Word Study

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Point 1 :  How to wa3y

          Placing the hands palm to palm and raising them toward the face as a form of greeting is known as to wa3y.   In Thailand,  people do not shake hands (except those who follow the European custom); instead they wa3y.  Younger people (or inferiors) wa3y to older people (or superiors), and then the latter wa3y in return. 

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Point 2 : The use of nu4u

Examples:

          In speaking to a child, the word nu4u is used as the equivalent of the pronoun 'you' (example 1).  When a child is speaking, he or she uses nu4u as the equivalent of the pronoun 'I' (example 2), especially when speaking to members of the family; otherwise, boys use pho4m and girls use di1cha4n.   A third use of nu4u is illustrated in example 3 where the word functions as a title.  As a child yu2phin is referred to as nu4u phin or nu4u yu2phin; when she is grown up she will be referred to as khun phin or khun yu2phin.

          Note also that the polite word one uses when speaking to a child is ca2? or ca3? (example 1), while the child uses kha2? or kha3? if a girl (example 2) and khra2p if a boy.

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Point 3 : The use of cha4n

Example:

          Both men and women use the word cha4n for 'I' when speaking to a child.  The same word for 'I' is likewise used in speaking to intimates and also to servants or other inferiors.

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Point 4 : Note on the meaning of bo1n.

Examples:

          The word bo1n in Thai is often not quite as strong a term as its nearest English equivalent 'to complain.'  Therefore, it is sometimes better to translate it as 'to talk', as in the first example above.  At the same time, bo1n is stronger than phu3ut, since a person is said to bo1n when he talks frequently or constantly about something.

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Point 5 :  A note on the use of rf3aN

Example:

          In Thai the word rf3aN  is frequently used before the title of a play, movie, or book, although in English we use no equivalent term.  In English we use an equivalent term 'about' or 'on the subject of' only when we are speaking of a general topic, as in

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Unit 6 : The meaning of da3y when placed before the main verb

Examples:

          In the first example above da3y  means 'to get to (do something)', but in the second and third examples it has a different meaning, namely to indicate that the event took place in the past.  Although da3y   is seldom used in positive (non-negative) sentences like the second example above, it is quite common in negative sentences like the third example.  Indeed the English expression 'didn't' can generally be translated into Thai by placing ma3y da3y  in front of the main verb.

          In connection with the uses of da3y discussed here, you should take note of the two following warnings:

          (1)   Do not use da3y in all sentences which have the past tense in English.  Most positive sentences in Thai do not require da3y  for the past tense.  An example is: nu4u phin bO1Ok khwaamla2p  ?a1ray  ba3aN  rf4y  pla1aw  kha2?   'Did  yu2phin  tell you any secrets?'

          (2)   Do not confuse the  ma3y  da3y   which is placed in front of the main verb with the one which means 'can't'; the latter is always placed after the main verb, as in: pho4m   pay  ma3y  da3y   'I can't go'.

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Point 7 : Making new words with khwaam-

Examples:

          The word   khwaam-, which may often be translated by the English suffix '-ness', is put in front of verbs to turn them into nouns indicating a certain quality or state.   In addition to '-ness', khwaam- may also be translated by several other English suffixes, such as '-th' (as in 'truth'), '-ity' (as in 'brevity'), and '-ment' (as in 'amusement').  Other similar nouns in English have no identifying suffix (e.g., 'fear'), but in Thai all such words which are derived from verbs are clearly indicated by means of the proposed word khwaam-.

          Further examples, added here because of varying translations in English, are as follows:

          Note very carefully that khwaam-  is placed in front of verbs whose meaning describes a quality (e.g. 'to be white') or a state (e.g. 'to know'), whereas  kaan- (Unit 13) is placed in front of verbs whose meaning refers to carrying on an activity (e.g., 'to walk').

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Point 8 : The distinction between kaan- and khwaam-

Examples:

          As a general rule, verbs which take kaan- do not take  khwaam-   and vice versa.  There are, however, a few exception in the case of verbs which have two kinds of meaning, one referring to an activity and the other describing a quality or state.  An important verb coming in this category is he4n illustrated above.

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Point 9 : Making new words with khon.

Examples:

          The word   khon  'person' may be placed before almost any verb to form a noun which identifies a person by his customary activity; such a noun is generally referred to as an agentive noun.  In English, we usually form such nouns from verbs by the addition of the agentive suffix -er (as in 'driver').

          In Thai, you will on rare occasions come across an agentive noun composed of khon   plus another noun.  A notable example is  khonNaan   'worker'.  Examples like this, however, are generally shortened from a longer form in which  khon  actually precedes a verb.  Thus khoNaan is a shortening of a longer word  khonthamNaan.

          There are several other ways to form agentive nouns in Thai.  These are taken up in later units.

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Unit 10 : Some secondary verbs.

Examples:

          The secondary verbs in the examples above are shown in boldface.  Study the translations of the phrases carefully, noting particularly that secondary verbs sometimes have no direct translation in English.  If the examples are not clear to you, reread the following paragraphs: Unit 13, Point 3; Unit 14, Point 1; Unit 15, Points 2 and 3.

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Point 11 : Some special phrases.

          f^]t8i (duu   la2khOOn) 'to see a play'; compare f^soy' (duu  na4N) 'to see a movie' and f^a69[v] (duu fu2tbOOn) 'to see a football game'.

          9yflbo.0w,j5^d (ta1tsi4ncay  ma3y   thu1uk) 'to be unable to make up one's mind', composed of  9yflbo.0 (ta1tsi4ncay) 'to make up one's mind' and the phrase  w,j5^d (ma3y  thu1uk)  'to be incorrect'.

          9k,Tii,fk (taam   thamma2daa) 'ordinarily', composed of  9k, (taam) 'to follow; according to' and  Tii,fk (thamma2daa) 'to be ordinary'.

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Point 12 : Some compounds

          การงาน (kaanNaan) 'work', from  การ (kaan-)  'work, activity' +  งาน (Naan) 'work'.

          คนเดียว (khondiaw) 'alone, by oneself', from คน (khon) 'person' +  เดียว (diaw) 'to be single, lone'.

           ตัดสินใจ (ta1tsi4ncay) 'to make up one's mind', from ตัดสิน (ta1tsi4n) 'to decide, judge' +  ใจ (cay) 'mind, spirit, heart'.

          วันอาทิตย์ (wan?aathi2t) 'Sunday', from  วัน (wan) 'day' +  อาทิตย์ (?aathi2t) 'sun'.  However, when you are speaking of the sun you ordinarily say  พระอาทิตย์ (phra2?aathi2t), the ordinary word for 'sun' which you have already learned.

          วันจันทร์N (wancan) 'Monday', from  วัน (wan) 'day' +   จันทร์N (can) 'moon'.  The ordinary word for 'moon' is พระจันทร์N  (phra2can); compare  พระจันทร์ (phra2?aathi2t)  above.   The word  เดือน (dyan), which also means 'moon', is generally reserved for use in its other meaning 'month'.

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