Thanks for everything. Leaving Chiang Mai

As it came closer to the time to leave Chiang Mai (a couple of days ago), I started thinking about how to say goodbye in Thai. I don't just mean สวัสดีค่ะ sà~​wàt-​dee-​kâ, but more along the lines of "Thanks for everything." Like I'd say in Australian.

I thought about translating it directly...but I wasn't sure if I could do that?, so didn't say it.

ขอบคุณสำหรับทุกสิ่ง/kòp kun săm-ràp túk sìng
Literally - thank you for everything.

However, when I sought the advice of a Thai friend he came back with simply 'thank you'. But for me it didn't seem quite enough.

ขอให้มีความสุข/kŏr hâi mee kwaam sùk 
Literally - request to be happy

was the second option he gave me, which I understand to mean 'Wish you happiness.'..or if you believe Google 'Have a good time.'

When crunch time came I was happy that I could say that 'I was going home, and on what day and that I might return in ?????'...not happy that I was leaving, but happy that I'd learnt the words. Stray used...

ผมคิดถึงคุณแล้ว/pŏm kít tĕung kun láew
Literally - I miss you already

...a few times, which did recieve a few giggles.

Mostly as I said farewell (to non-English speakers),

โชคดีนะ/chôhk-​dee ná
Literally - good luck + polite particle, was a common response. So, for now it's...

สวัสดีค่ะเชียงใหม่/sà~​wàt-​dee-​kâ chiang-mài
Literally - Goodbye Chiang Mai!

...and I'm off to redesign this blog header.

Cheers!
สเนป

See what else we're up to at Cooee!

I can't believe I've been spelling my name wrong.

How embarrassing!

For many months now I've been calling myself 'smap' without realising it. What a difference a little loop makes. Gotta stop copying and pasting...especially spelling errors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Cheers!
สเนป

See what else we're up to at Cooee!

When learn language websites behave badly.

“It is normal that American people from the north do not fully understand those from the south. The way of life, climate and everything all impact pronunciation.”

But, rest assured...

“We have example of online English conversation in different situations that you likely to use oftenly.”

Learn how to use tenses and grammar....

“I hit him at the back yesterday.
He was hit by me at the back yesterday.

A pen is under the table.
I have two pens in my pockey.

John is kicked by me
They are cooked by Marry.

Jim is a little nervous when he on the stage yesterday.

Our group have different oppinion on where to go today.

I will have jumped to the water if the bear will come."


And... “if you want to speak english fluently. You can visit our conversation corner...”


“How long do we have to wait? Arond five to ten minutes”

“Can I site here? It's ok for me.”

“Excuse me. Do you mind taking us pictures?”

 "I heard you are going to have an exam tomorrow. Yes, I'm quite worry about it.”

“Shalle we postpone?”

Learn the meanings of popular idioms....

“A hot potato = A hot issue that people are talking about
Eating someone = Disturbing someone
Backup the wrong horse = Support the wrong person, team or side.
Egg on the facel = To be embarrassed
Eata humble pie = Admit on something
Fly a kite = Test reaction of the idea
In black and white = Formal (dress)
Jockey the position = Try to train or someone to be best in their job/position
Jungle out there = Something are dangerous outside
X rate (Rate X) = Too aggressive
Panic stations = Very exciting situation”

Learn by watching movies... “Right, the thing is you don't just watch it but you have to watch by learning purpose to create more useful entertainment.... The steps may annoy your emotion but if you want to learn English you better follow below steps. Otherwise, you may lost your time and effort without nothing.”

“At xxxxxschool, we believe that memory cannot take you any far in English learning journey.” “Listenning skill is one of the most difficult among all other English learning skill because it gives you the least time for your brain to process.”

“Everyone loves playing game so why waste your time with a non-sense online game, if you can play English Game Online with us.”

Try your hand at some multiple choice quizzes...

“Our effort is good to a/an/the environment.
Don't look at a/an/the sun with your bear eyes?
I earn many/much/both money this year.
We are so hungry. There is little/a little/few food left?”

