Basic Introduction to Thai Language - Peace Corps

1 Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. Basic Introduction to Thai Language The text accompanies the following thirteen (13) audio tracks: (Time: 4:16) (File Size: MB). (Time: 4:51) (File Size: MB). (Time: 2:24) (File Size: MB). (Time: 4:27) (File Size: MB). (Time: ) (File Size: MB). (Time: 4:13) (File Size: MB). (Time: 2:41) (File Size: MB). (Time: 2:47) (File Size: MB). (Time: 3:04) (File Size: MB). (Time: 4:45) (File Size: MB). (Time: 4:34) (File Size: MB). (Time: 2:25) (File Size: MB). (Time: 2:50) (File Size: MB). Lesson 1. Standard Thai, also known as Central Thai or Bangkok Thai, is the official, national Language of Thailand.

2 It is spoken by around eighty percent of the sixty million residents of the country. It is taught in all schools and is used for most television broadcasts. There are also three other major dialects: southern, northern and northeastern (also referred to as isaan ). Since Standard Thai is widely understood in all regions, the Language taught in Pre-Service Training (PST) will be Standard Thai. Most Thai words are monosyllabic. More complex words are generally formed by combining two monosyllabic words. There are, however, some polysyllabic words. These words are usually borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, english , and other languages that cannot be broken down into monosyllabic components.

3 Characteristics of the Thai Language are: 1. There are no articles (a, an, the). 2. No modification or conjugation for tenses, plural, gender, or subject-verb agreement. 3. Most of the time, question words come at the end of a sentence. 4. It is a tonal Language , which means that the same word can convey different meanings depending on the tone with which it is pronounced. These tones are mid, low, falling, high and rising: Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 1 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. Tone Mid Low Falling High Rising Thai Tone Markers None . Phonetic Alphabet None ` . 5. Thai is devoid of inflection (such as the rising voice an english speaker might make to show that he is asking a question).

4 Instead, mood, questions, negation, and other parts of speech are constructed by adding certain words to sentences. 6. The expression of numbers is shown with separate numerals, quantifiers, and when counting, classifiers. 7. The uses of particles, which are untranslatable words added to the end of a sentence to indicate politeness, respect, a request, encouragement or other moods There are 44 letters in the Thai alphabet, which is broken down into 21 initial consonants and 8 final consonants. Since some consonants can be represented by more than one letter, phonetic alphabets are introduced in these lessons to serve as a guide for pronunciation.

5 The written letters are also provided in each lesson so that you can become familiar with them. You will also have a chance to learn how to read and write Thai during your PST. Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 2 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. Lesson 2. Phonetic Alphabet (In this part each consonant will be pronounced with its equivalent in english .). Initial Consonant Final Consonant Phonetic english Phonetic english Thai Alphabet Thai Alphabet Alphabet Equivalent Alphabet Equivalent 1 k s ky 1 n tan 2 kh key . 3 c jet 2 * king 4 * singing 3 m dam 5 ch cheese 4 y toy 6 s song 5 w cow 7 y you 6 k** back 8 d day 7.

6 9 t stand t** flat . 10 th tea . 11 b boy 8 p** top 12 p spy * english has this sound only in 13 ph pie the final consonant 14 f fun ** Please note 15 h how that final consonants k , t and p are 16 n now pronounced without released 17 m me sound. 18 r run . (a slightly trilled r ). Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 3 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. 19 l long 20 w way 21 silent (glottal stop). Vowels (Thai vowels come in two forms, monothongs and dipthongs. Both of these forms are then subdivided into short and long. From no. 1 12 you will hear how short and long vowels are pronounced and the equivalent vowel sounds in english .)

7 There are some vowels which are n/a or have no equivalent in english . No. 13 15 are vowels with final sounds.). Short Vowels Long Vowels Thai Phonetic english Thai Phonetic english Alphabet Alphabet Equivalent Alphabet Alphabet Equivalent 1 - a - aa far 2 - i - ii me 3 - - n/a 4 - u - uu moon 5 - e - ee day 6 - - fare 7 - o - oo so 8 - - law close to 9 - - murder drop r sound 10 - ua - ua sure 11 - ia - ia fear 12 - a - a n/a Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 4 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. Vowels + Ending Thai Phonetic english Alphabet Alphabet Equivalent 13 - a + m = am mum 14 - / - a + y = ay high 15 - a + w = aw doubt Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 5 of 24.

8 Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. Greetings Lesson 3. Vocabulary: 1. sa-w t-dii hello 2. ph m I (male). 3. di-ch n I (female). 4. khun you 5. kh w he/ she/ they 6. ch name 7. ch -l n nickname 8. naam-sa-kun last name 9. a-ray what 10. khr p polite ending (male). 11. kh polite ending (female). 12. kh polite ending (female) . question 13. sa-baay-dii-ma how are you? 14. sa-baay-dii fine 15. m y-sa-baay not fine Lesson 4. Sentences: 1.. sa-w t-dii kh . Hello (female). 2.. sa-w t-dii khr p Hello (male). Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 6 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. 3.. di-ch n ch s -n -s a kh . My name is Sunisa 4.

9 Ph m ch w -chay khr p My name is Wichai 5.. kh w ch na-r et kh . His name is Narate 6.. di-ch n naam-sa-kun bun-chuu-ch at kh . My last name is Boonchoochart 7.. ph m naam-sa-kun w -s t-thaa khr p My last name is Wisoottha 8.. kh w naam-sa-kun can-s n kh . His last name is Jansorn 9.. di-ch n ch -l n n t kh . My nickname is Nit 10.. ph m ch -l n m u khr p My nickname is Moo 11.. kh w ch -l n t m k a His nickname is Tom Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 7 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. 12.. ph m ch w -chay, naam-sa-kun w -s t-thaa, ch -l n m u khr p My name is Wichai , last name is Wisoottha, nickname is Moo 13.

10 Di-ch n ch s -n -s a, naam-sa-kun bun-chuu-ch at, ch -l n n t kh . My name is Sunisa , last name is Boonchoochart, nickname is Nit 14.. kh w ch na-r et, naam-sa-kun can-s n, ch -l n t m khr p His name is Narate , last name is Jansorn, nickname is Tom 15.. khun ch a-ray kh . What is your name? 16.. kh w ch a-ray khr p What is his/her name? 17.. khun naam-sa-kun a-ray kh . What is your last name? 18.. khun ch -l n a-ray khr p What is your nickname? Thai Basic Lessons, Peace Corps /Thailand Page 8 of 24. Peace Corps / THAILAND 11/2/2005. Dialogue: A: . sa-w t-dii khr p Hello. B: . sa-w t-dii kh . Hello. A: . khun sa-baay-dii m y khr p How are you?