Word Study

Word Study

Point 1. Special expressions for can and can't

	Equivalent translation	Literal translation
phǒm duu hěn dii ผมดูเห็นดี	I can see fine.	I looking see well.
phǒm duu mây hěn ผมดูไม่เห็น	I can't see.	I looking do not see.
phǒm faŋ dâyyin dii ผมฟังได้ยินดี	I can hear fine.	I listening hear well.
phǒm faŋ mây dâyyin ผมฟังไม่ได้ยิน	I can't hear.	I listening do not hear.

In English our words can and can't cover a wide variety of notions that are carefully distinguished in Thai. You have already become familiar with some of these distinctions (Unit 14, Section B.1, Point 4), and the examples quoted immediately above illustarte still another distinction. The literal translations show what this distinction is while the English equivalents show the normal way of saying the same thing in English.

Point2. The words sǔay and phrɔ́ʔ

	Equivalent translation
faysǐi sǔay mâak ไฟสีสวยมาก	The colored lights are very pretty.
dontrii khǎw phrɔ́ʔ ciŋ ดนตรีเขาเพราะจริง	Their music's awfully pretty.

Note carefully that sǔay is used only of things which can be seen, while phrɔ́ʔ is used of things which can be heard. You will need to make a special effort to remember this due to the fact that in English we use the word 'pretty' of both sights and sounds.

Point 3. The use of naa with units of time

khraaw nâa คราวหน้า	next time (lit., 'the time ahead')
ʔaathít nâa อาทิตย์หน้า	next week (lit., 'the week ahead')
dyan nâa เดือนหน้า	next month
pii nâa ปีหน้า	next year

Memorize these phrases and contrast them with the ones made with kn (e.g., ma aathit kn 'last week') which you have already memorized.

Point 4. More about the use of waa

khǎw pìt fayfáa mòt เขาปิดไฟฟ้าหมด	They turned out all the lights.
phǒm càay ŋən mòt lɛ́ɛw. ผมจ่ายเงินหมดแล้ว	I've spent all my money.

The word mòt meaning 'to be all, to be used up, to be exhausted (in supply)' is usually employed as a secondary verb, as in the examples above. However, it is also occasionally used alone, particularly in certain set expressions, such as:

mòt lɛ́ɛw
หมดแล้ว

That's all (in the sense of 'that's all there is').

The important thing to remember about all the examples quoted here is that while mòt is a verb in Thai it is usually not translated as such in English, because of the different modes of expression employed in the two languages.

Point 5. The use of còp

khǎw rɔ́ɔŋ phleeŋchâat còp lɛ́ɛw. เขาร้องเพลงชาติจบแล้ว	They've finished singing the national anthem (i.e., have sung the national anthem to the end).
khun ʔàan nǎŋsʉ̌ʉ còp lɛ́ɛw rʉ̌ʉ. คุณอ่านหนังสือจบแล้วหรือ	Have you finished reading the book? (in the sense of 'Have you read the book to the end?')

The word còp meaning 'to be ended' is, like mòt in the preceding point, genearlly used as a secondary verb, as in the examples given. The important things to remember about the use of this word are:
(1) It is generally best translated 'to finish' in idiomatic English, but it means 'to finish' only in the sense of 'to come to the end.'
(2) If it is used with another verb it is secondary to that verb and therefore comes after it. In English, on the other hand, the word 'finish' precedes the verb with which it is used.

Point 6. The distinction between còp and sèt.

phǒm ʔàan nǎŋsʉ̌ʉ sèt lɛ́ɛw. ผมอ่านหนังสือเสร็จแล้ว	I've finished reading.
phǒm ʔàan nǎŋsʉ̌ʉ còp lɛ́ɛw. ผมอ่านหนังสือจบแล้ว	I've finished reading the book or I've read the book through.

The examples above neatly illustrate the distinction between còp and sèt, both of which are frequently translated 'finish' in English. Memorize the examples and their meanings.

Point 7. Making new words with nák.

Without nák	Meaning	With nák	Meaning
rɔ́ɔŋphleeŋ ร้องเพลง	to sing	nákrɔ́ɔŋphleeŋ นักร้องเพลง	singer
sàtɛɛŋ lákhɔɔn แสดงละคร	to act	náksàdɛɛŋlákhɔɔn นักแสดงละคร	actor, actress
lên lákhɔɔn เล่นละคร	to act	náklênlákhɔɔn นักเล่นละคร	actor, actress
tênram เต้นรำ	to dance	náktênram นักเต้นรำ	dancer
thɔ̂ŋthîaw ท่องเที่ยว	to tour	nákthɔ̂ŋthîaw นักท่องเที่ยว	tourist
rian เรียน	to study	nákrian นักเรียน	student

The word nák means 'person' but it is never used by itself. Its only function is in the formation of certain agentive nouns from verbs (compare the words made with khon, discussed in Unit 16, Section B.1, Point 9). As a general rule nák denotes one who is expert or specially trained in doing a certain thing, as may be noticed in most of the examples above.

