Word Study

Point 1. More about primary and secondary verbs.

le^n

thf&N

yuu

As was pointed out in the preceding unit (Section B.1, Point 3), a secondary verb adds something to the meaning of the primary verb with which it is used. Thus len as a primary verb means 'to play', but as a secondary verb it means 'for pleasure'. In the same way th used alone means 'reach', but when it is used with phuut to talk' it adds the meaning 'about'; hence phuut th means 'to talk about'. Similarly, bon th means 'to complain about', ruu th means 'to know about', and so on. Sometimes the verb in secondary position cannot be translated by a single word in English. One verb of this sort is yuu, which, when occupying a position secondary to another verb, adds the meaning 'in the process of', as in kin yuu. 'to be in the process of eating', phu^ut yu$u 'to be in the process of talking'.

In the last example provided above under yu$u, we have a sentence containing two verbs in secondary position. First we have thf&N going with phu^ut to give phu^ut th 'to talk about'; then yu$u is added to this to give phu^ut thf&N yu$u 'to be in the process of talking about'.

Point2. The combination of two or more primary verbs.

Examples:

These sentences illustrate a very important point to remember about primary verbs and secondary verbs. This is that not every verb which follows another verb is a secondary verb; it may be another primary verb. Thus is the first example above plian does not change or modify the meaning of pay; it simply adds on a new and separate idea which is on a par with the idea expressed by pay. Therefore both pay and plian are primary verbs. The same remarks apply to the use of maa and yiam in the second example above and also to the use of pay, na^N, and df$fm in the third example.

Point3. A note on the use of hay.

Examples:

Here hay 'to have, let' is used as a secondary verb with primary verbs like sO&On, ri^ak, and bO$Ok, and its function is to introduce a new clause telling who was taught, called, or told to do what.
In the first example above the word dichan follows hay and functions as the subject of the primary verb of the second clause. In the second example, on the other hand, the word dichan precedes hay and functions as the object of the primary verb of the first clause. Since the object of the primary verb of the first clause and the subject of the main verb of the second clause are the same, the word dichan does not have to be put in both places; instead it may be put in either place with no significant difference in meaning. The same rule applies to the remaining examples.

Point 4. The word day, way, and pen.

Examples:

In the examples above the words day, way, and pen are all translated 'can' in English. This is almost always the most natural translation for all of them. However, the three words are not interchangeabl in Thai. Therefore you will need also to remember other more specific meanings for them so that you can use them properly when speaking Thai. Note the following remarks:

Note also the following examples showing these words used in combination with may 'not':

Point 5. The use of content question words with kO^? da^y.

Examples:

 In the answers to the questions above you will notice that the phrase kO^? da^y is preceded by a content question word like maray, khray, and so on. When accompanied by kO^? day 'it can be' these words no longer function as questions; instead, a word like 'when?' comes to mean 'anytime', 'who?' comes to mean 'anybody', and so on. Since these expressions are frequently used in answers to content questions you should observe that the same content question word is used both in the question and in the answer.
It is not necessary for these expressions to be used only in answers to questions; they are also used in other types of statements. An example found in the Basic Sentences of this unit. (Sentence No. 10) is:

Point 6. The use of yiN.

Examples:

The examples above show that yi corresponds to the English expression 'the more' (or 'the ... -er', as in 'the hotter'). It may also be rendered 'increasingly', if one wants to give a still more literal translation. Sometimes there are two paralled statements containing yiN, as in the first two examples above, but at other times there is only one statement containing the word, as in the last example.

Note carefully that yiN does not always precede the word with which the expression 'the more' may happen to be placed in English; instead, it is placed immediately before the main verb of its clause. The last example illustrates this point well, since yiN precedes deen, not rew.

Point 7. The use of kO$On with units of time
Examples:

The expressions given here should be memorized because they are the most common and most useful of their type. Note that there is a similar expression containing wan 'day' which has a slightly different meaning:

Point 8. The use of baay

Examples:

Note carefully that ba$ay 'afternoon' must precede the hour of the day, whereas cha@aw 'morning' and yen 'evening' must follow it.

In the first example above you will notice that the word nf$N 'one' is omitted. This phrase should be memorized because the word nf$N is so commonly omitted in this case that its insertion would sound rather strange.

Point 9. A new use for phi^i and nO@ON

Examples:

Here the words phi^i 'older brother or sister' and nO@ON 'younger brother or sister' are used as titles in front of proper names. One uses phi^i as a title only with the name of one's older brother or sister (or with the name of a person who is treated as such). By the same token one uses nO@ON as a title only with the name of one's younger brother or sister (or with the name of a person who is treated as such). You should note how these titles are used in the Basic Sentences of this unit. You will observe at once that ka$so&m, who is not related to cha$le&em and cha$lu&ay, calls them khun cha$le&em and khun cha$lu&ay, respectively. In contrast to this, cha$le&em and cha$lu&ay, who are brother and sister, refer to each other as phi^i le&em and nO@ON lu&ay, respectively.

Point 10. A note on khn and lo

When one is talking about getting in or out of the water, lo means 'to get in' (lit., 'to descend') and khn means 'to get out' (lit., 'to rise'). Do not neglect to memorize the examples above and take care always to use lo and khn when speaking of getting in and out of the water. If you fail to take special note of this, you may lapse into the error of using other Thai words which also mean 'to get in' and 'to get out', though in different circumstances.

Point 11. The use of r in negative questions

The above example serve to illustrate that whenever a yes-or-no question contains a negative word like may 'not', then the question-word must be rf&f. In other words, it is not possible to substitue may for rf&f in negative question.

Point 12. The words thiidiaw and thiaw

The examples above show that the most common basic or underlying meaning of thiidiaw and thiaw is 'exactly', even though the smoothest English translation does not always contain this rendition.

Note also that thiaw is a contraction of thiidiaw. This is similar to English contractions, such as don't for do not, won't for will not, and the like.

Point 13. The shortening of given names

Given names containing two syllables and a short vowel in the first syllable are frequently shortened by omitting the first syllable all together, as in the examples above.

Point 14. The abbreviation waay for waaynaam

Here wa^ay is used for wa^ayna@am because it is clear from the context that swimming is referred to. It is important to remember, however, that the full form wa^ayna@am must be used whenever the topic of swimming is first being introduced into the conversation. See also the remarks made about other abbreviations in Unit 13, Section B.1, Point 8.

Point 15. Some classifiers

Point 16. Some special phrases

Point 17. Some compounds