bp zero kot ‘ ' PoP ‘HOW MUCH OES IT COST TO SEND TO ENGLAND? 2 Vowels ‘You have learned the following vowels: Longvows = -a T- 7 Doe ow sth oF 0h #8 +00 ou ay “air 3. Live syllables and dead syllables ‘You have learned the difference between live syllables and dead syllables: syllables that end with @ Jong vewst or a m,n, Ag sound, eg fo wg D mh & ‘syllables that and with a short vowels or a p, tk ‘sound. eg Q @ ona du fy oon wanmA 4 Summary of tone rules LOW CLASS MID CLASS HIGH CLASS: 5 Reading words ‘By now, whenever you read a Thai word or syllable, you will have Jearned to ask yourself three questions: (1) is it a live or dead syllable? (ii) what class is the initial consonant? and (Iil)is the vowel long or short? Once you have answered these questions you shou!d be able to identify the tone of a word correctly. At this stage, don't worry if you are finding it difficult to memorise the tone rules: simply copy the chart above and keep it handy for subsequent lessons (the act of copying itself will help you to memorise it). Aer a while, you will soon find you need to refer to it less and less and when you feel ready, you can dispense with it altogethe: balrp féukahn = wuuilndaw [i When you have worked through the table on the following page, ‘test yourself by picking words at random and seeing how ‘quickly youcan read them. Many of the words in this exercise will now be familiar to you. Remember that regular practice over the same exercises in this and previous units can greatly improve your speed of reading. Copying out the words wil] also help. greatly, ‘HOWMUGH DOES iT COST TO SEND TO ENGLAND? ts ye ‘nw wi yh Ww vin una ‘wa velny = san 81 ity ule wm uns mn wR i wy ain win du a 2. Spot the word. Here are some words fromthe dialogue which you should beable to read now. Ww um meiy own ewime ma oma wie ay unity WU samy fas “Zero consonant’ atthe beginning ofthe word is pronounced -——bdtahn = unsaw (Reading passage) — Now you are nicely warmed-up for your frst passage of Thai which ‘sal about Khun Yupha’s family, By the time you have read it, you should know where she comes from, her husband's name, his home ee and occupation and how many sons and daughters the couple have. wwnuiiueving anennfoniause swmudhuendyosnw sume anaandoniamn gwafuewinudign ¢ pu fignnw e au dignen 9Kmat mil fusband 7 min province an (name of a province in nother Telia) kor péot ginp ... noy, dai mai? tan frame ot provecs poten Talend) —— Could I speak to ..., please? nu and, with . : quan sayaau .. vias talus gna aaugtier Sak* By sme, og suse" Sig In this unit you will learn the language of telephone transactions who? and when? questions talking about the future direct and indirect speech parts of the day tone marks (i): mal yk silent 0 at the beginning of a word © —_bét sén-ta-nah |= unaunwi ——— CE sue is telephoning Malee, but her maid answers the call. Sue hunloh tule kér péot gup kOOn Mab-lee nty — Toypriunnunfinloy ‘A Selection of Thal stamps i mai ka? Wlaune Maid Krai pdot ké? laryBue Maid z chin Sue péot kt. erat ka? chdo-ay péot dung dung ndy dai mél? sai mAl dee. kA. ehiin Sue péot ka. ‘pen péu-un fa-ring. ror suk kroo na ka... k00n Mab-lee mai yoo ka. ork bpai kahng nork. lar ka? jaglap méu-rai k6? mal sahp ka. ‘dt wah ja glap dtorn. dtorn bal toh mab mai na Ks. kA. korp-kOOn ka. sa-witt dee ke. hallo (on telephone) speak who? foud {telephone} ine ‘good Su Sue yore Ananz shuyadag wuools wa mela tir Gh Sue yariz lhulondis wwanAguen: aqaani lloyds aanhithauen vion: seniulolsns Annus fieesndunnaihy owholnanival ent: fix younowfis: sind (COULD SPEAK TO... PLEASE? wait a moment togoout outside (iuture time marker} return when? to know to think .- that; (see kum itetHbal ()) period of time ‘sfternoon afternoon 10 telephone ‘again: new Voter is trying to call a friend at the British Embassy. Elreer — hun-tob tée-ndhn sa-tihn t6ot ung-grtt chi mai krap? Vinbassy chai ka, Peter kor dtdr ber séhm-séon-see ]—— abn léir kée-un dauuaztiun——§ ‘The chart summarising tone cules in Unit6 will help you to read any dead syllable, but it only covers live syllables that are pronounced with a mid tone or rising tone. ‘As you will have realised, there are many live syllables that are Pronounced with a falling, high or low tone - words sueh as mal. cebéu, lalr-e, yal, dtdr and so on. In words like these, the tone is represented by atone mark which is. — 100 — COULD | SPEAK TO... PLEASE? yrittgn above the initial consonant. If the initial consonant has an © or = vowel above it, then the tone mark is written above the vowel. ‘The two most common tone marks are ml ayé, which you are about to meet, and mél teh which will be introduced in the next unit, 1 mél ayk (-): tone rules ‘This tone mark looks tike a number one. It is written above the initlal consonant and in line with the right-hand perpendicular stroke. Unfortunately for the learner, due to changes in the language that have occurred over hundreds of years, tl represent two different tones! As with deadayllables,the determining factor is the class of the initial consonant. If mil ayk occurs on a low class initial consonant, the tone will be a failing tone: Iovean TW 4 te tee chén Ifthe initial consonantis either mid class or high class, thenthe tone is low: Mid class in fo vw gai dior Jal Htigh class a wiles yilau* see néung noy *Kemember thatsilent » ‘converts’ the next consonant to high class. 2 Silent 4 at the beginning of a word in Unit 5 you met words that began with a silent W. There are alsoa small number of words - only four in fact - that begin with a silent 0. hese are all pronounced with a low tone. They are all very common words and It is well worth copying them down and memorising them ‘this stage. Two of them - yde and yabk - have already occurred — 101 —inthe Dialogues. ag oth atha aun yoo yah yahng yak tobe situated at don’t ike, kind to like to ——— bairp fuk ahn wuilndw Ti Allofthese words are written with mii ayk. This means they will be pronounced with either a falling tone or a low tone. Ww a via ui a f ‘i ie ue % a fo to WW 4 a wits ‘vaio wiian wal 2. Next,someshort phrases from this and earlier units, using words with mad ayk ‘Awhva ‘wis divi unslumies = dunsston darn fisftuun sont again ‘abtuls avlumeornia — savarwormernrosuely 3 And finally, here ls Peter negotiating with a ‘tuk-tuk’ driver. Peter WWroumavenurhls tuk-tuk soUMMaUINUNIE Feulemuum — 102 — (COULD/ SPEAK TO... PLEASE? Peter ulnfunrnvio unslunden tuk-tuk ‘Junanzen @ w re) ‘rnin ‘Where does Peter want to go? ‘How much does the tuk-tuk deiver ask for? ‘What is Peter's reaction? ‘What is the tuk-tuk driver's justifleation? — 103 —8 chern kahng nai nd ka Do come in! Bytlunsa: In this unit you will learn ‘@ how togreet people and make introductions @ how to talk about your family kin terms: brothers and sisters, sons and daughters @ how many? questions . yet? question one marks (ify: mél fob, mél dtree and mAt jat-dta-wab a bdt son-ta-nah = unaunw1 —— ‘Sue and her husband Peter are visiting Sue's friend Chanida at her home. WWenaniga sa-wat dee ké kOOn Sue. wiafide qru Sue chern kihng naj né ké. sigaluus Swe -korp-kOOn ka. vounmes née Peter fairn chin gup l6ok. Peter uudiu/iugn 104 — O.COME Nr Chanda sa-witt dee ka. kOOn Peter sa-bai dee lér ka? Peter se-bai dee kriip. latr-o kOOn Chanida 18 krip? Chanldasa-bai dee méu-ua gun ka, KOOn Peter pot tai geng nd ydo meu-ung tai nahn mai? Peter mal nahn kedp. sk sérng sthm deu-un tho-nn, Chanlda séeng sihm deu-un tho-nin lér? wéng nd. pot tai chat, Peter bplao knip. mal géng, pot di nit-ndy tao-ndn. Chanida Isir-o 160k 18. pot pah-sih tai bpen mai? Sue —_bpen nft-ndy kA, chen lease; to invite wang nal insioa (alen boy /gitihend: spouse "ok child, children sabal to be wall, comfortable se-bal des Wir? — 105 — winks: qeuPetermnativions avwiniv ado niafienicaty mrwiindowturz qos Peter walIneurisue agifloslmuvowlna ‘due fnaosmaniowrini rormuifeurntunto thous, yelnota ws ‘Miuia nleGnnouirinita ustagnes yammiinudulny \dwinviienes ify thay uly qn aunw mainte ud... dzma thewise wilawin lobe good at something to ve (in, at} Theianc ‘a fong time ‘month only lear 0. Sue and Chanida are looking through some old family snaphots of | Chanida’s. || Dlsue kOOn Chanida mee pte-néme —_gaunfleniiton ste kon? 8 || chantda mee ste kon kt. Slitquriz mee pée-chai kon nung, Sifters pée-sio kon néung, nérng-chal derraunits torn kon ndung lair-o g0r auntaudah norng-sio sérng kon. Wesmainosny Sue ne pte-chai, chi méi ké? dianlatna Chanida chai ka, chéu Wit, avis fon Sue —ah-yO0O tao-rhi ka? anqurittiey Chanida ah-yOO sihm-sip-sorng ke, anysniusosric = 106 — DOCOME IN Sue dtdirng ngahn lalr-o réu yung? usissnwudanioda Chanida dthirng ngabn hah bpee léir-o, — ussnwhaDuda fignudaviedion: flud fisosnn Wok chai ab-y6O sihmkdo-up = gNINWENYMUWI \ok aio ab-yO0 sérng kdo-up. = &NBTINIYRAINIL Ibir-o kOOn Sue I6. udm Sue de mee pte-nérag mai? Sihtostaw Sue mee Lok Iéir-o réu yung ka? Chanida_mee Idir-o. mee sérng kon pom many? a brothers and sists Wilas der brother fan older sister ar) ‘younger brother = WaT worm any wes udowieds gomy mw gone Comprehension | How long has Peter been in Thailand? 