Many agentive nouns made with nák have alternative shortened forms. Note the following examples:

Full form	Shortened form
náksàdɛɛŋlákhɔɔn ( náklênlákhɔɔn ) นักแสดงละคร (นักเล่นละคร)	náklákhɔɔn นักละคร	actor, actress
náklêndontrii นักเล่นดนตรี	nákdontrii นักดนตรี	musician
náklênfútbɔɔn นักเล่นฟุตบอล	nákfútbɔɔn นักฟุตบอล	football- player

Point 8. The use of tâŋ with number-words

Without châaŋ	Meaning	With châaŋ	Meaning
tàt phǒm ตัดผม	to cut hair	châaŋtàtphǒm ช่างตัดผม	barber
tàt sʉ̂a ตัดเสื้อ	to cut out coats	châaŋtàtsʉ̂a ช่างตัดเสื้อ	tailor
tham rɔɔŋtháaw ทำรองเท้า	to make shoes	châaŋthamrɔɔŋtháaw ช่างตัดรองเท้า	shoemaker
sák phâa ซักผ้า	to launder	châaŋsákphâa ช่างซักเสื้อผ้า	launderer

The word châaŋ, like nák discussed under the previous point, is never used by itself. Its function is to form agentive nouns from verbs, as illustrated above. It cannot be used interchangeably with nák , however, because agentive nouns formed with châaŋ generally refer to craftsmen while a large number of those made with nák refer to artists or highly skilled persons.

One more point to be observed about châaŋ is that khon may sometimes alternate with it; for example, châaŋ sákphâa and khonsákphâa both mean 'launderer' and may be used interchangeably. However, while it is possible to replace châaŋ with khon, the reverse is not true. The reason for this is that there are many agentives made with khon which od not refer to craftsmen.

Point 9. Making new words with rooŋ

Without rooŋ	Meaning	With rooŋ	Meaning
rian เรียน	to study	rooŋrian โรงเรียน	school (school - house)
tênram เต้นรำ	to dance	rooŋtênram โรงเต้นรำ	dance - hall
sák phâa ซักผ้า	to launder	rooŋsákphâa โรงซักผ้า	laundry (place)
lákhɔɔn ละคร	play, drama	rooŋlákhɔɔn โรงละคร	play - house (theater)
phâappháyon ภาพยนตร์	moving-picture	rooŋphâappháyon โรงภาพยนตร์	moving - picture theater
nǎŋ หนัง	movie	rooŋnǎŋ โรงหนัง	movie theater

The word rooŋ, which may be translated 'house' (as the term is used in words like 'school - house'), is placed before verbs or nouns to form new nouns which indicate the place where certain activities take place. Note that rooŋ is rarely used alone except as a classifier or as an abbreviation for a compound noun (such as those above) which have rooŋ as their first member. See Sentence No. 9 in the Basic Sentences of this unit.

Point 10. The use of nán with descriptive clauses.

khon thîi yùu thaaŋ sáay sùt nán pen naaŋ ʔèek. คนที่อยู่ทางซ้ายสุดนั้นเป็นนางเอก	The ('that') one who is on the extreme left is the heroine.
phûuyǐŋ khon thîi lên tennít kàp khun mʉ̌a waan nán pen khray khráp. ผู้หญิงคนที่เล่นเทนนิสกับคุณเมื่อวานเป็นใครครับ	Who is the ('that') woman who played tennis with you yesterday?

Note carefully that the combination khon thîi ... nán means 'the one who ...' and that the proper position for nán is after the descriptive clause introduced by thîi. The word khon in both examples above is a classifier and ofcourse similar sentences containing other classifiers are also widely used, e.g.

nǎŋsʉ̌ʉ lêm thîi phǒm sʉ́ʉ mʉ̂a waan nán
หนังสือเล่มที่ผมซื้อเมื่อวานนั้น

The ('that') book which I bought yesterday.

The broad formula taking in all types of such phrases, then, is:
Noun + Classifier + thîi + Clause introduced by thîi + nán

Point 11. Some classifiers

a. nâa หน้า	is used as the classifier for pages of books and newspapers, as in sɔ̌ɔŋrɔ́ɔy nâa 'two hundred pages'; nâa lǎŋlǎŋ 'the back pages'.
b. thîi ที่	is used as the classifier for quite a few nouns whose first member is also thîi. One of these nouns is thîinâŋ, as in thîinâŋ hâa thîi 'five seats'.

Point 12. Some special phrases

hàt ŋâay หันหน้า	to be easily trained or to train easily
mây chây lên ไม่ใช่เล่น	quite or rather
pə̀ət fayfáa (or) pə̀ət fay เปิดไฟฟ้า (หรือ) เปิดไฟ	to turn on the lights
pèt chàak เปิดฉาก	to raise the curtain (speaking of plays)
pìt fayfáa (or) pìt fay ปิดไฟฟ้า (หรือ) ปิดไฟ	to turn out the lights
pìt chàak ปิดฉาก	to lower the curtain
rúu rʉ̂aŋ รู้เรื่อง	to know what it's about or to understand
tham sǐaŋ daŋ ทำเสียงดัง	to make noise or to be noisy
thaaŋ sáay sùt ทางซ้ายสุด	at the extreme left