Zhuang Dialect and Thai....

[gobbledonk]

Guys,

 

I think I mentioned before that my Chinese GF is Zhuang, one of the ethnic Chinese groups which make up a large part of Guanxi province. She claims that some of their words remain similar to Thai, but since I know neither language, I can only offer her submissions re Zhuang phrases which she suspects may be understood by Thai speakers :

 

Chan raak khun---I love you;

Wan nee----today;

yoo tee nai---where is ...;

ow---I want; mai ow----I don't want;

sabai dee reu kha?---how are you;

Gai---chicken;

moo---pork;

ped---duck;

pla---fish;

poo---crab;

sweet---won....[/i]

 

'Mei you' or 'mei ow' is Mandarin, as far as I know, but I cant vouch for the remainder. Of course, having no idea how the Zhuang pronounce a lot of their words doesnt help (!), but I wont be ordering any 'poo' in the forseeable future, no matter how fresh the cook claims it is

 

 

 

[markle]

all of those would be recognised by Thai speakers (pronounciation not withstanding)

modern Thais are a branch of the 'Tai/Dai' ethnic group which inclides the Thai, the Shan (Tai Yai), the Lao, and a bunch of ethnic groups in Southern China and along the Mekong river

[gobbledonk]

Thanks, Markle. I raised the 'Tai' dialect some time ago, but the consensus seemed to be that the split happened too long ago, and the variations from the original dialect would be too great for the current Thai/Viet/Chinese descendants to understand.

[samak]

as markle said, all words same same in thai.

 

mei you is mandarin as you said and means there is not/there are not (mei: second tone; you: third tone); the mai ow in thai has a different meaning and is spoken completely different, also with different tones....

[jasmine]

Hi,

 

What you wrote is BKK Thai and I am very surprised that it is a Tai dialect. ::

 

I majored in Linguistics once and did research in the Tai and the Tai was very much like the Northern Thai language, NOT the BKK Thai. It is still used in many places in China. A friend of mine just flew from Chiangmai(Thailand) to Chiang Rung (China) and she used the Northern Thai language to communicate there.

 

In short, from my knowledge, the Tai is similar to the Northern Thai not the BKK Thai like you wrote. Does anyone in this board know for sure? I am very curious now!!!

 

Cheers!

[jp1]

Says jasmine:

---

Hi,

 

What you wrote is BKK Thai and I am very surprised that it is a Tai dialect. ::

 

I majored in Linguistics once and did research in the Tai and the Tai was very much like the Northern Thai language, NOT the BKK Thai. It is still used in many places in China. A friend of mine just flew from Chiangmai(Thailand) to Chiang Rung (China) and she used the Northern Thai language to communicate there.

 

In short, from my knowledge, the Tai is similar to the Northern Thai not the BKK Thai like you wrote. Does anyone in this board know for sure? I am very curious now!!!

 

Cheers!

---

 

 

I don't speak Thai, but about more than 1 year ago I visited the Kunming area of Southern China with my gf. She spoke in her Northern Thai dialect (she's from Nan) with the locals and had no problems over there. Want to go back as soon as SARS is solved.

[jasmine]

[color:"red"] I don't speak Thai, but about more than 1 year ago I visited the Kunming area of Southern China with my gf. She spoke in her Northern Thai dialect (she's from Nan) with the locals and had no problems over there. Want to go back as soon as SARS is solved. [/color]

 

Yes, that is my point, the Tai dialect is similar to the Northern Thai. But what written to start this thread is BKK Thai and as far as my knowledge is concern, it is not the Tai dialect but the BKK Thai was written. ::

 

Cheers!

[gobbledonk]

Jas,

 

I wouldnt be at all surprised if my GF has 'fudged' some of these phrases to line up with Thai phrases she has seen from the Net - she likes to 'prove a point', particularly where I am concerned ...

 

From my time in Thailand and Southern China, I dont think I heard any two phrases which sounded even vaguely similar, but there were so MANY dialects in China. In a single day, the GF would switch from Mandarin to Cantonese to Zhuang, depending on who she had to communicate with. This was only the tip of the iceberg, and she claimed that there are dialects which are confined to single cities. I would hope that the language situation is less chaotic in Thailand

[jasmine]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the explaination. I am 100% sure that what she wrote is not Tai for it is a BKK language.

 

[color:"red"] she likes to 'prove a point', particularly where I am concerned ...

 

[/color]

 

Are you a difficult guy to convince my friend?

 

Jasmine

[gobbledonk]

Difficult to convince ? Perhaps, but I suspect it is more a culture clash between she and I.

 

Basically, if I were to suggest that there could not possible be a link between 'modern' Thai and Zhuang, she would feel it was a matter of national pride to prove that there was. I COULD email her and tell her that her childish ruse had been exposed, but you dont want to see the kind of replies I get after an email like that. Besides, knowing neither Thai nor Zhuang, I am in no position to make an objective judgement on this - they may well have words which look like they were lifted straight from the local Thai restaurant's lunch menu ...

 

BTW, Jas, do you feel that living in the West has made you more egalitarian ? For example, do you relate to people like waitresses in Thai restaurants in the US as equals, or treat them as 'servants' ? Even here in Oz, there is an increasing tendency for professionals to treat people in service industries as somehow inferior, and thats *not* the Oz I remember growing up in. Its odd on another level : many of the hospitality staff I know are often seasoned travellers with a much broader view of the world than business types who have spent their 20's slaving away at their desks.