“It was my pressure to meet you.” But, for now I’m going back to my “Ivory tower = A perfect, and unreal, place where everyone dream to stay.”

The not so funny thing about this website is that it appears to be mainly a vehicle for advertising, and that people are actually consulting it and its forum. Think I scoured the site for hours looking for errors? Think again...it was hard to stop (copying and pasting) at just the few examples in this post.

Related posts Note to self #2

Cheers!
สเนป

See what else we're up to at Cooee!

Note To Self 2 - Learning Thai(land)

Don’t believe everything you read AND use more than one Thai language reference resource to verify its meaning and use.

I shout myself a massage about once every two months. And, after yesterday’s, which was outstanding, the owner of the place asked me "How was it?"

“พอดี (por dee) ” I said, with which she gave me a disappointingly blank stare. So, I tried saying it again a couple times, altering it a little each time. Nup, still nothing!

“Perfect” I said, and with that, a look of relief came across her face. I was befuddled for a short while after, because I’m sure I was saying it correctly and had only learnt it that morning in a vocabulary list in one of my lesson files. How hard can it be? I know these two words separately, and use them often.

พอดี = ‘perfect’, the file said. WELL, NO, IT DOESN’T!!!!! And, after reviewing the lesson (about food), the word พอดี in the vocabulary section isn’t used again...anywhere, so I had no context to refer to.

พอดี = ‘just enough, just sufficient, good enough’.

I suppose if someone’s asking you “Would you like some more (food)?”, 'พอดี' might be an appropriate response. Or, if you're ordering a meal, you could say 'เผ็ดพอดี' (spicy just enough...medium heat).

BUT, if someone has just given you a really heavenly massage, I reckon พอดี would mean PRETTY AVERAGE. I really should have known better, it being a compound of ‘adequate/enough + good’. However, compound words don’t always equate to the sum of their two or more parts. Sometimes they’re totally unrelated and make you wonder who was thinking what the hell, when the word evolved...I guess that’s why they’re referred to as idiomatic compounds.

pen = mouth + crow / ปาก + กา / pbàhk + ​gah
rudder = tail + tiger / หาง + เสือ / hǎhng + sǔea
responsible = get + wrong + like / รับผิดชอบ / ráp-​pìt-​châwp
parrot = bird + glass / นก + แก้ว / nók + ​gâeo
cashew = seed + mango + Himapan (in north India) / เม็ด + มะม่วง + หิมพานต์ / mét +​má​môoang + ​hǐm​má​pahn

I am however extremely grateful that most compound words (คำประสม / word + mix, add) in Thai, are what they say they are, or close to it!

Anyway, I think I’ve written พอดี

BTW, if you're looking to get a massage in Chiang Mai, I can recommend Saija.

Redupli-upli-cations - Double Trouble in Thai

Reduplication, in linguistics, is a morphological process by which the root or stem of a word, or part of it, is repeated. Wiki Not unlike ha, ha, ha :) bye-bye, choo-choo, night-night, no-no, pee-pee, poo-poo....and other forms.

In Thai we know this function is indicated by 'ๆ' (ไม้ยมก) mái-​yá~​mók. However it takes on several different forms.

After leaving comments on Josh Sager’s blog (on a post about reduplication, I'd first visited quite a few months ago), I found a book on Google (via WLT) ‘A reference grammar of Thai’ and spent hours reading... what was available online. Reduplication it seems is more diverse and fluster worthy, than I initially imagined.

Most of the information below was sourced from Reference Grammar of Thai and past learning, along with some interesting publications from the shelves of our global village.

1. Simple Reduplication – emphasizing as in 'very' or 'more'

มากๆ /mâak mâak/ much much - very much

ช้าๆ / cháh-​cháh / slow slow – slowly, more slow

2. Softening or Generalisation Reduplication - can lessen the subject to the equivalent of the English suffix –ish. It can also indicate an approximation.

