A tourist traveling to the eastern kingdom for the first time always has a lot of questions, the main one being: what is the language in Thailand? Don't be afraid that communication with locals here will be difficult.
Certainly, official language Here Thai and it is spoken by every native of Thailand. But we must not forget that the kingdom is a paradise for tourists. That is why in the country it is in second place in terms of prevalence. Taiglish- a mixture of Thai and English. It is enough to have a little command of at least one of the two languages (easier English) to understand the local interlocutor.
If you vacation where there are a lot of Russians, for example in Pattaya, then it is quite possible to communicate in our great and mighty. Thailand is thriving largely thanks to tourism, and since most of the vacationers here are from the CIS countries, the Thais, in pursuit of profit, create the most comfortable conditions for their guests, trying to protect them from the language barrier.
Well, the fourth language of Thailand, which is universal and suitable for all countries of the world, is sign language. Perhaps the easiest to learn, because... there are no rules and the funniest.
Basic rules of communication in Thailand
Thais are enough friendly And polite people. Tourists often fall in love with such relationships between people, especially in contrast to our countries. However, the Thais to themselves same attitude.
If you don't understand each other when talking, then no need to raise your voice, because this is a clear sign of disrespect, which often leads unknowing tourists to conflicts.
Also don't touch the Thais Per head– this is prohibited by their religion and causes negative feedback in Thai society. A few more important and valuable advice We recommend that you learn more about your stay in Thailand from the video below.
How to make communication easier in Thailand
In today's time, in the age of the Internet, our land is gradually turning into one big one locality . Boundaries are erased and communication between people from different cultures becomes easier. They provide unbearable help in this online translators and special applications.
Among all the variety of offers, what remains for us is best service GoogleTranslate thanks to the following features:
- wide range of languages;
- audio pronunciation function of translated words;
- text recognition in pictures and photographs;
- the ability to work without an Internet connection (for this you need to download the language pack to your phone in advance).
Once we figured out Google Translate and doesn't matter, what is the language in Thailand or in any other country.
RUSSIAN-THAI PHRASE BOOK
In order for you to be able to produce good impression on local population, below we have given you a list of basic Thai phrases that will help you in communication. You can memorize the simplest of them or add our page to bookmarks so you can quickly access it when needed.
Thai language - the language of the Kingdom of Thailand was largely formed under the influence of languages such as Pali, which came from the territory of modern India and Chinese. The morphology and syntax of the Thai language is in many ways similar to the Chinese language.
There are several types of vocabulary in the Thai language:
- special royal
- common
- book
- poetic
This is somewhat reminiscent of the stylistic varieties of the Japanese language. Special words are used to express this or that relationship. In addition, the royal vocabulary consists largely of borrowings from Pali, Sanskrit and other languages, and the common vocabulary is made up of native Thai words.
- The Thai language is characterized by a strict order of sentence parts:
- subject
- predicate
- addition
The Thai language, like Chinese, is characterized by the absence of changes in gender, number, and cases. For negation, the service word is used - mai. The construction of the plural is also similar to Chinese: doubling, function words and counting words (classifiers) are used.
- Verbs have several tenses:
- present or continuous
- future
- past
Tone system
In addition, the Thai language is characterized by a tone system, which, like in the Beijing dialect, has Chinese language(Mandarin), five tones, which, however, are somewhat different from Chinese.
- Thai tones:
- ordinary
- short
- falling
- high
- ascending
Alphabet
The Thai alphabet is derived from the ancient Khmer script. In Thailand, it is generally accepted that the alphabet was created in 1283 by King Ramakhamhaeng the Great. The alphabet has 44 consonant letters, 4 consonants outside the main alphabet, 28 vowel forms and 4 diacritics. Many letters used in borrowed words are not used in common vocabulary.
Unlike the Chinese language, tones in writing are represented by diacritics; in addition, the tone used is determined by the class affiliation of the letter.
- Letters are classified into three classes:
- Aksonsung - upper class (ข, ฃ, ฉ, ฐ, ถ, ผ, ฝ, ศ, ษ, ส, ห).
- Aksonklan - middle class (ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ).
- Axontam - lower class
In any case, the correct pronunciation of words is determined primarily by the correct use of your vocal apparatus: tongue, teeth, larynx, etc. Only in this case will the correct tones when pronouncing words cease to cause difficulties.
