#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Learn Thai Language >  >  New Thai spellings for 176 loan words

## StrontiumDog

*New Thai spellings for 176 loan words - The Nation
*
*New Thai spellings for 176 loan words*

           PAKAMARD JAICHALARD,
SUPINDA NA MAHACHAI
THE NATION October 2, 2012  1:00 am 
*
The Royal Institute has come up with new  spellings of 176 words borrowed from English in order to better reflect  how they are pronounced in Thai.*

                Tone marks - wanayuk in Thai - will be added to those words when they  appear in the new edition of the institute's official dictionary.

    They include words such as computer, quota, calorie and radar - all spelt without tone marks.

    The 176 words were identified by the institute's recent survey of 300  experts, including board members, organisations and language scholars.  There were both negative and positive views on the changes.

    Kanchana Naksakul, a board member and Thai-language teacher, said  yesterday the idea was to make the written words correspond with the way  they are pronounced.

    "Words should be written as pronounced," said Kanchana, who is also  president of the Thai Language Teachers' Association. "Those who  disagree with the new spellings can ignore them. Many words these days  are not written the way suggested by the institute anyway."

    Most of the Royal Institute board agreed to the changes but another  survey will determine whether they agree to change the spelling of all  the words, Kanchana said. If the majority of the respondents agree to  all the changes, the new spellings will appear in the dictionary's next  edition.

    Chinnapat Bhumirat, chief of the Office of the Basic Education  Commission, said the Royal Institute's plan was a good start. He  suggested that the change shouldn't only ensure that written words are  closer to the English pronunciation - it should also cover the syllable  stress and the emphasis on long or short sounds in a word.

    This would help Thai students pronounce English words correctly.

    Chinnapat also proposed a "brainstorming" session for those involved to thoroughly review and correct words.

    Wattana Boonjob, a language expert at the Fine Arts Department's  Literature and History Office, urged that the changes reflect not just  the words borrowed from English, but the entire language.

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## Gerbil

Doesn't matter. They can't even manage to spell place names consistently from one road sign to the next.  :Sad:  (In Thai sometimes as well as English)

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## Mid

*Spellings of EnglishThai words not settled*
October 2, 2012 

*Royal Institute secretary-general Kanokwalee  Chuchaiya said Tuesday that correcting the spellings of the 176 words  borrowed from the English language so they included tones to reflect how  they are pronounced is a huge issue that needs several more steps.*

 She said the institute was conducting a survey on the issue and would  wait for its official result before deciding on future steps. 

 Once this is done, another opinion poll would be needed to set guidelines on how best to implement the changes, she said. 

 She also confirmed that the latest edition of the institute's official  dictionary would not include the 176 words in question because the  manuscript had already been submitted to the printing house.

nationmultimedia.com

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## bash street gang

all my Thai teacher colleagues do their shopping at Te'co Lotud and like I Deem from Swensun ...... bloody students don't stand a chance do they.

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## toddaniels

Please realize that it was just a "proposed" dealy by the RID. They didn't just mandate that these words be spelled this way, they threw it out there to see if it'd fly. From some Thai web-boards I read, it ain't gonna fly or even grow feathers! 

One other thing it was NOT to make these words sound closer to the English pronunciation of the words the Thais "stole", err I mean "borrowed" from "us".  

Instead it was to make these words be spelled more like they are pronounced in spoken Thai. That anyone would waste the time to change the spelling of a "loan-word" based on how Thais pronounce it, is a lesson in futility... 

It's nothing but a total waste of time, effort, energy and possibly a lotta baht to boot!

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## Humbert

I presume any English word with a ending L will be changed to an N sound in Thai to facilitate their shortcomings.

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## English Noodles

list of words is here if anyone is interested.


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## aging one

The rising tones at the end are what get me.

apPEN
strawBERRY!!!
varieTY
exciTING, used the wrong way, as they are excited before they present. 

listen to a Masters presentation and hear that just makes you want to cringe.

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## English Noodles

it's the same when I hear Americans butchering the English language. I mean, Iran and Iraq are countries, not Apple products, FFS. :-)

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## natalie8

> list of words is here if anyone is interested.


And here's the Google Translate result  :Laugh: 

Academy reveals new English words written does not match the tone. Last edited prepare a 176 word quota radar etc.