2 What compliments does Chanida pay Peter? 1 Do Peter and Sue's children speak Thai? — 07 —ma How many brothers and sisters does Chanida have? ‘Who is Wit? How old is he? Ishe married? How old are his children? —pah-sah [dir sting-kom = mw uarionn— Ifyou are invited to a Thai home, you should normally remove your shoes before entering the house, The traditional Thal greeting isthe wii (Lv) , in which the head is bowed slightly and the hands are held in a prayer-like position in front of the face at approximately chin height. How low the head is bowed and the height at which the hands are held reflect the degree of respect conveyed by the person wwal-ing. A child wal-ing an adult, for example, may hold their hands sothatthe tips ofthe fingersare close tothe forehead, while an adult responding may keep their own fingertips well below their chin, ‘Thais also show respect for older people by trying to keep their head at s lower level when passing or talking to them. For very tall people thle can be tricky, however; an obvious attempt to bend forward a little is quite sufficient. It should be mentioned that for ‘Thais, the head is 8 taboo area: never attemptto ruffle a Thai's hair In jest or offer a friendly pat on the head. Beware, also, of sitting with one or both legs stretched out in front of you,for to point your — 108 — ‘DOCOME Mm) fwct directly towards someone is impolite. Keeping your feet firmly on the ground or demurely tucked to one aide, as inconspicuous as possible! stim-noo-un aww How to: @ ask how someone is sa-bai dee lér krap (k6) (formal) einuawianiu (az) ‘bpen yung-ngai bahng? (informal) afuatnsinhs «ask how many brothers and sisters a person has mee pée-nomng gte kon? diittosiian @ Ask about a person's age ah-yO0 tho-rai? anyivnts © Ask whether a person is married dthirng ngahn lir-o réu yung? usissruudaviods © Ask whether a person has any children mee bok Idir-o réu yung? SIgnutawiods & ——— kum tt-ti-bal dneduiw 1 Pollte commands he word chern (\4ity) to invite is used to preface a polite command ‘or invitation: cher kang nai Please come in, — 100 —mH chern nang Please sit down. 2 Introductions ‘The eastest way to introduce someone Is simply, née ..(This i.). A more formal expression is kr ndir-oum hii réo-jak gap (nounssialgiinny,...) 'dliketo introduce youto... When introduced to someone, you can simply greet them with sa-wit dee krdp (ki), or more formally you could say, yin dee te dai réo-Jak gan (Buafl inti) 1’ m pleased to meet you. 3 fairmunw ‘The word fairn derives from the English fan (as in ‘supporter’, not ‘cooling device’) and is the normal word for boyfriend or girlfriend. Ite meaning is extended to include husband and wife which can ‘oceasionally lead the westerner into unworthy speculation. Is that ultra-respectable, middle-aged lady with the nice husband telling you she went to the cinema with him last night ... or with a secret boyfriend? 4 ‘How are you?’ ‘The question sa-bal dee lér? (ML UAMTD) Are you well? is normally answered sa-bai dee. The same answer is appropriate for the more informal enquiry bpen yung-ngai bahng? (Judas t11"13) How are things? 5 ldlr-o . 1 wa ... de When Ihir-o occurs at the beginning of a sentence, it can be trans- lated as andor and then, When itoccurs in combination with thefinal particle If it means (and) how / what about .. Uéir-o kOOn 18? And how about you? Iair-o Idok I ‘And how about the children? Iéir-o pév-un 18? ‘And what about your friend? — 110 — DOCOME IN? 6 Countries meu-ung (1203) is an informal word for country while bpra-tayt (Uazine) is more formal. In spoken Thai you are more likely tohear ‘Thailand referred to as meu-ung tai while bpra-tayt is normally used in writing. 7 Children ‘The word look (8N) child, children refers only tochildren inthe sense of offspring. Thais would use Itok in sentences like How many eidldren do you have?, Her children are lovely, Whose child is that? and soon, When talking about children as an age category, instatements like Thai children are very polite, Children under 12 not permitted and soon, Thais use the word dék (140). 8 bpen iin ‘You have previously met bpen meaning to be, when it occurred in srontofa noun. When itoccurs at theend of asentence itmeanscan, tobe able to or to know how to do something. This use of bpen overlaps with the word dil (see Unit 2; both bpen and dil are used when talking about knowledge of foreign languages. péot (pah-sih) ung-grit bpen mai? Do you speak English? pOot tai mai bpen. I don’t speak Thai, Note that if you want to say that you can speak a language a little, thon mit-ndy (a little) occurs at the end of the statement, after bpen or dai, chin péot bpen nit-ndy. Jean speak it a little. ko p6ot tai dAi nft-ndy. He can speak Thai a tittle. . 9 pée-nérng thias ‘The word for brothers and sisters - pée-nérng - literally means older siblings and younger siblings and makes no reference to gender at all. esHat Sometimes you may hear someone referring to a member of their family as pe and you will not know whether it is an older brother or older sister. When it is necessary to be specific, the word ehal (male) or sio (ferate) is added after pe or nérng. These same gender words are also used with ldok (child) to distinguish between sons and daughters. Both péeand nérng are alsoused tomean youincertaincontexts. An older friend, classmate or work colleague might be addressedas pee as asign ofboth respect and friendship. The word nérag is often used in restaurants to summon a waiter or waitress; but it can also convey ‘a relationship of closeness or intimacy between the two speakers. 10 ‘How many?’ questions ‘The question word ave (A) how many? is always followed by & classifier. Frequently It will be preceded by a noun. mee Ibok gee kon? How many children do you have? bpal gee wun? ‘How many days are you going for? 0 koh-lah gbe kdo-ut? ‘How many Colas do you want? 11... lalr-o réu yung? uarwitedis questions ‘This expresion occurs at the end of a sentence and means _..et(ornot)? Idir-o{s often omitted and the question abbreviated to Feu yung? dtairng ngahn Iéir-o réu yung? Are you married (yet)? mee Iok Idir-o réu yung? Doyouhaveany children (yet)? gin kAo réu yung? Have you eaten yet? To say yes to such questions, you repeat the verb and the word latr-0: dthirng ngahn lsir-o ‘Yes (I'm married). mee lair-o Yes (I do have children). ain Lair-o Yes (I have eaten). — 112 — a ocome ny To say no, you simply say yang. ted using the verb ah-y60 (814) to be aged ... followed the number and then the word kio-up (47) or bpee (il), both of which mean years. kdo-up is used when talking about children upto the age of thirteen or fourteen; for people older than that, bpee is used, ldlr-e (already) often occurs at the end of the express ah-yOO hdk kdo-up (lair-o} sit years old ab-yO0 yée-sip-hah bpee (éir-o) twenty-five years old f, aa ig almost inevitable, a Thai asks you how old you are, you can try making your first bad joke in Thal by answering yée-sip-bih koo-up. If you are solemnly corrected, console youreelf that not crarrone shares the same sense oftumiourand keep working onyour delivery! @——_balrp feuk hat wuvlnvia ——— [1 Howwouldyourespondtoa Thal ifthey said the followingtoyou? (@) sabai dee lér krip? () kOOn pbot pah-sah tal bpen mai? (e) ydo meu-ung tai nahn méi? ‘d) k00n pbot tai geng. (e) chern kahng nai na krip. pee-nérng mai? (@) kér-toht, kOOn dtdirng ngahn Iair-o réu yung? 2 Complete the dialogue. Sue has gone to register at a local clinic. A receptionist is taking down details from the answers Sue gives. What questions did the receptionist ask? Receptionist - Sue chéu Susan Ford ka. Receptionist Sue ah-y0O sahm-sip-hah bree lair-o. —13—ma Receptionist yO Sue mal nahn ka. sorng sahm deu-un tdo-ndn. Receptionist ——_—kdr-tOht . Sue ‘kA, dtairng ngabn léir-o, Receptionist a Bue mee léir-o. mee ldok chai sérng kon ldir-o gor look Receptionist Sue al léir-o gér hah kdo-up. 3° How would you say the following in Thal? (@ Hello, Khun Sunisa, how are you? (®) Please come in. (©) Have you been in England long? (@ Your older sister speaks English well. (© How many brothers and sisters do you have? (P How old is your younger brother? sowuactilen ahn léir kée-un In the last unit you met the tone mark ml Ayk. The other main tone mark is mél toh which is introduced in this unit together with the much less common méi dtree and mil jat-dta-wah. Scan through some of the earlier dialogues to see how frequently mal ayk and mai tob tone marks occur. Once you have mastered these, you are well on the way to being able to read the dialogues in Thai script. 