Vowel sounds
| - | A |
| - - | O |
| -รร- | postopalatine a |
| -ว- | wow |
| -วย | wy |
| -อ | oo |
| -อย | oh |
| -ะ | ak |
| -ั - | A |
| -ัย | ah |
| -ัว | wow |
| -ัวะ | uak |
| -า | ahh |
| -าย | aay |
| -าว | awww |
| -ำ | am |
| -ิ | And |
| -ิว | yiwu |
| -ี | II |
| -ึ | s |
| -ื | yy |
| -ุ | at |
| -ู | uh |
| เ- | uh |
| เ-็ - | uh |
| เ-ะ | ek |
| เ-ย | hey |
| เ-อ | uh |
| เ-อะ | ek |
| เ-ิ - | uh |
| เ-ว | uh |
| เ-า | aw |
| เ-าะ | OK |
| เ-ีย | IIA |
| เ-ียะ | so |
| เ-ียว | and about |
| เ-ือ | yyy |
| เ-ือะ | yak |
| แ- | uh |
| แ-ะ | ek |
| แ-็ - | uh |
| แ-ว | uh |
| โ- | oo |
| โ-ะ | OK |
| ใ- | ah |
| ไ- | ah |
In Thailand they speak Thai, of course. The Thai language mainly borrows from Mon, Khmer, Chinese, Pali, Sanskrit and English. The language in Thailand has a tonal structure in which there are 5 tones: low, mid, high, rising or falling tones, unlike Western languages, which have divided structures. There is a famous sentence among Thai students consisting of the word “mai” repeated 4 times in different tones and meaning: “Isn’t the green forest burning?”, and in Thai sounding “mai mai mai mai”.
Grammar
Thai grammar is easy to master because there are no conjugations. Most words consist of one syllable and do not change by gender, case, etc. There are some interesting aspects of the language, which at first can cause certain difficulties for visitors. Polite address appropriate for ladies and gentlemen is determined not by gender, but by speech. When addressing a man, put “krup” at the end of the sentence, and “ka” when addressing a woman.
Writing
The alphabet used for writing is derived from the Mon and Khmer languages, similar to the South Indian one. There are a total of 76 letters in the Thai alphabet, of which 44 are consonants (21 with English sounds), and 32 vowels (with 48 simple sounds and possible diphthongs). Reading from left to right, often without spaces between words. If you're just traveling, use a phrasebook and basic phrases like “How are you? Everything is fine".
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Unfortunately, there is no universal transliteration system, and you will see the usual Thai greeting written in Roman letters - sawatdee, sawaddi, sawasdee, sawusdi and so on. Don't be afraid to get lost in the spell check. In many cities there is enough education to be understood. The structure of the language is often more similar to French than to English.
Dialects
The language of Central Thailand is official language throughout the country, written and spoken by Thais and understood by most Thais, but there are three important dialects: Northeastern, spoken in Isan, less commonly in Laos; Northern Thai, spoken in the northeast and Southern Thai, spoken in Chumphon province on the border with Malaysia. Each dialect is divided into several variants. In the north there are languages more similar to Burmese and Tibetan. As in English language, there are several degrees of decency that are only acceptable in certain contexts. The most common word in cooking is rice, usually kin khao (to eat rice), thaan is a nobler term, raprathaan is forbidden in common usage (reserved for nobles).
Small Thai phrasebook:
The Thai language has a tonal structure with 5 tones: low, mid, high, rising and falling. Next we will cover basic words such as hello, hello, thank you, how are you in Thai.
Basic phrases and vocabulary:
Hello (address to a man) Sawadee-krup
Hello (address to a woman) Sawadee-ka
How are you? Sabai-dee rêu?
Everything is fine Sabai-dee
My name is (husband)… Pôm chê…
My name is (wife)… Deè-chân chê…
I came from… Pôm/Deè-chân ma jàk…
Do you speak English? Khun pût pasâ angkrìt dâi mâi?
I don't understand. Pôm/Deè-chân mâi khâo jai.
Sorry. Khor tod. (-krup, -ka)
Thank you. Khop khun. (-krup, -ka)
No, I don’t want... May âo...
Where is the toilet room? Hông sûam yù têe nâi?
I need a doctor. Pôm/Deè-chân tôngkan mâw.
Please call the police. Chwây riâk tam-rùat dûay.
It's okay, everything's fine. Mâi pen rai.
Traffic, transport
I want to get to… Pôm/Deè-chân yàk pai…
Where... Yù têe nâi...
