Word study

In Thailand people use titles (that is, words like Mr., Mrs., and Miss) much more than in the U.S. When speaking to people of the same age and social status, it is customary to use the title khun in front of the first name (given name) of the person to whom you are speaking. Therefore when the two friends, sa1ma1k and sa1me4e , talk to each other they do not use simply the first name without a title, as we usually do. Instead they address each other as khun sa1ma1k and khun sa1me4e. This is like the custom in our South of saying 'Miss Mary' in place of 'Mary' or 'Mr. John' instead of 'John.'

In formal situations the first and last names are used, preceded by the word naay 'Mr.,' naaN 'Mrs.,' or naaNsa4aw 'Miss.' Thus if sa1ma1k wanted to make an application for a position he would put his name down as naay sa1ma1k ra2kthay. Note also that in Thai the given name comes first and the family name comes last, as in English.

The titles naay, naaN, and naaNsa4aw are also used with the first name alone, as khun is, but it generally sounds more friendly to use khun.

In speaking to Europeans the Thai often use the title khun with the last name of the person being addressed. Thus if your name is John Smith, you might be called khun Smith, or you might be called khun John. But it would not seem quiet natural to them to call you Smith alone, or John alone.

Compare the statements in the lefthand column below with the yes-or-no questions in the righthand column. The question-word in each yes-or-no question is shown in boldface type:

Statements		Yes-or-No Question
pho4m hi4w kha3aw.	'I'm hungry'	khun hi4w kha3aw ma2y khra2p.	'Are you hungry?'
kha4w kamlaN sf2f ka1y.	'They're buying chicken'	kha4w kamlaN sf2f ka1y rf4f khra2p.	'Are they buying chicken?'
thi3ini3i mii khon ma3ak.	'There're a lot of people here'	th3iini3i mii khon ma3ak na2? khra2p.	'There're a lot of people here, aren't there?'

You will notice that in English, statements and yes-or-no questions usually have different arrangements of the words. In Thai, on the other hand, yes-or-no questions have the same order of words as statements, and are turned into questions simply by adding on a question-word or question-phrase, such as ma2y, rf4f, and na2?. As is also illustrated here, the question-word is then generally followed by a polite word.

Below are examples of 'yes' and 'no' answers to some of the questions you have had in this and the preceding unit:

Question	khun tO3Nkaan na2mchaa ma2y khra2p.	Do you want tea?
'Yes' answer	tO3Nkaan khra2p.	Yes.
'No' answer	ma3y tO3Nkaan khra2p.	No.
Question	khun hi4w kha3aw ma4y khra2p.	Are you hungry?
'Yes' answer	hi4w khra2p.	Yes.
'No' answer	ma3y hi4w khra2p.	No.

You will notice that the method of saying 'yes' in these examples is to repeat the verb of the question and follow it with a polite word. It is also possible to use khra2p alone for 'yes,' as you have already learned. However, the type of answer illustrated above is very common.

The way of saying 'no' illustrated above is to employ the word ma3y 'not' and follow it with the verb of the question and then add on a polite word. This is the usual method of giving a 'no' answer to questions of this kind.

Compare the statements in the lefthand column below with the questions in the righthand column:

Statements		Questions
satha4anii ro2tfay ju1u kha3Nna3a.	The railroad station is ahead.	satha4anii ro2dfay ju1u thi3ina4y khra2p.	Where is the railroad station?
pho4m ya1ak ca1? sf2f so3m.	I want to buy oranges.	khun ya1ak c1a? sf2f ?a1ray khra2p.	what do you want to buy?
so3m ni2i raakhaa lo4o la2? yi3isi1psi1i sa1taaN.	These oranges are twenty-four satangs a dozen.	so3m ni2i raakhaa lo4o la2? tha3wra1y.	How much are these oranges a dozen?
ro2tfay ca1? ?O1Ok weelaa sO4ON mooN.	The train will leave at two o'clock.	ro2tfay ca1? ?O1Ok mf3ara1y.	When will the train leave?
ro2tfay ca1? ?O1Ok weelaa sO4ON mooN.	The train will leave at two o'clock.	ro2dfay ca1? ?O1Ok weelaa tha3wra1y.	What time will the train leave?

Content question are questions which require some specific information in answer. Thai content questions are those containing words like thi3ina4y , ?a1ray, tha3wra1y , mf3ara1y , and weelaa tha3wra1y, as shown above. Note particularly that Thai content questions are just like Thai yes-or-no questions in that the order of the words is the same as that used in statements. Therefore, unlike what is true of English, no rearrangement of words is necessary.