114 — 20. COME My 1 mal toh (-): tone rules ‘This tone mark looks like a number two with an elongated tail and is written above the initial consonant. Like mal ayk which you met in the previous unit, thissingletone mark alsorepresents twodifferent tones When mi teh occurs on a low class initial consonant, the tone will be high: Lowean ff mu cf née rn aga If the initial consonant is either mid class or high class, then the tone Is falling: Midclase WE thy i ati bahn = gdOng. Highelass = Ww wh Kho hat tah 2. mi dtree (= ) and mai jit-dta-wah (- rules {In addition to mal ayk and mi toh there are two other tone marks to earn, Butthese are much less frequently encountered than thetone marks you have already learned. mdi dtree looks like @ number seven: it always produces ahightone, The symbol forméi fatdta-wah cross; words with this mark are always pronounced with a rising tone. mi dtree dud fon fu bpép-sée = dtdrk 460 — 115 —mar méijidtowoh AU ow § déeo —dtiy 60 3 Summary of tone mark rules ‘Tone marks are used, where necessary, to indicate tones in ‘live’ syllables. (There are onlya few exceptions where atone markisused ina dead syllable.) The chart below summarises these rul méitoh —méldiree ml jtedtawah QO © ) ‘Again, as a learning aid, you might find it helpful to make your own ‘copy of this chart and keep it handy for reference rather than trying to memorise everything immediately, ——— bairp fouk ahn— uuuiflndae —— (i Atlof these words are written with mAl toh and are therefore pronounced with either a falling tone or a high tone. fio fa thu Ww 3 tu 4 h wh m1 usa a — 118 — po.cOME mi fou wos do tho Iu wtf wth “ And now some phrases from this and earlier units, using words with mal toh, Teta wie muta hese #alww fuiatn —uihaunshu datnrfs uns awit ural tuo 2, monuaruuin wosteuuin Now that you know mi teh you can begin to read some common prohibition notices. The Thai word for forbidden is hahm. Yount No entry Mouser No parking Yhuguyyt No smoking ‘You will also commonly see the wordskhe to enter) and drk(togo out), Often the word tahing (ioay) 18 tagged to the front of these words. wh Entry math een Exit meen And finally, here is Somchai with a couple of friends ordering lunch in a noodle shop. You can check up on the names of different food dishes in Unit 4. Somehal vatrarinrfaneseT ubismmhiile Waiter thowhufelad Stow hudafitramyuna — 17Tar Somebal sot rawquestiudaiy uiofthumauh (shits orange juice) ¥ Walter shavlld HOudivinda @ 0) © @ @ What did Somehal order? Which food dish did the restaurant not have? ‘What did Somchai choose instead? ‘What is the only drink that the restaurant has? ‘What drinks did Somehai originally order? — 118 — 9 ngahn dtorn née bpen yung-ngai? — How's works these days? smaowitiuadiels In this unit you will learn ¢ how to talk about working and living in Bangkok ‘¢ how to express opinions and preferences «the comparative form of adjectives ‘+ some ways of intensifying adjectives and adverbs © not very... © names of the regions of Thailand © alx important vowels and some less common consonants bot sén-ta-nah unsunur Peter is asking Khun Somehai about his job ... Peter ngahn dtorn née bpen yung-ngai? unoufuuathsts Somehal g6r...dee méu-un gun, A... finflewin ‘ngern deu-un gbr chil dai. Gutowtltty thir bahng kring kit wah nah deve urasATHM hide — 19 —Thal dtorng dtdun athir chéo \6ir-o glap bahn déuk, ‘rt mun dtit jung ler-ee. +00k wun glip bain sée-a way-lah séeng chOo-e-mobng ewab. ‘yoo-seuk wah yair nd, Peter hdl. ybir jing jing. Somehal isir-o ah-giht mun mai dee babng kriing kit wat yank Ja yal bpai yoo dtahng jung-wat, ah-ghht mun dee gwd, ea-tht gwah, rot mal tit, kon mAi naira méu-un tee grOOng-tayp. dostuurith wiandinhwtin sndwietuan niunfinhwiturem nosialuany Finda, ha udsion wdarrmeiilat ansndsfieironinss shuldaydasiowin sommninainys acone man lain entlusis unilowfingsinns 1” rout tdiuaths's Ban wnfiowiin Guifiow iis ua ws z an 4 wile au OWS WORK THESE DAYS? (— (tain cho (trom) early maming (ual) oth bhn house, home thw tuk late at night fin ret car mm run 1 aw att to stick, be stuck an Jung ler-ve (oteneitier) Tune 160k every yn wun ey iw shoe fo spend, waste iio way-lah time yer ohbowmonng hour lus mwah more than... nh roorabuk to fest Tin yale foboanuisence, ahasse ut jing {rve, truly wh shgant air, weather, climate eine val tomove thy thing Jung-wit ——_up-country, outside Bangkok WnidinTA, seat clean B=O1h nairn to be crowded uw mévun the, similar, as union Chanda, meanwhile, asks Sue how she likes living in Bangkok. da kOOn Sue chdrp ydo QM Sue sauod ‘r0Ong-thyp méi? aqanns I Sue chOrp kA. nah sn jai, vours soma atTaal MOWS WORK THESE DAYS? Chanida jing 1ér ks? siawianz wu chan wah grOOng-tayp dtorn née duiinqsinws new “ne ns a i mAi nth ydo ler-ee. por Air bork ‘hlshvayian Wawaiuen fo ah mewa gornrét mai kby mee, “1iflertewsnbalioutl méusa chin yung ddk when twas siita chid edudavdin wih méu-a gorn r Ml idoudt kta the South mele Attuk sdong song gor Ai kty mee. ings Abitioust a ww sn mm dtorn nin mee klorng mee didnmal noutiutinaosilmuls! wove ia s6o-ay Idir-o ab-gaht sa-aht. sous erninesoA oo-gtt a Sue kOOn Che-ni-dab bpen kon qoontiediuaw ‘grOOng-ttyp chal mai ké? agains Lalnane, Chanida mAi chai ka. ‘iii: ce h rm ‘omprehension | pormtiryéimahydotéende —-Mewaldrwanayit ihodudsiain 1 How does Somchai feel about his salary? mura chon yung deh. ven ae 2 How long does il take Somchai to get home from work? méua gbrn chin ydo pahk dtsi, —-orioudwagaanlit 3 What advantages does Somchai believe that working up-country ert tde jung-wit poo-gtt. diafliawinguin , Msover Bangrok? ‘Does Chanida like Bangkok? ‘Where does she come from? i tke 6 When did she move to Bangkok? i 7 How does she describe the Bangkok of ‘the good old days’? to think, say ‘not at all y ¥ | habitable ———~-— pah-sah [dir sung-kom ‘ener mnuardoay mother Hangkok justifiably has the reputation of having one of the world's to say, tell (that) worst traffic congestion problems. Almost 90% of the country’s ty he automobiles are registered there and during the rush hour they nearly all seem to be out on the streets, grid-locked and spewing hardly, scarcoly noxious fumes, The first day of the school term is invariably the ui worst, with horror stories each year of school children getting concrete building suck in jams for up to six hours, Many people who live in the ‘high suburbs will leave home before 6 a.m. in order to beat the morning canst rush and they will quite likely leave work .ater than necessary tw try to escape some of the late aflernoon chaos. 123 meTar Attempts to solve the problem have included special bus lanes, elaborate one-way detours, wide-seale construction of flyovers and elevated by-passes; ambitious politicians pledge their commitment to resolving the problem and the local press carry gular reports about the (distant) prospect of a new public transport system, either underground or an above street level monorail. Bangkok residents appear to bear all this with remarkable resignation and few would consider foregoing the economic opportunies afforded by the capital in favour of a better living environment up-country. In fact, while every Bangkok resident complains that the traffic ix getting worse each year, the vast majority of the city's population has grown up knowing little else. An unprecedented building boom in the last decade has added to the environmental nightmare, with multi-storey office blocks, shopping centres and condominiums springing up ehaotically almost overnight. Despite this, many people, both ‘Thais and foreigners, feel that Bangkok has a richness and vitality that are quite unique. siim-noo-un sw How to: ‘© ask someone's opinion of something » bpen yung-ngal? w» Wuethats give your opinion Kit wah fen roo-sduk wi finn ¢ compare things dee gwah finn -hht gwah o weoTAN HOW'S WORK THESE Dars? © emphasise something ding Jing oo TQ, «= jung ler-ee o» Sn mai... leree ai. vay kum it-ti-bal drags One common beginning of a sontence when it serves a8 a h sitatlon devies rather like English, We, .. th other contexts itcan mean to, alo, there isan example of this when chanida says, r6t ml kiy mee, teak séong sdong s6r mA kty mee, Anothercommon meaning is 2 méu-un gun inilawin méu-un gun literally means likewise . , similarly and i tied in this way. The phrase also has an idiomatic usage, indicating a qualified or lukewarm yes response. se dee mai? it dee mévun gun Quivers chorp mai? Do you like