Taxi rank têe jòt rót téksêe
Bus stop satânee rót may
Satânee rót fai railway station
Sanam bin airport
Boat station tâ rua
Bank tanakan
TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) office tông tiâw pràtêt tai
rong payaban hospital
What is the price…? Pai…tâo rai?
How long before departure? Kèe mong jà àwk jàk têe nêe?
At the restaurant
Coffee ca-fae
naam-châ tea;
juice nám-kuá-la-mâi
bottled water nam kwât
water naam
wine wine
bread ká-nom-pâng
rice kâo
chicken kài
beef núa
pork moo
fish pla
shrimp goong
fruit kuá-la-mâi
dessert kong-wan
I am a vegetarian Pôm/Deè-chân kin jay.
I don't like spices. Mâi chôp pet.
I love spices. Chôp pet.
Perfect! Ah-lòy!
check check-bin
Purchases
How much does it cost? Taô rai?
Expensive Paeng
Are there any discounts? Lót eèk dâi mâi?
What is the best price you can offer? Raka tàm sùt tâo rai?
Do you have sizes (larger/smaller)? Mee (lék kuà/yài kùa) née mâi?
Do you have any other color? Mee sêe ùn mâi?
Check
1 neung
2 songs
3 sam
4 see
5 hah
6 hours
7 days
8 pad
9gao
10 sip
11 sip-et
12 sip-song
13 sip-sam
20 yee-sip
21 yee-sip-et
100 neung-roi
1,000 neung-pân
100,000 neung-san
1,000,000 neung-lân
Living in Thailand, willy-nilly you begin to study the Thai language in more depth. More precisely, Thai words that have to be used most often. And at least out of interest you will learn the Thai alphabet.
The main thing about the Thai language
- The Thai alphabet consists of 44 independent consonants. Another 4 consonant letters are outside the alphabet.
- To record vowel sounds, icons are used - 28 independent vowel phonemes. They look like diacritics and are used only in conjunction with a letter (they are not included in the alphabet system).
- Vowels are written on the left, and on the right, and above, and even below the consonants, although they are always pronounced after the consonants.
- A significant part of the vocabulary of the Thai language is borrowed from Pali and Sanskrit, as well as Mon-Khmer and Chinese. Fewer words are borrowed from Malay, Javanese and European languages. The main vocabulary fund consists of Thai words themselves.
From the world to the word: borrowings in the Thai language
Words from Pali and Sanskrit came into the Thai language mainly thanks to Buddhism, which from the end of the 13th century became state religion Asian kingdom, as well as as a result of cultural and trade interactions with India. These borrowings form the basis of the vocabulary of the language related to religion, philosophy, law, morality, ethics, fields of science, journalism, court etiquette and ceremonial.
Words from the Mon and Khmer languages relate mainly to everyday vocabulary. All these words were phonetically adapted to the sound composition of the Thai language, while graphically they retained the composition of consonant sounds that they had in the source language.
Borrowings from the Chinese language include, first of all, numerals from one to ten, as well as a number of names of foods, clothing, card terminology, etc.
Features of the Thai language
Thai speech is beautiful and like a song, because the language of the inhabitants of the former Siam is tonal. It is very important HOW words are pronounced. Incorrect intonation and the word takes on a completely different meaning. The Thai language has no cases, plurals, articles, particles or conjunctions. Therefore, word order is also very important. The closest language to Thai is Laotian.
There are four dialects in the Thai language:
- northern – phasa nya;
- northeast – phasa asaan;
- southern – phasa thai (Phuket);
- central – Phasa Klang (Mekong River Valley, Bangkok).
The generally accepted literary Thai is the Central dialect. In oral speech, as a sign of respect at the end of a phrase, men say “krap” and women “kaa”. For example, “Hello!” a Thai man will pronounce it as “Sawadi krap!” Men can also say “snore.” And in most cases you will hear “khap” from a Thai. This is the same “snoring” with the “r” sound missing. Women should say "kha".
If “khrap” and “kha” are pronounced separately, this can mean agreement, an affirmative answer (“yes”), “please” and a number of other meanings that reflect a polite attitude towards the interlocutor. At the end of a phrase, these two words are an analogue of the Old Russian “-s” (“yes-s”, “of course-s”), as well as “please”. For example, “I’d like a bottle of water, please” would sound like “Nam kuat nyng khrap” (literally, “One bottle of water, please”).