Classifiers are words employed as units of measure when counting people or things. In the illustrative sentence below both the Thai classifiers and their English equivalents are shown in boldface type:

First Set of Examples
pho4m ya1ak ca1? sf2f pha3a si1i la4a. ผม อยาก จะ ซื้อ ผ้า สี่ หลา	I want to buy four yards of cloth.
pho4m ya1ak ca1? sf2f kaafEE sa1k nf1N hO1O. ผม อยาก จะ ซื้อ กาแฟ สัก หนึ่ง ห่อ	I want to buy one package of coffee.
pho4m tO3Nkaan bu1ri1i sa1k ha3a sOON. ผม ต้องการ บุหรี่ สัก ห้า ซอง	I want five packs of cigarettes.
pho4m tO3Nkaan kha1y sO4ON lo4. ผม ต้องการ	I want two dozen eggs.

You will notice that in Thai, as in English, the classifier is preceed by a number. However, the noun refferring to the article being counted (for examples, pha3a 'cloth' in the first example above) has one position in English and another one in Thai. In English the number and the classifier come first and are then followed by the name of the article being counted. In Thai, on the other hand, the name of the article being counted comes first and is then followed by the number and the classifier. Thus, in the first example above, pha3a 'cloth' comes first and is then followed by si1i la4a 'four yards.'

Classifiers which stand for units of measure like yards, packages, dozens, and so on, are as common in English as they are in Thai. But Thai has still another kind of classifier which is not found in English. In the second set of examples given below, the Thai classifiers shown in boldface type cannot be rendered in the English equivalents:

Second Set of Examples
khO4O bu1ri1i sa1k nf1N muan.	Give me a cigarette.
pho4m ya1ak ca1? sf2f so3m sa1k ho1k bay.	I want to buy six oranges.
khun ya1ak ca1? sf2f ka1y sa1k nf1N tua ma2y.	Do you want to buy a (one) chicken?

You will notice that Thai words muan, bay, and tua shown in boldface type above are classifiers used when certain things are being counted individually (that is, by the piece) rather than by the yard, the package, or the dozen. Several different words are used because different things are frequently counted by different terms. Thus, cigarettes are counted individually by means of the classifier muan, oranges and other kinds of fruit by means of the classifier bay, while chickens and animals in general are counted by means of the word tua.

In speaking Thai you must put these classifiers in whenever you are counting things by the piece, and, since not all articles are counted by means of the same classifier, you must memorize the proper classifier for each noun at the same time you memorize the noun.

As we've mentioned before, the classfier is always preceded by a number. Besides the ordinary number (one, two, three, four, and so on), Thai also has other words which are used just like numbers and must be followed by a classifier. In the examples below some Thai words of this kind and thier English equivalents are shown in boldface.

duu, mii khon la4ay khon thi3ino3on.	Look, there're quiet a few (several) people over there!
khun ya1ak ca1? sf2f so3m ki1i bay khra2p.	How many oranges do you want to buy?

These examples show us that the words la4ay 'several' and ki1i 'how many?' take the place of ordinary numbers and, like them, are followed by a classifier when they are used in counting people or things. All ordinary numbers and all number-like words, such as la4ay and ki1i, are grouped together and called number-words. You need to know whether a word is a number-word or not, because if it is a number-word it must be followed by a clasifier.

Below are some examples of units of time and units of money of the type you have already learned:

Some Units of Time
weelaa sa4am mooN.	It's three o'clock.
weelaa sa4am mooN si1isi1pha3a naathii.	It's 3:45 (three o'clock and forty-five minutes).
Some Units of Money
nii ha3a ba1at.	Here's five bahts.
nii ha3a ba1at ha3asi1p sa1taaN.	Here's five bahts and fifty satangs.
pho4m ca1? thOOn ha3y sO4ON sa1lf4N	I'll give you change of two quarters.

The words mooN 'o'clock' and naathii 'minute' are preceded by numbers in just the same way that words like la4a 'yard' and lo4o 'dozen' are preceded by numbers. The same is true of the words ba1at 'baht,' sa1taaN 'satang,' and sa1lf4N 'quarter.' Therefore we see that units of time and units of money are classifiers just as are all other units of measure in Thai.

The examples above also show that larger units of time precede smaller units of time (hence mooN 'o'clock' precedes naathii 'minute') and that in progessing from the larger unit to the smaller unit no connecting word like our English 'and' is needed. These same remarks also apply in the case of units of money.

Below are some comments on the classes of things that may be referred to by the individual classifiers you have learned in the useful words and phrases of this unit.

bay is used when fruits (such as oranges) and containers or container-like objects (such as eggs) are being counted individually, e.g.,

ja1aN is used for counting kinds or sorts of anyhting and is also used with the noun khO4ON 'thing,' e.g.,

Note that in the first example above the first occurrence of the word khon is as a noun (just like phu3uchaay 'man' and phu3uyi4N 'woman' in the following examples) while its second occurrence is as a classifier.