I went back to the Thai alphabet to see if one of the letters could possibly be contorted, mutated into an English 'S'...not that I can make out. A possible theory! Are they simply adding an English 'S' to turn a Thai word into a plural?
Is it a symbol I haven't come across yet?
I give up. In the infamous words of Pauline Hanson, and I know I'm going to feel like a right idiot when someone does, but...PLEASE EXPLAIN????
See what else we're up to at Cooee!
When I started writing in Thai my hands would get cramped. Thai teachers will start you out with kinter script that to me is too small, with too many uncomfortable angles. Frustrated, I searched around.
ReplyDelete'Reading Thai is Fun', by James Neal is great. A classic.
James teaches you how to simplify the Thai. And when you do, the R turns into what looks like an S, the G(K) is an upside down U, the B is a U, etc.
If you get a chance, have your Thai friends write a paragraph in Thai script. It will not be kinter Thai (the equivalent to our printing). They will use more of a longhand.
Thanks Catherine...I still feel like crying ;) but at least now I know I'm not going mad...not yet anyway.
ReplyDeleteI guarantee that you won't go mad.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a good bet that your head will threaten to explode.
I'm sat in bar, and asked a Thai person sat next to me.
ReplyDeleteThen had to ask a second one, as it all got a little confusing....
I am told that is is the Thai letter for SAILBOAT.
See th chart at
http://www.thailandquickguide.com/2010/03/11/learning-thai-language-thai-alphabet/
Start in the bottom left box, go two right, two up. Sailboat!
What it's called, it's class, it's sound - I know nothing further.
The person I asked is 100% convinced it is the same letter. My certainty is a few percent lower than that - it looks like a stretch to go from S to sailboat. But then, I know nothing of the Thai alphabet, so I provisionally accept what she says.
Hi Fred, if it's the R - ร {ร เรือ ro ruea (boat)} this reinforces what Catherine has said. I agree, it is certainly a stretch to me also...that's why it was doing my head in!
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing some investigating on my behalf :)
It's just the difference between printing the letters and writing them in cursive script or using a different word processor font. Like the difference between using Arial and a Gothic font for English.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon? I understand what you're saying, but for a newbie like me...it's (nearly) like learning two different languages. I hope once I get started, it'll be a bit easier, in the mean time, I'll just stay confused:)
ReplyDeleteCatherine's Women Learn Thai site posted about dictionary software (direct site http://word-in-the-hand.com/) which shows examples of different fonts. I should and will invest in the full version, it's a fantastic program. Have you tried it?