A derivative of the words “khrap” and “kha” - “khrapphom” - means unconditional agreement with the interlocutor (like “Yes, sir!”). “Khrapphom” is pronounced equally by both men and women.
Thais use different personal pronouns for men and women: “I”. “Phom” is for the stronger sex, “schan” is for the fair half of humanity.
Learning to speak Thai
Speaking Thai is certainly not easy. But learn a few useful words and phrases will not be difficult.
Numerals
1 – unun(g).
2 – sleep(d).
8 – sequins.
11 – wheeze.
12 – sip sleep (g).
13 – vulture himself.
14 – sip sii.
15 – sip ha.
16 – sip hok.
17 – sip even.
18 – vulture payet.
19 – sip kao.
20 – ii sip.
30 – vulture itself.
40 – these vultures.
50 – ha sip.
60 – hok sip.
70 – even vul.
80-payet vul.
90 – kao sip.
200 – sleep(g) swarm.
300 – the swarm itself.
400 – this swarm.
1000 – pan.
Million – neung-larn.
Examples of combined numbers
25 – ii sip ha.
49 – sii sip kao.
350 – the roy ha sip itself.
120 – swarm and vulture.
31 – he wheezes himself.
155 – roy ha sip ha.
1214 – now (g) pan son (g) roy sip sii.
Tourism
Yu-tee-nay - where?
Nangsue-deun-taang - passport.
Phaen-tie - map.
Tua is the ticket.
Ka-dou-sarn-tao-rai – how much does a ticket cost?
Rod-fi is a train.
Rod-May – bus.
Rod-fi-tai-din - metro.
Sa-narm-bin - airport.
Sa-tarn-nee-rod-fay – station.
Orc-pie - departure.
Ma-teung – arrival.
Rong-ram is a hotel.
Hong - room.
Public places and attractions
Tee-tum-karn-play-sa-nee - mail.
Pi-pit-ta-pan is a museum.
Ta-na-karn - bank.
Sa-taan-nie-tam-roevat - police.
Rong-pa-ya-barn is a hospital.
Ran-kai-ya - pharmacy.
Rong Rien - school.
Bot is a church.
Hong-naam - toilet.
Ta-nonn – street.
Ya-tu-rus - square.
Sa-parn – bridge.
Ran-kai-kong – shop.
Raan-akhaan - restaurant.
Shops and restaurants
Nee-la-ka-tao-lai - how much does it cost?
Nee-keu-ar-rai - what is it?
Shun-ya-seu-mun - I'll buy it.
Hung-mee reu-plao - do you have it?
Peut - openly.
Pid – closed.
Nit-noy - a little, little.
Maak - a lot.
Tung mode is everything.
Ar-harn-chao - breakfast.
A-haan-tiang - lunch.
Ar-harn-en - dinner.
Ka-nom-pang - bread.
Kreung Deum is a drink.
Ka-fae - coffee.
Naam-chaa - tea.
Naam-pom-la-may - juice.
Naam – water.
Vai – wine.
Klua - salt.
Prig-tai – pepper.
Neur-sat – meat.
Phak – vegetables.
Pom-la-may - fruit.
Direction of movement
Saai - to the left.
Hvaa - to the right.
Trong - straight.
Keun - up.
Long - down.
Dates
Van - day.
Sap(pa)daa – a week.
Dyan – month.
Piya is a year.
Wang-chan - Monday.
Van-ang-kaan - Tuesday.
Van-phoet – Wednesday.
Van-pha-ru-hat-sa-boh-die - Thursday.
Wan-suk - Friday.
Wang Sao - Saturday.
Van-ar-tit - Sunday.
Seasons
Reu-doo-bai-may-pli - spring.
Reu-do-ron - summer.
Ru-doe-bai-may-roevang - autumn.
Reu-doo-nao - winter.
Common words and sentences
Savadi - hello, good afternoon, goodbye, hello everyone (address to all those present).
Savadi-kap is the same when addressing one person on behalf of a man.
Savadi-ka - the same on behalf of a woman.
Kop kun kaa - thank you.
Siai - yes.
Mai-siai, Mai-oua - no.
May-pen-rai, ka-ru-na - please.
Hun-chew-ar-rai - what's your name?
Sa-vat-dee - hello.
Lar-corn - goodbye.
Narn, yao-narn - bye.
Sa-vas-dee-torn-xiao - good morning.
