Guest Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 I've always wondered where the word farang comes from. Now the wool has been pulled from my eyes. The French, who of course colonised Vietnam and Cambodia, were among the first Europeans to be seen en masse in the region. The Thai pronunciation of Francais was what they now call Frenchies - Farang-Sayt. And farang is a shortening of that, according to a Thai I know. Has anyone heard a different/more plausible explanation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thalenoi Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 Ii quote Soc.cult.thai language FAC: From: Gwyn Williams Date: 29 Mar 1994 04:24:21 +1000 ORIGIN OF THE WORD "FARANG" A wide-spread belief in Thailand is that the word "farang" (Caucasian) is derived from the French word "francais". This derivation is implausible on phonetic and historical grounds. It is in fact a popular misconception. It is true, however, that these words have the same ultimate source. The word is attested in various forms in languages in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It is clear that the word orginated as "Frank" in Europe and spread eastwards along Muslim trade routes. Thai most likely borrowed the word from influential Muslim Persian or Indian traders in the 17th century or even earlier. The Persian word was "farangg". The term probably was used to refer to early Portuguese traders and subsequently to all Europeans (ie., non-Muslims). It is possible that the Thai word "farangset" ("French") is a blend of the word "farang" and the French word "francais", ie., "farangset" is actually derived from "farang", not vice versa. Certainly, the word "farang" existed prior to, and independently of, "farangset". The following is an edited collection of discussions on the origin of the Thai word "farang". PART 1 includes the initial discussion on soc.culture.thai (PART 1). I forwarded the topic to LINGUIST LIST for information on the word in other languages (PART 2). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 Sometimes, I see "farang" spelled "falang." Is this a typing mistake, or am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 Just the Asian, Thai, and particularly Bangkok Thai, habit of pronouncing r as l. For instance, we spell the Thai word for what as arai. However most Bangkok Thais will pronounce it as alai. We write farang, they pronounce it falang. Like that old gag about the guy who goes to the Chinese restaurant and calls over the chef and says "Hey, pal, this chicken is rubbery". Chef replies "Grad you rike it." BOOM TISH!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boemba Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 quote: Originally posted by teacherwannabe: Sometimes, I see "farang" spelled "falang." Is this a typing mistake, or am I missing something? Bangkok Thais have the tendency to pronounce the r in many words as l. The writing and the correct pronunciation demands 'farang', but it is often pronounces as 'falang' and subsequently I guess also written so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hall Posted July 19, 2001 Report Share Posted July 19, 2001 Hi Teach. The word is definately 'farang'. Spelt ฟรั่ง in thai script the 'ร 'being the thai equivalent character for the english 'r'. Having said that however you will hear many,many thai say 'falang' instead of 'farang', 'aloi mak' instead of 'aroi mak' or 'tamluat' instead of 'tamruat'. The spoken word occassional gets written incorrectly as a result of this incorrect pronunciation. I asked my language teacher (a Chula trained linguist) about this. Her reply and I quote " uneducated thai too stupid/lazy to pronounce 'r' correctly - if you do same I fail you" !!! Cheers Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted July 20, 2001 Report Share Posted July 20, 2001 Hi, the word Frank is strongly related to the word francais, compare Lingua franca. In Swedish France is Frankrike and in Danish Frankrig - 'rike' and 'rig' (same as German reich - Frankreich by the way) realm - Frankrike = realm of the Franks; a Germanic/Teutonic people living in France and Franken (Franconia). elef Language board? [ July 19, 2001: Message edited by: elef ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumpy Posted July 20, 2001 Report Share Posted July 20, 2001 I was given to understand a literal translation is 'customer' but is taken to mean Westerners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhumvit Posted July 20, 2001 Report Share Posted July 20, 2001 Thalenoi, I know that you may have quoted a web expert but I think that the possibility of Farang being derived from Francais is not so implausible. Quite often Thais will insert a vowel between consonants to make a word easier to say, eg sprite becomes saparite. It's not such a massive leap of faith for francais to become farancais to become faranca to become farang etc. But what do I know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 20, 2001 Report Share Posted July 20, 2001 Originally posted by hall:'I asked my language teacher (a Chula trained linguist) about this. Her reply and I quote " uneducated thai too stupid/lazy to pronounce 'r' correctly ..."' True indeed. It's the same with "khrap" which is a bit awkward to pronounce for Thais, so they drop the r and it becomes "khap". (I believe an earlier pronounciation is "kharap" and I've heard one or the other super-traditionalist pronounce it that way.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.