น้ำเย็นๆ / nám yen yen / water + cold + cold = coolish water ¹

เก่าๆ / kàw kàw / old (things) + old (things) = oldish ²

อยู่แถวาๆ สะพาน / yòo tháae tháae sà-pahn / is + around + around + bridge = is around the (area of the) bridge ³ *

3. Simple Reduplication - singular into a plural or a collective

เด็กๆ / dèk-​dèk / children

หนังสือดีๆ / năng-sŭe dii dii /good books

OK, that last one really stumped me, because to me it reads 'very good book', singular!

Note from Thai Language Wiki

"Noun + stative verb reduplicated = Depending on the context, reduplication of the stative verb may result in, well, any of the above." ^

4. Simple Reduplication – to indicate the succession of sounds or events

พรำๆ / pram-pram / sound of continuous falling rain

ซู่ๆ /sôo-sôo / sound of rain

ติ๊กๆ / dtík-dtík / sound of clock ticking

(And then of course we see it used in informal settings (chats/forums), in multiples ๆๆๆๆๆๆๆๆ and I presume that it’s sort of the equivalent to !!!!!!!!!!!! in English.)

So how do we know which of the 4 effects (above) the reduplication symbol will have on the word it follows?

I've asked my Thai friends and according to them, we/they can't...it's one of those things they 'just know'. However, this might be a start (?) but I’ve yet to give the theory a run for its money.⁶

And then there are reduplications that don’t use the ๆ symbol, because the words repeated are not identical.

5. Complex Reduplication – literally a high tonal emphasis on the first word

ดี๊ดี  /dée-dee / good good / very good

ด๊ำดำ/ dám-dam / black black / very black ⁴

5.a. high tonal emphasis on the second of three words

เดินเดิ๊นเดิน / dern dérn dern / walk walk walk = continue walking ⁵

นอนน๊อนนอน / nawn náwn nawn / sleep sleep sleep = get much sleep

6. Alliterative Reduplication – (word play) Alliteration - The repetition of consonants at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals.

จริง / jing / really – จริงอ้ง / jing-jong / seriously

หม้อ / mâw / pot - หม้อเหม้อ / mâw-mêe / pots and things

7. Symantic reduplication – two different words with the same meaning, said consecutively and equal the same meaning.

สวยงาม / sǒoay-​ngahm / beautiful + beautiful. Just like we might say 'pretty beautiful'.

ชัยชนะ / chai-​chá-ná / victory + win

เล็กน้อย / lék-​náwy / small + a little

If you've made it all the way down to the bottom of this post you're either an insomniac, bored out of your skull or ridiculously entheusiastic about reduplication.

Either way, I'll leave you on a lighter note with an English version of reduplication:

Shm-reduplication...baby shmaby, apple shmapple, cheers shmeers! 

And without repeating myself :) I'd love to hear what you think/know or if I have it all horribly wrong.

¹ Learn Thai With Mod
² Reduplication and Metathesis - Reduplication: Functions

^{3, 4, 5, 6}ALR Nedo Tokyo Virach

*แถวา – I couldn’t find this word in any other reference materials

^ Thai Language Wiki

Note To Self 1 - Learning Thai(land)

Stop asking the question WHY? your Vivite deodorant not only has a whitening agent in it, but also a UV protection ingredient. Just accept that some people in Thailand might like to walk around with their armpits facing the sun.

Vivite deodorant advertisement  Who knew armpits could be so sexy?

Cheers!

สเมป

See what else we're up to at Cooee! 

Farang, falang - let me count the ways.

Recently a friend of ours jokingly referred to his beer as น้ำฝรั่ง nám fà~ràng, meaning liquid that ‘we’ Caucasians like...but it actually translates to guava juice. Nám (water/liquid/juice) + fà~ràng (guava or, westerner...hardly think they’ve squeezed and bottled us
.
You know, when you come from a society that is politically correct to the point of absurdity, referring to someone by their race...all the time...everyday...many times a day, would be considered rude, if not racist.

But here, it’s just how it is. It doesn’t intend to cause offence, unless of course it’s accompanied by other words...like farang 'no good!' I think Stray’s reconsidering that he overheard and responded (in Thai) to a negative comment out on the street. Perhaps the guy was just asking his mate for chewing gum????