Sa-vas-dee-thorn-bye - good afternoon.
Sa-vas-dee-thorn-hum - good evening.
Ra-tree-sa-you – Good night.
Hun-ya-puud-nee-pen-wa-yoong-lai... - how to say this in...?
Hun-puud... - do you speak...?
Pa-sa-ang-krit - English.
Ps-sa-fa-rang-sez - French.
Ps-sa-er-re-man - German.
Put tai mei dai – I don’t speak Thai.
Tai rup dai mai – can I take a picture of this?
Con(g) us yuti nai – where is the toilet room?
Mai pen rai - no big deal (still not worth worrying about).
Nee-wa-la-ar-rai, kie-mong - what time is it?
Fom (man), Xiang (woman) – me.
Puak Lao is us.
Hun - you.
Hong - you.
Puak-kao are them.
Dee - good.
May-dee - bad.
Pun-la-ya - wife.
Sa-mee - husband.
Luuk-sao – daughter.
Luuk-syai - son.
Mae is mother.
Por is the father.
It would seem a surprising question, what other language can they speak in Thailand? Of course, in Thai :) But, nevertheless, I was often asked this question by those interested in vacationing in Thailand, and I also see it periodically on forums.
In Thailand they speak Thai. This is a kind of mixture of Sanskrit and Chinese. As far as I remember, the basis of writing was Sanskrit, now it has changed a lot, of course. But the spoken language of Thais is more similar to Chinese, i.e. this is a bunch of drawn-out vowels with different vibrations and tonality, which is easy to make a mistake, and the meaning of the word will already change. Well, it’s just some kind of alien speech for our ears. At first it’s very unusual, but over time you get used to it :) I remember there were Chinese studying at my university. Once I heard a Chinese woman talking on the phone, so I even slowed down and pretended to look at the stationery in order to listen to her, it seemed so alien, strange, unusual. Now I can even listen to the radio Thai/Chinese and, to some extent, even something native :)) That is, now the sound of their speech is quite familiar to my ears =)
Of course, a visiting tourist can communicate in English in Thailand. English has long been international language, and this is no exception. But it is worth noting that Thais often speak English poorly. It’s good if they know a minimum vocabulary, but very often all communication is limited to this. In addition, their English pronunciation is very poor, with a strong bias towards some kind of alien sound :) But with time you can quite get used to it. Occasionally, in some remote places, I had to explain myself using signs and simple emotions and gestures, but in tourist places There are a lot of English speakers, once I even came across a Thai who spoke Russian, but it was a representative of Teztur whom I ran into at the airport :) So, you can’t hope for the Thais to speak Russian.
Below I am posting a phrasebook of basic phrases in Thai that you can use during your trip to Thailand. But I think you shouldn’t rely on it too much, because... our pronunciation of Thai words will be terrible, Asian languages are very far from ours, so it’s not a fact that the Thais will understand you, but if there are no options, you can try.
Greetings, general expressions
*a colon after a vowel indicates a long sound
Hello Savatdi: Ka:/Kap: (Ka – for women, Kap – for men)
Hello Vatdi:
Goodbye Lacon:n
How are you doing? Saba:y di: may
Thank you very much! Khop khun ma:k-ma:k
Sorry Khotho:t
I don't speak Thai Phom/chan phu:t thai mai dai
What is your name? Why aray?
My name is... Phom choo...
Yes Siai
No Mai siai
Where are you going, beauty? Sau suay pai nai?
I like you Chan chaup kun
I love you Chan Lak Kun
Numbers and numbers
Zero Sun
One Nung
Two So:ng
Three Sa:m
Four C's:
Five Ha:
Six Hawk
Seven Thiet
Eight Pads
Nine Ka:u
Ten Sib
Twenty Ee-sib
Thirty Sarm-sib
Forty See-sib
Fifty Ha-sib
Hundred Nung Roi
Thousand Nung-pan
Million Nung Larn
Shops, hotels, airport
How much does it cost? Nee la ka tao lai?
I'll buy this Shun ya seu mun
Do you have a free number Mi: hong wang mai
Is there air conditioning in the room? Nai hong mi: eh: mai?
I need a taxi Riek taxi: ha:y noy
I need a ticket to Chiang Mai Kho: tua pai Chieng Mai nung bai
Where is the storage room located? Tu: kep khong yu thinai
I lost my suitcase Phom/chan tha krapau ha:y
Help please Karuna: chuai duai
