Pescator Posted March 4, 2002 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by worldwalker: I'm not a ligustics expert, but I'm pretty sure Thai and Hindi don't have anything in common except their writing systems, which both derived from sansakrit. (The Thai's, when developing their written language, turned to existing systems for guidance.) I sure wouldn`t boast with being a linguistic expert either, but I know for a fact that many thai words have origin in Pali and Pali was the ancient indian language used in the days of the Siddhartha. Since Pali and Sanskrit originated in India and Nepal it would be fair to assume that modern hindi has its roots in this language too. As does thai to a certain extent anyway. Would you happen to know the names of the months in thai? They are all derived from Pali. Thai is predominantly a monosyllabic language, however Pali is not. So when you encounter long complicated words in thai, chances are that they are derived from Pali. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/thai/language/: "Like most languages of the world, the Thai language is a complicated mixture of several sources. Many Thai words used today were derived from Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer, Malayan, English, and Chinese." Too bad professor Scum Baggio is not around these days, he would most definitely be able to supply some more specific informations. Hua Nguu [ March 03, 2002: Message edited by: Hua Nguu ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted March 4, 2002 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dan: SNIP Personally speaking though, learning Thai is one of my biggest priorities and goals for living in this country. I don't see the point in making another country your home without giving attention to the language and being able to comminucate and understand the people. Though, admittedly, sometimes I feel like I don't want to communicate with 70% of the Thai population at all. Still though, often it's just an academic challenge for me, might as well try and be good at something .. ] I agree. It is, however, amazing how comparatively few farangs make it beyond the "Sawasdee krap stage" although they have lived here for ages. I guess the reason is most likely that as long as they can get along in english, well why do the effort? What thais in Europe concerns, then I know a rather large number and the only ones who are anywhere near fluency are the ones who has lived here since childhood. It is not surprisingly similarly hard for a thai to learn a european language. Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted March 4, 2002 Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 Hi, My personal goal of fluency will mean being able to go to a Thai cabaret show and understand all the jokes. I was there last year, in 2 hours, I got 2 of the jokes. Guess I ain't fluent yet Sanuk! PS I don't know any farang I consider fluent in Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeng bireley Posted March 4, 2002 Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 "I have not met any farangs who speak thai at this level who go to bars." And your point being? KS, My point is only that farangs who speak thai at this level are not normally met in the usual places farangs congregate, and as such most farangs in thailand wouldnt get a chance to meet the small numbers of farang who are truly fluent in thai. Dans point is right on too, most (but not all)long term farangs I know have either stopped going to bars or slowed right down. After 10-20 yrs in thailand you do get bored with bars and if you didnt grow up in thailand, to be truly fluent in thai you'd need to be in thailand for at least that length of time. DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted March 4, 2002 Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 Hi, Dan: "Andrew Biggs is an obvious one who I've seen speak great Thai and discuss politics on TV." I agree. His Thai certainly seems fluent to me. "Personally speaking though, learning Thai is one of my biggest priorities and goals for living in this country. I don't see the point in making another country your home without giving attention to the language and being able to comminucate and understand the people." I fully agree. I can't understand people that have lived here for 15+ years and don't speak a word of Thai. It is also usually these people that bitch the most about Thailand, IMHO. daeng bireley: Thanks for explaining. My first impression was that it was a rather condescending (?) remark, but I am glad to see I was wrong. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCK Posted March 4, 2002 Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 quote: Andrew Biggs is an obvious one who I've seen speak great Thai." Sorry for off-topic post but...Despite Thais telling me all about Andrew Biggs, I've never ever seen him. When is he on TV and what channel please? Even more off topic. A Ram Uni student I know says that Farangs speaking Thai sound like gays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 5, 2002 Report Share Posted March 5, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Hua Nguu: I sure wouldn`t boast with being a linguistic expert either, but I know for a fact that many thai words have origin in Pali and Pali was the ancient indian language used in the days of the Siddhartha. Since Pali and Sanskrit originated in India and Nepal it would be fair to assume that modern hindi has its roots in this language too. As does thai to a certain extent anyway. Would you happen to know the names of the months in thai? They are all derived from Pali. Thai is predominantly a monosyllabic language, however Pali is not. So when you encounter long complicated words in thai, chances are that they are derived from Pali. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/thai/language/: Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff. Most foreign words, like the months, and days of the week, are noticable becuase of the use of silent characters in spelling, that is lots of 'garan' above letters. I belive you are correct that hindi derives from pali sansakrit. The main reason I was thinking Thai does not is that Thai is a tonal language, and the little bit of hindi I learned had nothing in common with Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted March 6, 2002 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by worldwalker: Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff. Most foreign words, like the months, and days of the week, are noticable becuase of the use of silent characters in spelling, that is lots of 'garan' above letters. I belive you are correct that hindi derives from pali sansakrit. The main reason I was thinking Thai does not is that Thai is a tonal language, and the little bit of hindi I learned had nothing in common with Thai. I always find the "Mai Garan" tone markers very annoying as they (obviously) are silent and who in their right mind would then know when to use them or not. It always comes down to memorization and that is something I am not very good at. Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 6, 2002 Report Share Posted March 6, 2002 Interesting post. Hua Nguu I am considered by my Company to be fluent in three languages, but by your standards I am not sure I would pass for being fluent in my mother tongue! For me being fluent is when you can carry a converstion on any subject with someone with someone, reading and writing are a bonus. As for the accent? Hey, I got more women in Europe because of my accent than anything else! I have been taking a Basic Thai course, 2 hours a week for 10 weeks and I can safely say I find Thai to be Very difficult. Can anyone give me a tip on how to make sure you have the right tones? I just know when I try to speak I will do something stpid like ask for toilet water instead of orange juice . I find the language to be really cool but boy is it tough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 6, 2002 Report Share Posted March 6, 2002 I just know when I try to speak I will do something stpid like ask for toilet water instead of orange juice . The key is to ask for orange juice from the bartender and not from the toilet attendant. Context is everything That's why speaking Thai to bargirls is often a misleading indicator of how well you actually speak Thai. They know there are only 100 or so things you would possibly say and can narrow your garbled syntax and pronunciation into something meaningful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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