New Petchburi Pete Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 Can someone explain the difference between these two words, or is it just in the pronounciation? ? same-same meaning ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solar Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 As I understand it, Thai from Issan mispronounce 'r' as 'l'. So I suspect farang is probably more correct. Maybe the expats can shed further light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 It's not just an Isaan thing; I've heard Bangkok Thais say the same thing. How many Asians do you know that can say "fried rice". I think in general it's easier for Thais to pronounce an "L" sound then an "R" sound so they get sloppy (hell, it's their language!). I think there are lots of examples of this. When do you hear a Thai say "aRai-na?" but that's how it's spelled (ÃÃäÃ) the "R" being "Ã". They always say "aLai-na". Or the word for "boat" (à Ã×Ã) always sounds like "Leua" to me. This is my take on it anyway. I'm sure there are other consonant combinations that are (mispronounced?) like this as well. I'd be interested in hearing about those. Like "sukhumVit"; there is no "V" in the Thai alphabet! Maybe there should be?! I don't remember how Thais say it. There must be some other examples.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 It is indeed just the pronunciation. "R" is correct. If you look at the spelling in Thai, it is definitely the Thai "r" (called "raw reua") being used and not the Thai "l" (called "law ling"). The same with "boat": "Reua," not "leua," but that actually is how some Thais pronounce it. Some Thais really cannot distinguish between the "l" and "r" sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 Not only do thais pronounce the r as l, most thais also pronounce words with consonant clusters by just pronouncing the initial consonant. So fish=Plaa becomes Paa Close or far (depending on the tone) Glai becomes Gai Polite=Proh becomes Poh etc.etc. Rather annoying if you learn how to spell a word and the first time you get to hear it makes you wonder why you made the effort:) Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 24, 2002 Report Share Posted April 24, 2002 "So fish=Plaa becomes Paa Close or far (depending on the tone) Glai becomes Gai Polite=Proh becomes Poh" I haven't noticed this to a large extent myself. That might be a regional thing, though. I know in the South that words and expressions get shortened a lot; my experience is with Bangkok and the North. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkkShaggy Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 joeyjojo, "It's not just an Isaan thing; I've heard Bangkok Thais say the same thing." You're absolutely right. In fact most Thais are too lazy to pronounce it correctly. Pity but true. The laziness has caused many words to change into different form. For example. ma-prow = coconut was used to be 'mark-prow' (mark is pronouned like 'Hua Mark') But just because people were too lazy to pronounce it fully it was shortened to 'ma' instead of 'mark'. The exact same thing happens to many Thai fruit names like ma-muang = mango. ma-karm = tamarine I'm not so sure about ma-now= lime though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 25, 2002 Report Share Posted April 25, 2002 I'm sure glad we don't do that sort of thing in English! "Gotta get goin!" Later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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