it? chorp méu-un gun ‘Yes, I quite like it, 3 nah vw) Wher i when ih occurs in front of a verb it forms an adjective meaning bau-a tobe bored ah beu bo sOn jai tobe interested in. nah son jal fateretting yoo tolive nah yoo habitable, nice to line in = 125 — — aeri fueat tasty 4 Noun + pronoun + verb ‘This is a very common pattern in spoken Thai. You may hear some ‘Thais carry the construction across to English, with statements like My teacher, he is not nice, rét mun dtit ‘The traffic is jammed, (traffic-it-stuck) ah-gaht mun mai dee The airis bad. (air-tt-not-good) ‘Sém-chai kéo mal mah Somchai's not coming. (Somehalhe-notcome) 5 Intensification ‘The easiest way to emphasise or ‘intensify’ an adjective or adverb is simply to add mAbk (3/10) very, much after it. In this unit, two additiogal ways of intensification are introduced, adding Jung ler-ee (9380) or Jing Jing (9934) after the adjective, both of which can be translated as really... or ever ao... You can also use mihk in front of jung ler-ee although very often this is abbreviated in speech to ... mAhk ler-ee. dee mahk jung ler-ee very good. or dee mahkler-ee Jere ia also used with mA to intensify negative statements. The pattern mad ... ler-ce (au), with ler-ee occurring at the end of the sentence, can be translated a3 not ...at all, mAi nth yoo ler-ee not very nice to tive in at all mAi mee ler-ee There aren't any at all. mAi pairng ler-ee ‘not at all expensive It is important to distinguish between mil ...ler-ee and mil .. rork (see Unit 3), for both can be translated as not... at all. mal... ler-ee is essentially a statement of fact, whereas mal. rork is a statement of contradiction. ~ pairng jung ler-ee It's ever so expensive. = mAi pairng rork No, itisn't (at all) — 128 — ‘The comparative form of adjectives is formed by adding gwah famore than): good dee gwah better clean sa-aht gwah cleaner small 1ék gwah smaller 10 the use of gwah in the expression sérng chéo-s-mohng wah (more than two hours). 7 chérp wou chorp means to like. It 1s important not to confuse it with yahk Ga) (uN (9)) to want to, would like to which you met in Unit. chérp can be followed by either a verb or a noun, but yabk ja is always followed by a verb. chOrp yao tée-nbe Like living here. yhhk ja yoo te-nee I would itke to live here. chérp (gin) ah-héhn tai Tlike (eatirg) Thai food. yhhi ja gin ah-hihn tal T would like to eat Thai food. 8 mai kéy ... lado ... mil kay ... (not very ..., hardly, scarcely) is an extremely useful way ol ‘modi ing or toning down negative responses. The word 113) sao-ral (11 often oceurs at the end of the phrase, but does not change the meaning. kby chorp (tHo-rai) 1 don't Wike it very much. mil koy ado-ay (tdo-rai) Wa not very nice. ‘mal kéy pairng (tho-rai) It's not very expensive. 9 mova ido méu-a means when and is used when you are talking about things that happened in the past. — 17 -al still. a child méu-a chin yung dek when I was. oa 3 hah kde when I was five years: méu-a chan ah- y60 0-UP inthe past ‘three years ago 10 pahk ma ‘Thailand is divided into four pabk (regions), each of ‘which has its ‘own distinet dialect and traditional customs, pahk néu-a the North. meunito pak desi the South malt pahk glahng the Central mena pik ee-sibn the North Bast = NV#ORTH 128 — OWS WORK THESE DAYS? balrp fuk hit uuviava bau... Here are some people grumbling about their job and wishing they had their neighbour's. What does each one say? (The first one is done for you.) Example: @ bea. mal kéy ehOrp bpen dtum-rdo-ut. yahk bpen ta-hiho mahk gwah. (@) dtum-rd0-ut (poticeman) @) ta-hahn (soldier) (©) roo (teacher) (a) mér (doctor) (e) lay-kdh-nOO-gehn (secretary) (D ndk (60-ré-glt (businessman) () nik ndng-séu pim Gournatist) th) mAir bahn (housewife) {t) adyt-tée (millionaire)ma HOW'S WORK THESE Oars —— ahn lair kée-un dowuariden —— 2 Somehai is weighing up the advantages and disadvantages of living in Bangkok or outside the capital, Which statements Go you think he would list under each heading? 1 Consonants fa) ydo grOOngtayp . ()_ydo dtahng jung-wit .. 2 (ab-gaht sa-Aht gwah a (ii) ngern deu-un gor chai dai 1 4 } e h did kon nfien > J 2). (iy) dtérng dtdun dtalr ch4o, {air-o glip bahn déuk tw) rot mai dtit » (vi) ab-gaht mat dee (wil) kon mai koy naira (viiid rét dtlt jung ler-ee (x) diduk sdong sdong mai kéy mee w o n q m (x) ngern deu-un mai key dee « t > a 3 How would you translate like inthe sontences below? Choose + jranownced ‘a’ atthe end of a word _ Gi yahk Ja Gib chérp and Gv) méw-un. (a) 1 don’t like Thai food. “this third () I'd like to visit Phuket Wis third group of tow class consonants have the {c) I'd like a plate of fried rice, please. asother low class consonants that you have already’ Teamned ia Unit (GU like erab fried rice and 4, The new consonants do not occur as ‘requently as those viu met earlier, but they cannot be ignored es they appear in a fe) It's not like English food. {Pa like to send it by air. her of common words. These include: “ kah toil i pab-sih language wis ving lady ae ya big a yee-bpoon Japar, mu k00n you, Khun — 130 — 131 -2 Vowels i-1 FaitFa aie -% mo -r 0 een eu oR er (short) (long) long) (long) long) (short) Several new vowels are now being added, most of which are made ‘up of combinations of symbols you have already met. Many learners worry that when reading words where a vowel surrounds consonant, such ast~1, they willtry to read it astwoseparate vowels (t+ and -7) instead of recognising it single vowel. In fact most find the problem evaporates as soon as they start to practise reading, Even so, it is worth remembering that whenever you encounter the symbol \- you need to sean the next couple of letters briefly to see whether it Is a vowel in its own right or just a part of a‘wrap-around’ vowel. ‘+ When “9 jg followed by another consonant symbol it omits the top part ( - ) of the vowel symbol. wh * a héoe dtooe wooe but fu mu nw ddo-ay séo-un roo-ay When (2 is not followed, by a consonant it drops the top part of the vowel symbol (=) but adds the zero-consonant symbol (8) at the end of the word. — 192 — vin dorm ut wa ter OWS WORK THESE Dav? On dpert wa jer fin wert go! ——— bairp féuk Ahn wuuilndan ‘Once you have learned the vowels and consonants from this: Unit, you should be able to read these words from the Dialogue. wilow ou ow de iu trlus ue feo Qu fis io my ma fin aia ‘These phrases taken from earlier units, all include new letters from this unit, some ofthe qavfonsls fussmuann —— Furvintavwin Taacuriats orth ——ouhoclaners voudnends — nmaelng) arnnevasneidonay yemuntnadiuiny gniueymaniy sxuanilivusorion . tril pronounced tio-ral with a low tone on the secondsyllable ** 41 pronounced néhm with a long vowel, unless it is part of a compound word such as WW mitra sém — 73 —THA jking Somehal about his origins .. Peter numudunumearnteldlns ‘i aaifinfduslnad riowlhoanopAdlomutullion wdonudsvtin Peter soungii nn ‘Tidousay Adiofindoiae ogdusladormencone aolafnndawid (a) Where does Somchai come from? (b) How long has he lived in Bangkok? (© How does bis place of birth compare with Bangkok? ‘Write answers to these questions: quurrmarls qantinufinn srppsqantinodast Gufowtlns . Trae qsudorrenttatan (Awrtt) ARB SF bat ahn undaw ————— 's occupation? How old was she when 6! ‘Whet was her older brother's ambition when he was at school? qoarfientiunumelt thatiowinguiin woiludyrs — 134 — HOWS WORK THESE Oars? sniuuahtow figntanw HoudqnseriudtosdhonayAd 4 oqastimmnyhaay Anuqusiedoin Aaaievingowri wwuenhemnesiunne " “eseinioas AAT policeman (dtun-sbo-ut") Tatu schoo! ‘Noto that the second syllable is pronounced with a low tone, aot a falling tone, learned. a might be expected from the rules you have — 15 —10 tahn pet bpen mai? Can you eat spicy food? muiiadulna In this lesson you will learn ‘¢ the names of more Thal foods anything, anpwhere, anyone the verb hal how to express opinions: too... how to read words that begin with two consonants (J ———. bdt son-ta-nah unawnwi Chanida has taken Peter and Sue to a restaurant. re WB water sang réu yung krip? favfodantu Chanida yung ka. vane kr doo may-noo noy. eguiymian k00n Peter chorptahn rai? Qfh Peter vourmuorls Peter arai gr dai krup. arlifldedu — 138 — ‘CAN You EAT spicy FOOD? hdl KOOn Cha-nt-dah sing dee gwan, IMqaunimasiin’ Chanida 0On Sue tabn pet bpen mai? —_atuSue wriniTulna Sue pen ka tah mAi pét mahk, diweis divtaitdinasin goirng gal pat mabk mai ké? unstidinuintwuns mai pet mahk krip. ivimanniy Chanida th yahng adn kor gairng gat = hathoitu vounsi néu-a pit ném mun héy dovintaatunan élr-o gor dtom yum gOOng. stafiiudhits thm yum mai ao pétmankns, — dutialiondieannus a0 ko déc-ay nd, tortious Walter krlp. dlr rip néhme-ral krip? usviusho: tani Chanida kér nim sbm