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The Thaiglish Thread!


Flashermac

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Just be kind to the girl above. I know Thais and Japanese, when writing, don't have a wire in their brains for "L".

 

Cola is "Cora". "Lee" is "Ree".

 

Although the symbol of Thai Airways is written as "Dok Rak" (the flower of love) they say "Dok Lak". That's the confusion.

 

I see nothing to laugh about.

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No one is laughing at the child. We are smiling. I'm sure she pronounces the world correctly, even if she can't spell it.

 

There is a very clear distinction between R and L in standard Thai pronunciation. In fact in very formal Thai, the R is trilled. However, there is no R sound in modern Lao. The L and R confusion in Thai largely reflects the Issan Lao influence (or just carelessness). If I were to pronounce an R as an L, I would get strange looks from my students and colleagues.

 

Most of the time a written R is modern Lao is pronounced as an H (rongraem / honghaem, rongrien / honghien), but sometimes it is pronounced as an L (neung roi / nueng loi). The problem for me at least is I'm not sure which to use, unless I have heard the word spoken before. (My Lao is very basic. :( )

 

Over to Todd Daniels ...

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