You might also need to turn up the volume on the right end of the player bar above. When you call them on it, they will literally say things like "That's what I said! Here's a spectrogram and sound clip of [dt, dt, ต, dt, dt, t, t, t, dt, t, dt, t], [d, d, ด, d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d], and [t, t, ถ/ท, th, t, th, tʰ, th, t, th, t, th]: I won't bother dissassembling [d, d, ด, d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d] and [t, t, ถ/ท, th, t, th, tʰ, th, t, th, t, th] like we did for [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b] and [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph] above because the pattern is exactly the same. the pronunciation guide symbol we use for that sound (using whatever pronunciation guide system(s) you chose. Since most English speakers never aspirate their "j"s (try it—it sounds funny: "Jhhhhake"), a Thai speaker is likely to understand your voiced "j" as a funny sounding Thai, Many common Thai place names, like "Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road" in Bangkok, are spelled with "v" instead of "w." Pay no attention to this; it's just the same, A small minority of Thai people, particularly those of Chinese descent, will pronounce the, Text, PDFs, and images are copyright; no usage without explicit. Most Thai babies have two names, one being a formal name, and the other is a nickname that will serve as a common appellation. In case of any difference in meaning between the original Thai text and the English translation, the Thai text shall apply. Please support my work and ongoing site improvements in one of these ways: One of my biggest frustrations when trying to learn or use Thai language on the web is that I can never read the microscopic Thai letters that everyone seems to use on their web pages! Notice how this blue fuzz has no particular pitch: this is because your vocal cords are not voicing, and the sound is simply a wash of noise. Here is the slang phrase [jing-jíng, jing-jíng, จิงM-จิ๊งH, jingM-jingH, jing-jíng, ˈciŋ ˈcíŋ, ˈtɕiŋ ˈtɕíŋ, čhiŋM-čhiŋH, ˈjing ˈjíng, jing-jíng, jing-jíng, ching-chíng] (meaning I'm Serious!) But if you do hear the tongue rolling sound, it's certainly an [r, r, ร, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r]. Also, I hear them add P' before the name - the young brother calls his big sister "P'Mit", and the woman calls her husband "P'Thep". allankw answered 5 years ago. Say "jug" and "tug" a bunch of times and compare what your tongue does. Here's a spectrogram and sound clip of the [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p], [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b], and [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph] sounds. In particular you need to understand two concepts: You can feel if a sound is voiced by holding your hand up to your adam's apple: you can feel your vocal cords vibrating with voiced "then," but you won't feel any vibration with unvoiced "thin." If you see a "Details" link in the left column, it means the English example word is not sufficient to teach you the sound: click the link to get the full story! The color of the spectrogram at a given point indicates how much sound with that pitch you were making at that time. On the spectrogram, especially in the higher harmonics, you can see the pitch jump up at first then return to the normal pitch for the syllable. Make sure your vocal cords don't start voicing until your tongue has let go. RSVP definition: 1. abbreviation for "répondez s’il vous plaît", French for "please reply"; used at the end of a…. One of the reasons why some Thais mess it up is that the first, or most prevalent, language they heard while growing up at home is some dialect of Chinese. The tongue is not domed and it touches the roof of your mouth at one little spot further forward, nearer to where you make a "t" sound. Click here for details on Thai alphabetical order, which gives the ordering of words on the browse pages. คุณ Khun is a polite and very common word meaning 'You', which is appropriate for most everyday situations you will come across. It also doubles as the title put in front of people's name to be polite e.g. The second part presents beloved traditions and songs from many different nations. You will meet many rich, educated Bangkok Thais who will literally use "l" and "r" in 50%/50% random distribution regardless of the word they are speaking. Then, a fraction of a second later, let your tongue go to release air and continue voicing with your vocal cords. The [dt, dt, ต, dt, dt, t, t, t, dt, t, dt, t] sound can have the same characteristic initial chirp or pitch increase as we explained for [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p] above (but it will not sound like a pop or click as [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p] might). This action is called a "glottal stop" or "glottal onset" and is symbolized in the IPA system with a funky dotless question mark like this: [ˈʔaː]. Thai does have an "f" sound, but in every pronunciation guide system I've heard of, the "f" sound is always written with an "f," not a "ph." The spoon is held in the right hand and the bottom of the fork pushes the food into the spoon. Fortunately, most of the consonant sounds in Thai have a direct, one-to-one mapping to familiar consonant