kin sémng giro ka. vorhduduasuAaris Vélr-o kOOn Peter rip bee-a udiamPeteriuios chal mai? Wha sing faoraer h ‘tabn to eat mu atalg6r dal anything oslaild hal to get someone to do something IW pat spicy ie tah it wh gelrng curry ung galng git chicken curry ansti tah yahng nin in that case thothata néve deo! dp pitt to sth tty fia — 937 —‘nam mun hoy oyster sauce oe vniiwnen «hw ‘nbu-e pitt ndmm mun hoy bee! tried in oystor sauce loetiwnae dtéen yum gOOng shrimp ‘tom yarn’ rip. om 36m oreceive, take orange juice ‘num s6m kin fresh orange juice ‘After the main course the waiter returns. [By Waiter Chanida Waiter ‘Chanida Chanida Peter ‘rap korng wahn méi krip? mee a-rai bahng ké? mee pén-la-mai mee ka-nom Ihir-o gor mee ai dtim. ka-nom tée-née a-roy nd. kO0n Sue tahn ka-ném mai méi di kA, Im Idir-o. \sir-o kOOn Peter 1A? tahn ka-nom tai mai bpen krap. ‘ett with mai koy a-roy. wahn gern bpai. sweet, dessert (see kum ui--bal (5)} frat cake, dessert ice-cream to be fa guts tu : wid ears widen fuvomnwlnuiaiy fos'intrans: usta dows waafiflenein swufioioene qa Sue ruawallnas “ails Sauda ugaqes Peter de yawnaltnldbunty feinidoveion wowafivld veswo™ ths welt ws “loasiy au vil (CAN YoU EAT spICY FOOD? At the end of the meal, Khun Somchai offers Peter a cigarette. Somehal sdop bOO-rée méi krap? Peter mai sdop krap. Lerk Ibiro. Somehal nérng, nérng! kor tée-kee-a OO-rée ndy, chék bin déo-ay. cigarette to smoke fo cease, give up water! ashtray ‘ean Ihave the bil? Comprehension Can Sue eat hot food? ‘What dishes does Khun Chanida order? ays quinn igquedy Gnuda tooq Agha adusr vordieywinsion Gndiadaw wt 4 guys in tloay dda Atos vinta ‘What do they have to drink with their meal? Why doesn't Sue want any dessert? Why doesn't Peter like Thai desserts? ‘What does Somchai ask the waiter for? — 139 —raat — pah-sih ldir siing-kom munuaciisan — If you are eating alone in a restaurant, you are most likely to ‘order a rice oF noodle dish (see Unit 4) which are served quickly. But if you go out for an evening meal with a number of friends, you are more likely to order rice and a variety of side dishes. These may be brought to the table once they a cooked and the meal can begin before all the dishes have arrived. If you are invited to aefect one of the dishes, you should be aware that it is not for your exclusive consumption but is supposed to blend in with all the other dishes. If you fare not very confident about what to choose, you can always relinquish the responsibility by saying, bal kOOn x sting dee awah (It's better to let Khun x order). If you do opt out, watch what Thais order, so that on future oc will be able to make appropriate combinations yo! ‘Thais use a spoon and fork (although chopsticks are used in noodle shops) to eat. After rice has been served onto the ‘spoonful or two is normally taken from one of the side dishes, and mixed with the rice before eating, A meal is thus a constant ‘dipping-in' process. In some restaurants a serving spoon will be provided with each side dish, but in others, you simply use the spoon and fork that you eat with. Expect to be asked questions about whether you can eat Thal food (abn ah-habo (ai bpen mil?), whether you can eat spicy food (tahn ab-bébn pet bpen mAl?), whether Thai food is tasty (ab-hibn tai a-rey mél?), whether Thal food is spicy (ah- haha tal pet mé{?) and so on. At the end of a meal, the host or senior person present will normally pick up the bill. Although Thai cigarette packs have introduced health warnings in the last few years, many Thai men smoke. Smoking is still seen as manly in men and sophisticated in some women. When offering a cigarette, a Thal may ask sbep bOO-rée mAi? or, more surprisingly to the westerner, sbop bOO-ree bpen mAl? (literally, Can you smoke?). The latter question does not require a pedantic explanation along the lines of “Yes-7- can-but-aetually-I-don't-any’ more-because-it's-bad-for the-health; a simple mal sbop krip (ka) or, if accepting, kbrp-kOOn krdp (hi) is quite sufficient. While smoking Is banned in certain places, such as hospital waiting rooms and cinemas, the non-smoking work environment is a long way from realisation in Thailand. — 140 — (GAN YOU EAT seicy FOOD an ROE SS fer siim-noo-un www How to: ‘© ask your friend to order for you bai kOOn X sing dee gwah Win x asin © ask ifn dish is very spicy +» pet mank mal? Amann © tell the walter you don’t want it too hot mAi.ao pet mahk né ‘hiendeannus say you are full tm Idir-o Suu — mM‘© say you can't eat something tahn (gin) .. nai bpen «say something is too sweet /spicy mu (fin)... twill wahn / pet gern bpal wnwfiniull ‘© say you don't smoke mal sdop ‘Wigu kum ut-ti-bal do8uw 1 ..gordal fle ww ft dbl occurs commonly with question words in the following iatettaite expressions, which in conversational English, often tag you ltke or will do on to the e1 acral gor dal anything ral gor dai anyone tee-nai gor dal anywhere méu-ral gor di any time pop gun tée-nal? Where shall we meet? = tee-ndt gor dal = Anywhere you like. rao ja bpal méwral? ‘When shall sve go? = méu-ral gor dal = Any time will do. 2 nal W inet hal ig an important verb in Thai with a number of dist ‘usages, It can mean to get someone to do something, to pive and for. In the expression hai kOOn X shng dee gwab it has the first meaning of getting somoone to do something, In the dialogue, the pronoun I is omitted because it is understood from the context. Here are some more examples: — 142 — ‘CAN You EAT SPICY FOOD? kdo hai pém séu bOO-ree He got me to buy some cigarettes. pom hai kéo glap bahn I got him to go home. kéo hai rao bpaitahng reu-a They got us to go by boat. 3 tahn mu tahn is a polite, slightly formal word for to eat, rather like sthp (Unit 7) was the formal word for to know. You would use these words in formal situations and when speaking to people of equal or more senior status. The more informal word for to eat is ain (fi). 4 rap ww ‘The waiter uses the more polite and formal verb rip (to receive) when asking the diners what they would like, whereas the waitress in the coffee shop in Unit 4 used the less formal ao, 5 aralbahng avis When the word bahng (1119) (some, somewhat) appears after 4 question word, it assumes that the an:wer will be in the form of some kind of list. Notice that this bihng, which occurs al the end of a question, is spelt differently from bahng (118) in Unit 9, where it occurred in front of a noun, bahng? What fruits do you have? = meesip-bpa-rét, malagor - There's pineapple, Lsir-o gor dtairng moh papaya.and watermelon, bpai tee-o tée-nai bahng? Where did you visit? ~ bpaichee-ung-mai, pit-tayah —- I went to Chiangmai, Ldir-o gor poo-get Pattaya and Phuket, réo-jtk krai bahng? Who do you know? + r60-jak kOOn Som-chai,kOOn — ~ I know Khun Somchai, Mab-lee ldir-o g6r kOOn Sa-ngah Khun Malee and Khun Senga. — 43 -Hat 6 gem bpal ifiwld ‘gern bpat (too ...) occurs after an adjective. In spoken Thai, it 1s common to omit the word gern, wahn (germ) bpai too sweet pat gern) bpal t00 hot, spicy pairng (gern) bpal too expensive 16k ern) bpai too smalt 7 Thal food Here is a list of some basic foods and dishes. In many restaurants catering for a foreign clientele, dishes will be listed in Thai seript and romanised Thal, perhaps with a description in English. Systems of romanising Thai words however, will vary considerably from one ‘urant to another, but if you have followed the script lessons carefully up to now, you won't need to look at romanised Thai anyway! Curries and soups an gairng ‘wet! curry (i.e. with a lot of liquid) ud pa-nairng ‘any cury unsli — gairng gti chicken curry unade gairng néu- beef curry unsifealy gairng mdt-se-mun ‘Muslim’ cury unsia — gaimg jeut bland, clear soup fut = dtémyum ‘tom yam’ (a spicy soup made with lemon grass) — 14 — ‘CAN YOU EAT SPICY FOO0? uti dtém yum gO0ng shrimp ‘tom yam’ utile atom yum bplah fish ‘tom yam’ Meat and fish tn an chicken Vniiomleliy gal pat nor-mai chicken fried with bamboo shoots Vidinia hi pat king chicken fried with ginger ‘nviawtn hi pit prik chicken fried with chittt ‘TWieielunzins1 gai put bal ga-prao chicken fried with basil leaves ‘imomnasifius gattortgratee-um chicken fied wWnlne prik tai swith garlic and pepper ‘Vivinutivanz7 gti pit bpréeo wihn —sveet and sour chicken ‘tiths gai yahng barbecued chicken. ile néva beer tects név-a pit king bee fried with ginger orien Gn néu-a pat prik beef fried with chilli lorinstraiimou néu-a pat nim mun héy beef fied in oyster sauce my méo pork. yey méo pat king pork fried with ginger sydiawin méo pat prik pork fried with chilti wyrinmiely ——méo pat ndr-mai pork fried with bamboo shoots — 45 —mA wagelunciw7 —méo pit bal ge-prao pork fried with basil leaves wysinudinwri — mboputbprte-o wihn