luckyfarang Posted June 7, 2001 Report Share Posted June 7, 2001 Expressing thoughts and concepts in Thai often involves a phrase of several words rather than a single word corresponding to the english concept. For instance, there doesn't seem to be a word for "pet" in the Thai language. A girl might say AO NOO HAMSTER MA LIANG THEE BAAN or "I'm raising a hamster at my home" to indicate it's status as a pet. Thais don't have a word for a "wild" animal either so they call them SAHT BPAA or "jungle animals" to indicate they are "wild" not tame. NOO BPAA would be a wild mouse (jungle mouse) and NOO BAAN would be a house mouse. MAA BPAA would be a "wolf" (jungle dog) and MANOOT MAA BPAA would be a "wolfman" (human jungle dog). KANGKHAO would be a "bat" and MANOOT KANGKHAO would be a "vampire" (human bat). Other monsterS they might know by name such as KING KONG or FRANKENSTEIN or DRACULA. The word for "monster" or "creature" is SAHT PALAHT. Thais have their own way of saying things, and to make yourself understood it is best to say things in the way they are used to hearing them and have heard them since birth. The best way to learn Thai is to listen long and carefully to the way they say things and imitate them. This is the way a baby learns to speak. [ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: luckyfarang ] [ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: luckyfarang ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Lucky, Seeming as Thai animals is one of your great language strengths ( and I am truly in awe because monkey, dog, tiger, buffalo and elephant is as far as I go) is 'mar klaang thanon' the correct expression for a stray dog? When I say this to Thais, they laugh but understand. Is it one of those expressions that most farangs do not know - hence the laughter. Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyfarang Posted June 9, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 I don't know how to say stray dog, but I'll check with my GF. But I know not to compare a Thai with a MAA WAT (mangy dog dumped off at a temple) or LOOK MAA PIAK KHLON (a muddy puppy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyfarang Posted June 14, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2001 Phil- I checked with my GF and she confirmed MAA KLAANG TANON is a "stray dog", but is also used as slang meaning something like "wino" "hobo" "derelict" to describe a filthy person dressed in rags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted June 14, 2001 Report Share Posted June 14, 2001 Luckyfarang wrote: quote: Expressing thoughts and concepts in Thai often involves a phrase of several words rather than a single word Occasionally it works the other way around. The Thai phrase GRENG JAI has no direct translation to English. One translation I have seen is 'consideration and respect for somebody else's feelings'. Sometimes Thais joke that the lack of a single word for the GRENG JAI concept in English is a reflection of farang's lack of GRENG JAI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 14, 2001 Report Share Posted June 14, 2001 Originally posted by luckyfarang: "Thais don't have a word for a "wild" animal either so they call them SAHT BPAA or "jungle animals" to indicate they are "wild" not tame." It is wrong to say that Thai doesn't have a word for "wild" (or many other English terms for that matter), it is only expressed differently - as you rightly point out by adding the noun "bpaa" (forest, jungle). We use an adjective, they use a noun - that's the only difference. That's why you get innumerable compound nouns in Thai. One of the more interesting compound words in Thai is the word for "famine": khao-yaak-maak-phaeng. Literally, "the rice is scarce and the betelnuts are expensive". Of course, the whole thing is a compound of nouns and adjectives. Terms like the above carry a lot of cultural information with them - fascinating stuff for anybody into languages and cultural studies. [ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: Scum_Baggio ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 I love this stuff..... Alas-KAH BPAA hahahahahahahahahahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyfarang Posted June 15, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 S Baggio- I never knew the term for famine, I guess because there has not been one in recent memory. What I hear a lot is "drought" - HAENG LAENG. Is this literally "strong dry"? Also, KHAO YAAK , wouldn't that literally be "difficult rice"? Maybe it's abbreviated for KHAO HAA YAAK. Could YAAK alone be used to mean "scarce"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 Originally posted by luckyfarang:"I never knew the term for famine, I guess because there has not been one in recent memory." That's the interesting thing about it: I don't think there has ever been a real famine in Thailand. To the Thais times were bad when rice got somewhat 'scarce' and the betelnuts were dearer than usual. There must have still been a lot of fish and fruit to eat. "What I hear a lot is "drought" - HAENG LAENG. Is this literally "strong dry"? I guess so. I don't read Thai so I wouldn't be sure if the "laeng" is the same. Also, KHAO YAAK , wouldn't that literally be "difficult rice"? Maybe it's abbreviated for KHAO HAA YAAK." Yeah, could well be. After all, "scarce" and "difficult to obtain" are pretty close. Also, if you want to express "scarce" on its own, "haa yaak" would make perfect sense: as in, say, "ngoen haa yaak", money is difficult to come by (earn), there's not enough of it, etc. SB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkkShaggy Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 >>I never knew the term for famine, I guess because there has not been one in recent memory. What I hear a lot is "drought" - HAENG LAENG. Is this literally "strong dry"? Yeap. "HAENG" and "LAENG" have the same meaning. When used together it gives a stronger meaning. This style of expression is one of Thai language characteristics. Another example is "Sanuk" and "Sanan". >>Also, KHAO YAAK , wouldn't that literally be "difficult rice"? Maybe it's abbreviated for KHAO HAA YAAK. You're right. It's an abbriviation. >>Could YAAK alone be used to mean "scarce"? No. If used alone, the word "Yaak" means "difficult". "Haa Yaak " = Scarce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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