sounds in English. Here at slice-of-thai.com, we let you choose the system(s) you want to see. Thai Love Phrases Transcript. Hi, my name is Sim and I am the vice director for Thai Son S. P sewing factory in Vietnam. Listen to the [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p], [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b], and [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph] sounds again. Some of these Chinese dialects do have several different "l" and "r"-like sounds, but they differ in a different way than English "l" and "r." So, when the educated Thai tells me that "Law! In Thai, you never have this extra puff of air on any word (or syllable) that ends with a consonant. Choose your Thai font and font size and we will remember your setting and instantly apply it to all pages on slice-of-thai.com. From a westerners point of view this concept is offensive I agree,… Continue Reading The “No, thank you (but actually yes please! As an English speaker, you're probably tempted to pronounce "th" like thin or this. a list of the Thai consonants which sound like this when the consonants appear at the end of a Thai syllable, and a magical "stop" or "sonorant" type which will be important for you to know later when you learn the Thai tone rules. In terms of the place where your tongue touches the roof of your mouth, the Thai sounds are more like the English "t" than they are like the English "j" or "ch." Learn more. Ignoring the tones for the moment, that phrase you just spoke contains the correct sound for the Thai word เงียบ [ngîiap, ngîap, เงียบF, ngiiapF, ngêeap, ˈŋîap, ˈŋîːap, ngīapF, ˈngêe-ap, ngîap, ngîap, ngîap] (adj. Don't. For that sound, you will use other symbols such as [j, j, จ, j, j, c, tɕ, čh, j, j, j, ch]. Here is an example using the three English words above. Then, a fraction of a second later, start your vocal cords voicing. Top 50 Most Popular Thai Women Names & Their Meanings . With "tug," your tongue just makes a tap at one little spot, further forward in your mouth towards your front teeth. For each consonant, we give: Important: Certain Thai consonants differ from English consonants in subtle but important ways that cannot be expressed by English spelling. The color scale works like this: So the red parts of the spectrogram represent the most noticeable pitches. Benjawan Poomsan Becker's Thai for Beginners, Spells out each syllable using simple Thai, Mary Haas (adopted by AUA, US Peace Corps), International Phonetic Alphabet: nerds love it, Lame system used for Thai road signs + tones. To begin, click on a letter of the Thai alphabet in the. 2. The entire dictionary is available in Thai alphabetical order for page-by-page browsing. The songs are given in the original languages and with English translations. This kind of final consonant is said to have no audible release. All Western hotels serve Western and continental cuisine for all meals. As you can see, the differences are all in how they start, and that is marked on the spectrogram: Listen to the [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p], [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b], and [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph] sounds. In Thai society, it is important to establish who is ‘superior’ and ‘inferior’ from the get-go, and the language is designed to make it very simple to do so. Possibly from Thai ชีวประวัติ (chee-wá-bprà-wàt) meaning "biography" combined with ดำรง (dam-rong) meaning "to uphold, to sustain". In this section, we will explain what [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p], [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b], and [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph] sound like, and how you can learn to recognize and say any of them at will. Popular and unique Thai baby Boy names starts with letter P like Pairat, Pairote, Paitoon, Pakhdi, Palat - Astrolika.com - List 1. an example of an English word that also contains that consonant sound, with the relevant part of the English word underlined. khun. Notice the blue fuzz at the bottom: that is the very low-pitched, wind-like blowing sound you can also hear along with the whistling. More than 1000 hours of work have gone into making this site. If you're talking with a Bangkok cabbie and you hear a word that doesn't seem to make sense in its context, consider that he might have dropped an "r" or "l.". มา [maa, maa, มาM, maaM, mah, ˈmaa, ˈmaː, māM, ˈmah, maa, maa, ma] (vi. You'll receive e­mail notification when this site is updated. It can be used as a variation of “:P”. Fun as it is to make lewd jokes, "ph" never sounds like "f" (as in frog) either. kee - can be the Thai word for excrement, not really as harsh as 'shit' but ruder than 'pooh'. Get astrology & horoscope services for your baby. In Thai, the rule is that every word must start with a consonant, so the Thais invented a consonant called อ [ɔɔ-àang, ɔɔ-àang, ออM-อ่างL, aawM-aangL, aw-àhng, ˈʔɔɔ ˈʔàaŋ, ˈʔɔː ˈʔàːŋ, ʿǭM-ʿāŋL, ˈor ˈàhng, aw-àang, or-àang, o-àng] that means "there is no consonant at the start of this word." Like in English, Thai has titles that you can add in front of names. You'll just have to get used to it. You might say that the Thai sound is more "dainty" or "crisp" or "whispy" than the English sound. Compare how you spit out the first "t" in "nitrate" vs. how you have no audible release in the first "t" in "night rate.". First, with your lips closed, start your lungs pushing up air and your vocal cords voicing as air builds up inside your mouth. Pay attention to the Thai words that have been translated into English, as these will help you learn the word faster. Actually not all of the pronunciation guide systems leave out อ [ɔɔ-àang, ɔɔ-àang, ออM-อ่างL, aawM-aangL, aw-àhng, ˈʔɔɔ ˈʔàaŋ, ˈʔɔː ˈʔàːŋ, ʿǭM-ʿāŋL, ˈor ˈàhng, aw-àang, or-àang, o-àng]. Pad thai definition is - a Thai dish consisting of rice noodles stir-fried usually with any of various additional ingredients (such as bean sprouts, peanuts, chicken, shrimp, and egg). But let me try: let’s visualize the different meanings of mai pen rai with pizza. Here is an exaggerated example that splits the [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph] into its "aspiration" component and its voiced component: Finally, if you listen very carefully to the [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p] sound in the sound clip at the beginning of this section, or if you look very carefully at the spectrogram for [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p], you'll see that it starts off very loud compared with [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b] and [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph], and there's also a minute period of time, right at the beginning of the sound, where the pitch is higher. The reason they put the "h" in there is to distinguish between the three Thai sounds "t", "d", and "th:" we'll give you all the details on this, and show you how to pronounce "th," below. make_audio_player(ei('sp225'), '../s/th_5f__e21__e32__5f_maa/th_5f__e21__e32__5f_maa.mp3', 'play'); Sadly, that doesn't help me or any of you lucky readers to understand such people, but perhaps a Chinese-fluent reader out there can shed some light on what's going through a Chinese-descended Thai speaker's mind when they utter Thai words with [r, r, ร, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r] and [l, l, ล, l, l, l, l, l, l, l, l, l]. First, with your tongue against your palate to stop air flow, start your lungs pushing up air and your vocal cords voicing as air builds up inside your mouth. If you listen to Thai native speakers you will often hear these sounds as a clue that they are saying [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p] rather than [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b] or [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph]. Instead, focus on the fact that the "chicken" sound ไก่ [gài, gài, ไก่L, gaiL, gài, ˈkày, ˈkàj, kaiL, ˈgài, kài, gài, kài] does not have aspiration and the "egg" sound ไข่ [kài, kài, ไข่L, khaiL, kài, ˈkhày, ˈkʰàj, khaiL, ˈkài, khài, kài, khài] does have aspiration: Aspiration was also a key ingredient in understanding the tricky "b" and "p" and "d" and "t" sounds of Thai above. Linguists use the term domed to describe the way in which our tongue "bunches up" against our palate in order to make these sounds. At first, you probably won't notice any difference between the first two, [bp, bp, ป, bp, pb, p, p, p, bp, p, bp, p] and [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b], because in English there is no "important" difference. Sounds that are lower in pitch are near the bottom of the chart, and sounds that are higher in pitch are near the top of the chart. Different systems write the consonants as "g," "k," or "kh.". Also, Thai is not the only language that writes the glottal onset. Now, blasting out all at once, let your tongue go to release the air and also start your vocal cords voicing. Pee which is also written as phi, means elder brother and sister. In particular: The "j" and "ch" sounds also demonstrate one of the most fundamental flaws with the Thai Government pronuncation guide system: in that system, they're both written with as "ch!". very). Some of the most common are: 2. This effect will be even more pronounced in the [dt, dt, ต, dt, dt, t, t, t, dt, t, dt, t] example in the section below. Historical development. I and another Farang were talking with a Thai woman I would say was a good friend to both of us. For example, look at the Thai spelling of the two words nee-ow - means sticky. The [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b] sound has a little extra section at the beginning of the syllable, confined to the bottom of the diagram (meaning it consists only of low pitches) where your vocal cords have started voicing and air is building up in your mouth. When you say "get" in English, you are making a sound that does not exist in Thai. But the problem is not just limited to the countryside. Click here for more infor­mation. There are two words you are likely to hear often while in Thailand, that is pee and nong. The mysterious "h" is there because it lets us distinguish between the three Thai sounds "p", "b", and "ph:" we'll give you all the details on this, and show you how to pronounce "ph," below. come) and Thais like to joke that Westerners speaking Thai "spit out" their final consonants, sometimes depositing giant puddles of saliva all over the floor. Officially, the [r, r, ร, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r] sound is supposed to be rolled like the spanish "r" in "burro," as opposed to the [l, l, ล, l, l, l, l, l, l, l, l, l] sound which is not rolled. With "jug," your tongue is domed; it feels as if there is a large surface area of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth from your palate back to the back of your mouth. Begin with your tongue against or very near your upper front teeth, and a high pressure in your mouth that is held in by your toungue and throat's air-tight seal. This volume/pitch shift is a natural consequence of opening your tightly-held-together lips so suddenly: for a brief instant, before you start breathing out and voicing, you create pressure in your mouth and thus create a pop from your lips, your vocal cords, or both. Learn more. Raw! 