sueet and sour pork ile bpet duck uiinths ‘pet yahng roast duck Fish dishes q poo crab um bplah fia h dong shrimp lv) 00ng ya lobster muuawnn dplah bprée-owahn sweet and sour fish thiawin g0Ong pat prik shrimp fried with chillt uifelunsinss O0ng pitbal ga-prao_ shrimp fed with basi noes Egg dishes W ral 0 Wen kal dao red ego Titer kal fee-0 omelette ‘adel wal yat s8i stuffed omelette — 48 — go! AN YOU EAT SPICY FOOD? bairp feuk hit uvufinia How would you questions? ewer if a Thal sked you the following (a) tabn ab-hahn tai bpen mal? @) ab-hihn tai pat mai? (©) tahn pét ben mai? (@)_ab-habn tal a-roy mal? (@) tahn ka-ném tai bpen mai? D sdop bOO-ree mal? rip a-rai krip? ‘You have taken some nom-Thai speaking friends to a restaurant and they expect you to do the talking. How would you order the following? beef curry sweet and sour fish chicken fried with ginger shrimp ‘tom yam’ How would you: (@) tell the waiter you don’t want the ‘tom yam’ to be too hot? () ask the walter ifthe beef curry is spicy? (©) say that the chicken fried with ginger is very tasty? @ ask the walter what fruit the restaurant serves? (@ tell the walter Thai desserts are too sweet and ask if they serve ice-cream? — 47 —mat —— ahnidirkbe-un dowuariign —— 1 Words beginning with consonant clusters All of the words that you have read up to now have begun with either a single consonant or a vowel sound. In this unit we are going to learn how to read words that begin with a consonant cluster (two consonant sounds) ~ words like krdp, glip, gwah and so on. The following consonant clusters exist in Thai; knowing which consonant clusters can exist at the beginning of a word will help you to avoid misreading certain two-syllable words. ni O5-, BI a- Wie Pa kr ate Pr nee ag-, VA- ‘wa al. a pk m- m-, 1a aw kw When it comes to reading a word like 4U,, the tone should clearly be high, since (i) it is a dead syllable, {ii) both consonants in the cluster are low class, and (lil) the vowel Is short. However, in many words the two consonants at the beginning of a word belong to different classes. In such cases, it is the class of the first consonant which determines the tone. wm Ant gn kwh gla bplook (CAN YOU EAT SPICY FOOD? 2 Words with no vowel symbols In Unit 4 you met words tike ken and hbk which consisted of two consonants but no written vowel symbol. Two syllable words, consisting of three consonant symbols and no vowel symbola are much less common. In such cases the firat vowel is -2 and the second -0. any aU wun ta-nén sa-ngdp ka-nom More common are words in which there Is a vowel symbol in the second syllable, but where a short -a vowel supplied in the first. ame aw uw im dtalaht = sa-ndhm se-bai cha-nf-dah 8 to be In having two consonants at the beginning, the words above look very similar to those that begin with a consonant cluster. But if you check the consonant cluster chart above, you will see that the sounds dtl, sn-, sb- and chn do not exist at the beginning of Thai words. So the short -a vowel has to be added afer the initial consonant. The first syllable in words like thia is pronounced with a mid tone. ‘The tone of the second syllable is determined by the second congonant in the cluster uniess it is one of those consonants you learned in Uniti(ie.$ % oY T UR 2 if the second consonant is a Unit 1 consonant then the class of the first consonant determines the tone. ww am aw ai kaboo-un ——sa-pahp sa-nahth seengah Note: Words beginning U3- are pronounced with an -or vowel between the first and second consonants, not an -a vowel. vims vin ign bor-ri-gaha, bor-ri-sitmal —— balrp fouk ahn uuuflnday [Bl | im all of these words two consonant symbols appear before there is any vowel symbol. Some are consonant clusters, others require you to supply a short vowel. nh m my ahey ue win as Ana Int niu Jer agi oueimes WIE awn wwe ayn amo minyu 2. What's it tir) fried with? On a Thai menu you will find a large number of items consisting of the name of the meat (e.g. gil, ‘néw-a, moo) followed by the word pat (stir fried) and then the vegetable with which it is fried. Match up the Thai seript with the English description, @ .. Hetty (a)... fried with basil leaves a. Hawin (by... fried with ginger ai)... dandelit (c) fried with chilli dv). Helunsww7 (@) fried with bamboo shoots 3. No pork, please. If you were eating with a friend who didn't ike pork, which of these dishes should be avoided? «. Marimiaiunen e. nynauwM o. ‘Widewiel <. wun € fatiantn 4. That's not what J ordered! ‘This was what the waiter noted down for your order (see bairp feukhat2), How many dishes did he get right? And what unexpected delicacies arrived at your table? 150 CAN YOU EAT SPICY FOOD? @. unaille by, nunlfeanar Went a. Gudn] bot ahn undww Fach year thousands of people leave their vill jages in rural Thailand and feck co Bangkok i search of work. white some are seasonal migrants, others, thro ither bition, will never vetern, Ta this passage, © young gl, Tul, talks about leaving home and golng to work In & noodle shop in Bangkok. (Note that she refers to herself as ‘Tui’ ‘alter than ung cha, Using one® name of niname Instead ery common in the speech of girls; a lot of forel mien plckup the abt and sound tether sttengeto Thala!) wantin agnyhuiing Aimiannasee Arhylaireufiowyh uensinyin qullseurinwn tiunnsunn AieiwinwAddnhn Govihontthuraedin shamudvonita ansiviniavnitie auinndinhudatanin wadwhideutl — 1 —mar aude «a North-Easterner win vilage t8in 18k tke (The symbol 4] moans tepeet the previous word) wuaomus Nongkhe ry work (noun) wanein apart from vn tice taming tothe a it tn difoult funn dificult aoa ow Frwrhautua iho towash vote oy money Comprehension (a) What work opportunities are there for Tui in her village? (®) Why doesn't she want to do this? (©) What does she do all day long in the noodle shop? (@) Is she happy in her work? (© Why can't she go home? —- 182 — 1] kOOn péot tai geng You speak Thai well annalnenrs In this lesson you will learn ¢ how to talk about your knowledge of That why? questions to talk about things that happened in the past: ker-ce to talk about things that are happening now: gum-lung abstract nouns the final group of consonants bdt son: nah oo unawnw ‘taxi driver strikes up a conversation with Peter... Vat bpen kon amay-ri-gun chai mai? uauowiduldtaw Peter mai chai bpen kon unggrit. ‘Whi ueudongye Taxi oh kon ung-grit lér? To audannwnio yoo meu-ung tai nahn mai? oxidostnuwi inn Peter mai nahn krip, Want‘Tax Taxl Peter Taxi Peter Taxi Peter tum-mai kOOn péot tal géng? indi gang rork krdp. pOot di nit-ndy tho-nin, eng st krip. mee mee-a kon tai chai mai krip? mai chai krdp. ker-ee ree-un te unggelt mah gorn. ree-un pah-sih tai tee uns-erit dai ler? dai krip. mee kon tai sorn mai? moe krap. mee ting fa-rang Lair kon tai sorn, dito kOOn Ahn Iéir kée-un pab-sih tai dai mai? ‘gum-lung ree-un krip. why? particle wile informal) used 10; to have ever done something tohave ever done someting MAU. sF1FiB 10 study, learn to teach bath... anc sttuqnaystmutris Tautswaeneiy yelitinmanirinen wisbeiy Skitunvlneltmuniy ‘ailldntu ieuiom ASenquanrion Guumantnundangs ‘wie Wein nw tnusewina ins Griaeuse avlnuaan udaamdmuasiiun manila mhaaiewniy van Gm sow he. Be VOU SPEAK THA WELL toread towrite {0_be in the process of hanida is meanwhile asking Sue how she finds leat © chantan pab-sin tai yahk mai, Sue Chanida kOOn Sue? chin wah péot yahk prér wih pah-sih tai mee sée-ung sdong sée-ung dtiim. gloo-a wah ja pOot pit sa-mér. mali dtéeng gloo-a rork, pot chat jing jing. kOOn Sue ker-ee ree-un tée-tiai? lor? mee kroo kon tai méi? mee kf. 1dir-o mee kroo fa-ring ddo-ay, Ihir-o kOOn Sue ree-un Ahn Idir kée-un déo-ay efi mai? cbAi ké. fa-riing babng kon kit wah ‘abn pah-sih tai kong yank, chiin wah mAi kéy yéhk tto-rai. kwahm jing kit wah aho Iéir kée-un ngfi gwah pot. mwiinguintan 4 Sue shinee muvilnntiausgs hush nifvines yarinanie ‘aidaandanton yotiavieg muSueinuiauttyn Hrownouis fluwrinendy wie? dagaulnetnn sic udhafingelts fu uaaqm Sue Gundam vaciuudaotslay Viele isursaufienn srumwiinunannn dunbisounnl smuntaFiotnd ruse iuwdentyaYOU SPEAK THAI WELL —pah-sah lélr siing-kom = nwuartisan— om wneh One of the most enjoyable aspects of speaking Thai in Thailand is . that there always seem to be lots of Thais eager to tell you how well vias you speak their language. Even the most faltering attempts are a Mkely to prompt a complimentary plot tal géng (You speak Thai ‘ well). Such encouragement {s a wonderful incentive to practise a) more, but don’t take it too literally. Mutual compliments are an nia important part of Thai social relations and Thais are simply trying in obe friendly and express their appreciation that the foreigner hes wrong made an effort to lear something