I think I mentioned previously, the paranoia I felt in a fruit and veggie department, when being shadowed by an elderly lady who kept repeating falang, falang, falang...that was before I knew the word for potato ;)

However, I wish I knew more Thai six months ago when browsing through a small trendy shop with my Mum (only her and I in the store), and the word ‘falang’ rang out at least a dozen times in our five minute visit. Even if I don’t understand all that’s being said, NOW, I could still scare the bejeebers out of the sales girls with my pidgin Thai...is that evil?

Bless the lovely loo attendant at Chiang Rai's White Temple, who ushered me into a ห้องน้ำฝรั่ง (falang toilet)...just joshing, I think I made that word up...but she did.

This post was actually partly inspired by MJKlein , who commented on my last post: “once in Lao, we saw some bread being delivered to a restaurant. the writing on the box said "baguette farang" lol!”

That would be ขนมปังฝรั่งเศส (kà-nŏm bpang fà-ràng sàyt) – French bread!

Farang, falang...let me count the ways. So, far I have 14 including the two above and not including plain old references to French, France or Western/ers whatever!

ฝรั่ง fà~ràng: guava (not the guava as I know it), with the fruit classifier of ผล or ลูก, for small round thingys

ฝรั่ง fà~ràng: spelt the same way, except with the classifier of khon/คน, for us white folk.

ฝรั่งเศส fà~ràng-sàyt: for French people or France.

มันฝรั่ง man-fà~ràng: (Irish? OK, I admit they have the monopoly on them) potatoes...coz, farang love em’.

มันฝรั่งแผ่นทอดกรอบ man-fà~ràng-pàen-tâwt-gràwp: potato crisps.

มันฝรั่งทอด man-fà~ràng-tâwt: hot (fried) potato chips

หมากฝรั่ง màhk-fà~ràng: chewing gum.หมาก = betel nut, which is chewed...and farang like chewing gum.

หน่อไม้ฝรั่ง nàw-máai-fà~ràng: asparagus. A plant shoot + stick + farang...not sure, did they come from France?

ระนาดฝรั่ง rá~nâht-fà~ràng: Thai xylophone + farang = not a Thai xylophone ;)

หมากรุกฝรั่ง màhk-róok-fà~ràng: chess is obviously a white man’s game?

ผักชีฝรั่ง pàk-chee-fà~ràng: parsley. Cilantro/coriander + farang.

แตรฝรั่ง dtrae fà-ràng: a clarion or trumpet of the farang kind.

บุ้งฝรั่ง bûng fà-ràng: Western Caterpillar or morning glory, depending on your resources, oi!

And, last of all, my personal favourite ดีเกลือฝรั่ง dee gleua fà-ràng: magnesium sulphate – Epsom salts + farang.

Whether the word originated from the mispronunciation of ‘France’ (or adapted in reverse), ‘Franks’ (the Crusaders), or the Persian word ‘farangg’, ‘firangi’ from North India or ‘parangiar’ in Tamil, the Khmer version ‘barang’, the Malay word ‘ferenggi’, or the Arabic ‘firinjah’...or a mish mash of all the fore mentioned, is neither here nor there, and we’ll never know. It does however, make for an interesting and on the odd occasion, a mildly irritating subject.

How many farang/falang do you know?

PS. Guess what we bought this afternoon?

*Post edit:

'A Few Facts about Farang' by Rikker Dockum on Women Learn Thai

มะกอก ฝรั่ง (makok farang) “A western-style olive”, as opposed to the larger Thai ‘makok’

ตะขบ ฝรั่ง (takhop farang), kind of flowering plant

ประทัด ฝรั่ง (prathad farang) “a shrub or small tree” native to Brazil.

แพงพวย ฝรั่ง (phaengphuai farang) “The Water Primrose”, a herbaceous perennial plant native to the Americas and found on the margins of lakes and ponds.

Farang count: 18

Cheers!

สเมป

See what else we're up to at Cooee!