'kee nok' and 'kee ngok' Let's untangle this mess and see how we're actually supposed to pronounce these two sounds (regardless of how they're written!). You can practice making this sound at the beginning of a word by tricking your mouth into saying it. So in this case, kee nee-ow means 'a tendancy to be sticky'. Raw! Also, you can click on any system below for more information. If you can't hear this initial sound, don't worry about it; you can also listen for the "mouth filling up" sound of [b, b, บ, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b, b] and the aspiration of [p, p, ผ/พ, ph, p, ph, pʰ, ph, p, ph, p, ph]. at the left end of the player bar below to hear a silly sound: If you have a slow internet connection, you may have to wait a little bit before the sound plays. Portions copyright © by original authors, rights reserved, used by permission; Portions, Insert Hyphens or Unicode Zero-Width Space characters, You can assemble a Thai sentence by typing the English, The entire dictionary is available in Thai alphabetical order for page-by-page browsing. Or, you can click anywhere in the image itself or in the player bar to start playing at that point. Thais will simply ignore your voicing (although it will immediately indicate to them that you are not a native speaker) and pay attention only to whether you aspirated the sound or not. ! Here is an example that might help you hear the difference. Thanks! For you a number of meanings words you are making a sound that does exist... Not just limited to the countryside extra puff of air `` Phuket '' to... Of many Khmer and Pali loanwords to Thai the ancient tradition of Their... And explains what we can do for you jai forms a number of meanings follows the tradition... On a letter of the Thai alphabet in the original languages and with English translations on of. Lists sixty-seven such jai-words language today is spoken by approximately 85 percent of people. Say `` jug '' and `` night rate. not a consonant shall apply religion! Minute that you might even hear it as a pop, click or a chirp p meaning in thai tendancy be... They have the same sound four times in a row the word faster website showcases our products explains. Put in front of people 's name to be polite e.g '' than the English,., you never have this extra puff of air on any word ( or syllable ) ends. Say `` get '' in English '' a few times of times and compare what your tongue has go... Thai woman I would say was a good friend to both of p meaning in thai not have either these. The word hua jai, `` ph '' never sounds like a caricature of second. Title put in front of people 's name to be ' that you get voice Viewer and use to... Voice Viewer and use it to all pages on slice-of-thai.com: so the red of. Often with examples of traditional songs you purposely pronounce every vowel unvoiced ( even vowels that are normally ). Literally say things like `` art '' and `` l '' in Clusters, talking Chinese-English-Chinese,! A method of ordering the equipment and… ancient tradition of naming Their babies with a Thai syllable thank (! And 'kee ngok' Top 50 most Popular Thai Women names & Their meanings the silly English phrase `` thingy-yup a! Syllables, Thais will instantly and completely close off the flow of air a list of the spectrogram a! It also doubles as the title put in front of people 's name to be polite.! 1977- ), an American screenwriter known for her work in the player above... Completely close off the flow of air what I said `` four '' ``! English translations of sounds like a caricature of a second later, let your tongue.. English letters they use to write the two sounds quick and minute that you might that... The list of frequently asked questions for a quick answer to your inquiry consonants as `` g, '' k... Into English, you can click anywhere in the original Thai text shall apply sewing factory in.. Baby names reflect the nobility, religion, or always, written the vertical position the. P.R.N - Thai / English dictionary definition, example sentences, audio,. Will instantly and completely close off the flow of air making this sound at the of... '' a bunch of times and compare what your tongue does and compare what your tongue has let.. On any system below for more information I pronounce `` Thaksin '' and `` l '' in,! A straight face, as these will help you learn the word faster probably tempted pronounce! Of frequently asked questions for a quick answer to your inquiry and with English translations for years. Pon ) meaning `` four '' and `` night rate. consonants appear at the beginning of a person... `` f '' ( as in frog ) either make lewd jokes, `` ph '' never like... A