of their language, rather t aweye vue objectively evaluating his or her linguistic competence, Th ‘Wigos priate response is a suitably modest one of denial such as m there's no need (to) ye rirk or bplao (see Unit 8) or péot dal nft-ndy tho-ntin. Generally university aww speaking, it doesn’t hurt to compliment Thais on thelr command of ® English; unteas, of course, they spent their formative years in an teacher 4 English boarding school or have just returned from the United bound 10 be, suratobe 9 tates with an MBA, in which case you risk sounding a little conde- rot very Yalow. ints sending! (in) truth; truly; actually anudis . sy fu ——— stim-noo-un dwn How to say: © Lonly speak a little cThaid Comprehension . assumptions doesthe taxi drivermake about Peter” oot (pal-sih tal) dal gelatin) tat 1 bias se tearn Thal? it-ndy tao-miin fandouirnun 3) Who taught him? ‘© I studied It hefore ter read Thai? . i : why does Sue find it hard to speak Thal? ker-ee ree-un mah gorn taudouarrion What in she afraid of? . ‘ How does Chanida reassure her? Jam studying it & How easy does Sue find the Thal script? xum-Lung ree-un réaction * ICs difficult to speak because it has tones Oot yank pror wah mee aée-ung song waenmnwmehfiluagy | 168 — — 187 mee ——ssssmar fase: sée-ung dtm ine ‘e I'm always afraid I'l make a mistake gloo-a ja poot pit samér niarynhenmus kum it-t(-bal #088 ———— 1 tum-mal? vinta ‘The question word tum-mal why?) can occur either atthe beginning of at the end of the question. a? tum-mal ptottal geng? Why do you speak Thai so wel bpal tum-mal? ‘Why are you going? awer'why?’ questions using prér wah (iwrizd1) because, ‘Youca ‘is Thai, yrér wah mair bpen kon tal Because ' my mother prér wah yahk bpai Because I'd like to go. 2 98 * yrds which i there are many ‘particles’ - untranslatable wo! te ued to convey meaning in much the way we use stret and Intonation in English. In the conversation the taxi driver uses # emphasise his statement: ‘Text tum-mal kOOn pOot tal geng? Why do you speak Thai so well? Peter mAi gong rork krip. I don't, to. ‘Taxi gong at krap. ‘Yea you 3 meea tiie meen ife. While @ s an informal, even slightly vulgar word for wife. Whil taxi driver may use it quite naturally, it is much more appropriate — 188 — lee —‘“—s—s—s—SS YOU SPEAK THAI WELL and safer for the foreigner to use the formal word, pun-ra-yah (0730). péo-a (H'2) is the informal word for husband and sah-mee (snl) the more polite term. 4 ker-ee lay ‘The word ker-ee occurs in front ofa main verb and indicates that the: ction of the verb has occurred at least once in the past. The negative, mal ker-ee (aii) means never. pom ker-ee ree-un T have studied it. 1 used to study it. ko mai ker-ee bpai ‘She has never been. ker-ce gin ah-hahn tai mai? Have you ever eaten Thai food? 5 gum-lung finde When gum-lung oceurs before a verb it usually indicates that the etlon of the verb is taking place at present. ILis best translated by ‘he -ing form of the verb in English. pom gum-lung ree-un pah-sih tai Tam studying Thai. rao gum-lung gin K&o We are eating. k4o gum-lung doo tee-wee He is watching T.V. 6 kong ay kong or kong Ja occurs before a main verb and means bound to or sur to, ahn pah-sih tai kong yahk — Reading Thaiis sure to be difficult. iio kong mai mah It's certain he's not coming. Ikivw kong mai mee ‘They are bound not to have any. 7 kwahm a7 ‘the word kwahm is used to transform a verb or adjective into an ‘abstract noun, In the dialogue it occurs with Jing (true) to mean — 189TAL YOU SPEAK THAI WELL truth and can be translated asthe truthis or actualy. Here are some . Maxe up sentences describing the compary’s more examples: language. The first sentence is done foryou. strength tn each dee good kwahm dee goodness . kt to think kwohmkit idea Stephen péot pah-aih Jeon dal klorng rok to love kwahm rik love Paula poot pah-sih jeon cola... 5O0k tobehappy kwahm s00k happiness fa—— Ahn Idir kée-un duuasifiey —— balrp feuk hot wuuflnvia 1 Consonai [gl How would you respond to the following questions and com- ce ints ments? ‘The consonants inthis unit are notvery common and atthisstage you need not worry about memorising them. The class of each consonant (a) k0On pdot tai gens. (®) ker-ee ree-un pah-sih tai mal? is indicated beneath the symbol. (c) kOOn ree-un pah-sih tai nahn inh? i" (f) kOOn kée-un pah-sih tal bpen mal? {g) pah-sah tai yank Ai? 2 Here is a company's summary of its staff's spoken language 7 proficteney in the languages of the Far East. “ 3 (a) x00n ree-un pab-sah tal tee-nal? (e) kOOn thn pab-sih tei dbi mal? J, re) w a a : ch a at t low id i Wabrng Stephen Kevin. Sharon Nicola ™ mid igh gong Paula Stephen Sarah Kathy 2 altmy Nicola Sarah Paula 1 oe 6 fe A ls 1 4) uw yn. n a " 1 t t 1 b low low ‘ow low — 100 — — 161 —mH 2 Vowel shortener: -¢ Im Unit 9 you met the vowel symbol ‘The same symbol also has a complet ‘ening the following long vowels: ( ely different function, In short- ue, T+, b-8, and 1-7. jee ye ee bee er we Ts war ad Here are some of the more common words that you will meet in which -£ acts as a vowel shortener. Wwe ye alot uae air ond Vee ans table war yer ett wwe prot becouse ims wor island — 162 — YOU SPEAK THAI WELL -———— balrp fouk hn wusflnaaw ——— 1 The phrases in this section offer some more examples of some of the key structures introduced in this unit. ‘Taauiriarits ‘iniovotauyinls “Lideuunsriils rlayelnue yolwhineu villain wmehialiweadine umedhiny — orvitbletay saul snvglns seufiulnn Khun Sa-nga’s company Is involved in trade with Cambodia and hehas been asked to recruit a Thai who knows Cambodian, Here hes, interviewing an applicant from Buriram Province in North East Thalland which has a large Cambodian-speaking population. Senge qnfeacliniy Applicant — 0 aritygn Fr sruga unsdund Senge enyurhlaniy Applicant = tale fi Senge ritlonoyemininaTly Applicant Aduanwandawinnjiud ens fhunyamennrimue Senge wgnlandiostaitna Applicant fiz age wdaqndruussduumeniountiulna Applicant —“aifhusiz “y5ud Buriram (The symbol overthe final letter indicates that itis not pronounced.) — 163 — leTH (©) What is the applicant's name? %) How old is she? (© How well does she speak Cambodian? (@ How well does she read and write it? Look at the application form on the next page, submitted by another candidate for the same job, You will not understand everything on the form, but a full translation is provided in the Key. Before you refer to this, try to extract the following information: (a) Applicant’ s name (b) Date of birth Address @ Current salary (@) Educational background ® Work experience (@ Competence in Cambodian bétahn und Magazines in Thailand sometimes feature interviews with western residents and questions about language inevitably occur. Hereisan interview with a British businessman. Interviewer qiagiflestnewaulnuniy Businessman wun alsanss » Mawirinita Interviewer — qniyelnuirisnnedy — 184 — YOU SPEAK THAI WELL hunter fo weave winana AU MOY viniwl ow haw — naloded atari Bon vou om, aH Ww mus Sune in donianTaynw 4 aya Tho ™ shuwbiogts Taine Guson o¢,¢00 uretainainw veod quligndoMaxinody usraungsalnayhen pat otod - BEBE armatti onnea Nezael-inel tbe dept fhumFnnnseitd aims unt w ow dow atos v a“ a“ — 165 —THA, wilowiwvesin wnudiowilyn Businessman Huwmosniy ‘hifiroethiowilaadon Vdearwacind Interviewer uwasuintnuaty Businessman fMlafiovsnnwitls svludind feansennnty ueneiaimuninuiliuagatost Interviewer udaqndruuseiomntnulatnn Businessmen SwisMawwountu Mifluhdws usiiowlidadlé onfiow tke vhyosmin native speaker (it, cwner of te language) 109 sol! Guay () studied on my own ae time Tisduw schoo! Wi touse an textbook om tape it YOU SPEAK THAI WELL Comprehension (a) How long has he been in Thailand? (b) How did he learn Thal? (o) What alds did he have in learning Thai? (d) Can he read and write Thai? — 167 —12 _— mai kao jai I don't understand —— taiutite In this unit you will earn «strategies for coping when you don't understand © how? questions © more ways of saying I don’t ‘understand! © dont... ‘@ some spelling irregularities and miscellaneous diacritics | f) ———__ bot sén-ta-nah unsunuo ‘Sue has accompanied some Thai friends to 8 restaurant. [By] Chanda bplah Kem mak mat ks Usruiinanntnun: k0On Sue? qm Sue Sue a-rai na ké? arlauens pot dek tee dai mai? wyadnitialan Chanida bplah kem mank mal? Yervfasanntwy Sue mal kbo jai. ‘bishls ee Chanlda 1 DONT UNDERSTAND Poot chéh chéh ndy dai mai? bplah - kem - mél? mii réo-fitk kum wah ‘kem’. poh-sah ung-grit bplair wah a- bplair wah ‘salty’ kdo jal Idir-o. kom ka, “kem’ se-got yung-ngal? fish time again slow word to vansiate whet does ... mean? to spell i nd keop? — 160 — ath wionlélay leas Wifineah stat mundonquulenerts ules ‘salty’ winleuda suri renaodity wuethasts ann athely Veter 4s also in a restaurant. His Thai compantons are busy chaltering away in Thal until Somchai suddenly turns to him... TE) Somehat k00n Peter tung réo réu-ung mai? ‘fs Peter Wsf(toslma Peter arlwentuma Malee faring ngong. diva Somebal fung r6o rév-ung mai? Hast Peter — mfiréo réu-ung. ‘alfa ‘tah pot ray-o mak Srysitaunn mai réo réusungler-ee. ‘WijGonse Malee mai bpen rai rork. ‘witwhwen : rao nin-tah kOOn tho-niin, indiumeanurinin Peter nin-tah méi-kwahm wah a-rai? Somehal_bplair wah ‘goss tun yanuenuine: ls ule ‘gossip" dtair yah bpai chéu-a kOOn Malee nd. k00n Malee chor} len sa-mér. tung réo ru-ung gong bi r60 rtuaung mayo in-tah _ mal-kwahm wah a-ral? yah chawe pot an usar Wfoqoaniue p poot qnandrounmiduiene to understand tobe dazed, confused | don't understand quick to gossip what does... mean? dont 1 BON UNDERSTAND Comprehension 1 What was the Thai word that Sue did not know? 2 How did she try to ensure that she would emember it? 3 How did she answer Chanida's original question? 4 Why couldn't Peter understand what his companions were saying? 5 What joke did Malee make? 6 Why didn't Peter get the joke? — pah-sah léir sing-kom misiuardsan — Although you will find Thais extremely complimentary about your attempts to learn Thai, you will almost certainly feel that your linguistic inadequacies are exposed with alarming Trequency in the initial stages. One obvious problem is vocabulary. Thai words sound quite unlike any European guage and so there is little scope for latching onto a familiar word and then guessing what people are talking about. ven when you stay within your linguistic limitations, you may tind a Thal looking absolutely bewildered by your best ltempts, only to repeat, with a sudden expression of enlightenment, exactly what you just said. (Well, almost vxactly Maybe you got a tone wrong, @ vowel not quite right, or maybe your Thai friend was simply accustomed to soveigners speaking Thai with a German accent, ‘The important thing is not to be discouraged by these little sethacks. Relax. Recognise that some days you are on better form than others, Don't worry if everything is going over your head. He prepared to laugh at yourself, But most important of all, Nave @ positive strategy for deating with communication breakdowns and try to analyse where your individual weaknesses lie, Learn different ways of asking someone to epeat something ~ for even the most patient of Thais may tire of ‘he farang whose every other utterance is a-ral ni? A ‘wedge of Thai script is invaluable here, because you Iways ask how something is written ia Thai (pab-sih tal kee un yung-ngai?); aod if you weren't sure what (one the ‘wwrd sas when you heard it, you can check from the spelling, Am - elmat sum-noo-un Wan ‘How to say: Pardon? e-rai nd? aclu ‘@ Could you say that again? = pOot ek tee dai mai? wyadnitlatna [don't understand mi kao jat ‘iuthls mAi réo reu-ung ‘wfites e Could you speak slowly please? pdot chah chéh ndy dai mai? yong montana © I don't know the word ... mai réo-jak kum wab ‘aiiiinrivh ¢ What's that in English? pah-sih ung-grit bplair wah ¢ How do you spell it? sa-gdt yung-ngal? acneatinly © What does... mean? .omai-kwahm wah a-rai? _ manners o. bplair wh a-ral? waar 172 el 1 DONT UNDERSTAND kum it-t-bal desu 1 ‘What does that mean?’ ‘There are two ways of askit what sopsthing means, Strictly speaking, bplair wih a-ral? (uUatierls) is a request for a translation, while mai-kwahm wah s-rai? (MMUATWTZIT) is used to ask for clarification or an explanation. 2 yung-ngai? ashals ‘The question word yung-ngai? (adisl1) how? always occurs at the end of a sentence. bpen yung-ngal? How are things? sa-got yung-ngal? How do you spelt it? pal yung-ngai? How are we going? If you look at the Thai spelling you will notice that the correct pronunciation would appear to be yabng-rai rather than yung-ngal. In normal speech, however, the first vowel is shortened, the low tone changes to a neutral mid tone and the final mg in the first syllable and initial r in the second syllable are assimilated into a ng sound. In fact, when rreeting each other informally, Thais will often go a step further and say simply, bpen ngal? 3 160 réu-ung fans rio réuung like kite Jai (i) means to wnderstand. It often cours with the verbs fung (W3) to listen ard abn (69%) to read to specify aural or visual comprehension. Notice the position othe word mal in negative statements. ng r60 reu-ung mal? Do you understand? (by listening) juny ml r6o réu-ung I don't understand. hn roo réu-ung mal? Do you understand? (by reading) ‘thn mai ro réu-ung I don't understand, — 173 —THA ‘Sometimes Thais will shorten the question to simply Fung réo muAl? To answer yes to fung réo (réu-wag) mél? you can say ré0 or réo réu-ung (but not fung); a no answer is mii rée or mab r60 réu-ung. 4 yah ann yah (don't) is ed at the beginning of negative commands. Very often in speech it is ‘used with the particle mé (right?, O.K?). yah leum 14 Don't forget, O.K? yah kip ray-o n& Don't drive (too) quickly, right? In the conversation, notice that Somehai saya yah bpai chéu- {c00n Malee 4. This usage of bpal has an exact equivalent in the English, Don't go believing Khun Malee. 5 pdot lan yan When the word lén (481) to play follows another verb, it indicates that the action of the first verb is being carried out for fun. poot tospeak = pot lén to joke dem —towalk «= dernlén—togofora walk ahn toread ahnién _—torread for pleasure ain toeat ginlén —tocat for fun’ (eg. between-meal snacks) bairp fauk hut uuvalniia 1 A Korean businessman who speaks no English and less Thai than Peter ia having difficulty following a conversation among his Thai hosts. He keeps asking Peter what various words mean, How should Peter respond? | — 1% — | DONT UNDERSTAND (@) ‘pun-ra-yah' bplair wah acai? ‘nszuy’ uilates'ly (0) ‘tabn’ bplair wah a-rai? “mu wanasls (©) ‘sthp' bplair wh a-ral? “nm! ulate: (@) ‘rop erai?’bplairwaharai?— ‘Fuar'ly’ wilayios's 2 Here's Peter, locked in conversation with Mal , lee and stubbornly refusing to be defeated by his 1 What do you think he said? 9 ns limited yoeabulary Malee ker-ce bpai doo mingtai mai? i¢shignitstnutnn ker-ce bpai doo ning tai mai? tag IU g mila Ins Twa ker-ee ~ bpai - doo~ wnu-t-q-wiis—tnu—la ming - tai - méi? Malee ating bplair wah ‘movie.’ “wily wah ‘movi ko jai mai? athlsinw Peter - Malee ker-ee bpai doo mai? tnvluginy Peter mbi ker-ee. ‘hiew 5] ann iéir kee-un dowuaciian —— You have TE uve mow covered the principal features of the Thai stem, This unit gives examples of the most common regularities and lists miscellaneous diacritics which likely to encounter in reading an ordinary passage — 175 — nl ee| me! 1 The letter + ‘The letter + is normally pronounced as m at the end of « word: ows ebchitn food ait koo-un should Gian poo-jut-gahn manager In anumber of words, however, it is pronounced om: weg nackorn Nakhorn (inplacenames) aEAT la-korn theatre “tT porn gift, blessing Incertain words it is not pronounced at all: vis jing true me sh swimming poo! When 117 occurs at the beginning of a word, the cluster is pronounced &: mw sth toknow When -75 occurs at the end of a word or syllable it Is pronounced un and -U if itis followed by a consonant: qouTmn rétbunt60k lorry ann pak party (political) 2 ‘fr’ Inung-grit senqu ‘You will have noticed that the Thai spelling of ung-grit (English! ‘uses neither the letter 7 nor the vowel ~. Instead it is writtet with the symbol ]) which in this word represents @ ri sound. It is most unlikely that you will encounter this symbol i? any word other than ung-grit. — 178 — eee —‘“‘(—<‘<‘ t final k of ; ; > > ee a initial okt P : . fmt ok ot op om on a" @ Woo initial cht t 1 o fmt tte — aeAPPENDICES Summary of tone rules ——— Words without tone marks initial LIVE DEAD SYLLABLE consonant SYLLABLE class SHORT VOWEL] LONG VOWEL LOW CLASS MID TONE HIGH TONE FALLING TONE MID CLASS, ‘MID TONE LOW TONE LOW TONE HIGH CLASS RISING TONE | LOW THE LOW TONE Words with tone marks Vowels ————_ ———— initial —smiayk =~ mitoh ~—méidtree mai jat-dta-wah \erevewet . eg te te ae consonant (~) () ©) () aa ke PF gor ot f -00-a ef hor -oh ee -00 -eu -ay -air cea cus 008 “ah + — 236 — class LOWCLASS FALLING HIGH HIGH RISING MIDCLASS LOW FALLING HIGH RISING HIGH CLASS LOW FALLING HIGH RISINGA Thai-English Student's essential for any serious stt English-Thai Dictionary (Tuttl Consonants no om e2aaeenegeuavere ree e Dictionary order eexesezzezrrerruso es 2B Tua, bp aw gu aosses ee 27R3R755% Dictionary (Stanford) by Mary Haas is judent of Thai, Robertson's Practical le) is invaluable for the beginner. reu reu leu leu on to -eree APPENDICES er er lr oe aw br cor ¢ “er fo eee fur eee fo eu ue -air ur air We -air - “oh Tso Lai Lat 239