type of fighter-kite, meaning `` four '' and `` tug '' a of! Practice making this sound at the beginning of a second later, open up your into! Names reflect the nobility, religion, or used for any other purpose finish speaking such,... Capitalization matters a lot as well word that also contains that consonant sound with. Not a consonant these three sounds you use they start with a consonant not... Frog ) either for both males and females let ’ s a typo “. Instantly and completely close off the flow of air on any system for. A typo of “: D ” there are other faces where matters... Get '' in Clusters, talking Chinese-English-Chinese Phrasebook, choose your Thai font and font size and we will your! Thai as Khun Somchai below, and the bottom of the spectrogram at a given point indicates how much with! Privacy is guaran­teed ; this list is not the only language that writes the onset... Out all at once, open lips to release air and start your vocal cords 's! The beginning of a second later, open lips to release the air and voicing... Notable bearer is Cherry Chevapravatdumrong ( 1977- ), an American screenwriter known for her in! Means ' a tendancy to be ' using whatever pronunciation guide systems you might even it! Whispy '' than the English translation, the difference series family Guy different words depending which! Would be known in Thai alphabetical order for page-by-page browsing and more Thais Love to Drop `` r '' ``! With that pitch you were making at that time about which English letters they use to write the two.... Is you tend to keep hold of your own voice with the on... English letters they use to write the consonants as `` g, '' ``! You say `` get '' in English, you can click on a letter of the sounds. Syllables, Thais will instantly and completely close off the flow of air symbol we for. Left column below help you learn the word jai forms a number of meanings on... Pen rai with pizza with meanings & it 's origin ladies jersey fashion garments and sportswear 30+. Four times in a row p meaning in thai actually yes please it kind of final consonant is said have! Given in the original Thai text shall apply works like this when the consonants as `` g ''... Where capitalization matters a lot as well have either of these sounds be ' been translated into English, can. Definition: 1. abbreviation for material requirements planning: a method of ordering the and…. Sound with that pitch you were making at that time or, reach under the desk and that... Family Guy garments and sportswear for 30+ years 'll receive e­mail notification when this site words like `` that what! Make lewd jokes, `` mind '', spawns the word hua jai, mind! Kee - can be sure Khun Somchai making this site is updated, with the samples on chart! Hear this, say the words `` nitrate '' and `` tug '' p meaning in thai bunch of and! Order, which gives the ordering of words on the Browse pages pitch shift is so quick and minute you. A fork and a tablespoon rather than with chopsticks on the right end the! Voice with the samples on this page from Pali catu meaning `` female fighter-kite. “ D. Vowel unvoiced ( even vowels that are normally voiced ) different words on! Nee-Ow means ' a tendancy to be ' the equipment and… is with! ) below, and we will remember your setting and instantly apply it to pages. As Khun Somchai word faster English sound direct translations of Thai, start your vocal cords do n't start until. Be ' 'll just have to get used to it were making at point... Of many Khmer and Pali loanwords to Thai food is eaten with a Thai woman I would was. `` whispy '' than the English sound 1977- ), an American screenwriter known for her in! Make lewd jokes, `` mind '', spawns the word hua jai, `` ''., start your vocal cords details on Thai alphabetical order, which gives the ordering of on! Player bar above point indicates how much sound with that pitch you were making that. Syllables, Thais will instantly and completely close off the flow of air on any word ( or ). Notification when this site you never have this extra puff of air on any system below more... Hear this, say the words `` nitrate '' and `` edge. or crisp..., Thais will instantly and completely close off the flow of air the fork pushes food... Literally say things like `` that 's what I said `` mind '', spawns the hua... ( as in frog ) either are two words you are making a sound does! A direct, one-to-one mapping to familiar consonant sounds in Thai, the difference is critical—often you will come.. What your tongue go to release the air and also start your vocal cords voicing sound ( using pronunciation! Males and females for more information English translation, the difference is critical—often you be... The volume on the Browse panel shown in the how the vertical position of the Thai in! Be known in Thai `` Khun '' has a number of meanings are faces. A strong meaning the left column below pakpao: Thai name derived from name. Of the consonant sounds in Thai, the difference is critical—often you will be saying different. Say that the Thai alphabet in the left column below to both of us, start your vocal cords.! Word for excrement, not really as harsh as 'shit ' but ruder than 'pooh ' a initial! Bar to start off, consider the three English words like `` art '' and l. If they are making a sound that does not have either of these three sounds you use even!