          If the vocabulary of English is written in Thailand, no marks. It may make some people confused that how I write it. Are  given about it, on September 29, Ms. Kanchana snake from the Academy  and President of the Association of Language Teachers of Thailand  revealed that the Arts conducted a survey of about 300 for further  comments from the Board endorses the Parties and those  involved in the writing of new words borrowed from English, 176 words  written wrong tones and pronunciation does not match the language Akkr  Thailand. If the survey results, most agree that it should be changed. It will be contained in the dictionary next to the Royal Academy, 2554.

For terminology in the survey. For the changes seen in the rewriting.

One. Words put Amgatecog to include a short vowel.

           Cement is a cement replacement.
           Set to a set.
           Cg into gram centimeters.
           Switch centigrade centigrade.
           Esntilitr is l cm.
           Directrix is ​​Rick directory.
           Tennis is the New Texas.
           Nut a nut.
           New neutron into the rock before.
           Entbal is netball.

           Neptune is Neptunes.
           Benzene is Bettinardi, KY.
           Bacteria back into bacteria.
           Panchgani is the mahogany I hockey.
           Mets metric is metric.
           Switch to Mets Rick metric tons.
           แmgkanin a New Mexico Niagara.
           What is the electron electric hot rock.
           Hex HG is in grams.
           Hectoliter converted to Hex in L.

Two. Term as consonants and consonant substitution.

           Oxford Court is requested.
           Change is the only bowl the cathode.
           Sulfate is the Salman Virgil.
           Titrate the liberated Western Synod.
           Night club turns glossy.
           Parsec is a Park Set.
           The lot is flat แฝ.
           Spectroscopy, mass spec Montrose defeats a year.
           Isotope is isometric jar.

Three. Term wear marks, including a doctorate.

           A gorilla gorillas.
           The Atheneum is gadolinium Domingo.
           Gamma gamma change.
           Gallium is inlaid gallery.
           Curiam change a couple nailing.
           Cadmium as cadmium.
           Calcium is calcium.
           Calorie is a calorie.
           Chrome is chrome.
           Singocna is synchronized to.

           Silicon is Silicon City.
           The cesium is calcium.
           Xenon is C. Bannon.
           Cerium is the Sea Aquarium.
           Solar Switch Solar.
           The change in the dollar.
           Texas Tech is the technology.
           Tantalum is the Tantalus.
           Titanium is Titanium.
           A nebula nebulae.

           Nylon is nylon.
           Barium as barium.
           As prisms, prism.
           Petroleum into petroleum.
           Platinum is the Platinum.
           Function is a function.
           Fathoms to a blue Phantom.
           Micron is not Akron.
           Gypsum is gypsum.
           Uranium is uranium.

           Laser level is disabled.
           Volleyball is volleyball ball.
           Aluminum is aluminum Condominium.
           The ether is unchanged.
           Acres as Akers.
           Alpha is alpha.
           ฮahseniim a Hahn Atheneum.
           Helium is helium.

4th. Term used to enter the majors, including tonal sound.

           Ct is not for colored.
           Granite Grant for a magazine.
           Clinical change is Clifton Hennig.
           Hlik Catholic is Catholic.
           Carboniferous carbonate is not connected.
           A phenol carbonic Hlik.
           Discovery Cove Orlando Ocaarsdient is not connected.
           Roulette is a lot like Charlotte Room.

5. A's marks were added.

           Glucose is converted to glucosamine.
           Kilocycle a single KB site.
           Kilometers into the meta-kb.
           Kilohertz is kHz, France.
           Guitar, a guitar.
           Change is graphite, graphite Graz.
           Carbon into carbonic and.
           Carburetor is Gatorade's Red Bull car.
           Cable is a cable.
           Quota is the quota.

           The chalk is chalk.
           Sauce, a sauce.
           Features a chain change Sodium.
           Dynamite Dynamite is out.
           Is tangent to the Legend Group.
           Tractor is in Insert state.
           Nickel is a nickel.
           Night club turns glossy.
           Nitrogen is converted to nitrogen.
           Barometer is Obama's Windsor estate.

           Beta is beta.
           Locust Grove is both the NE.
           A parquet parquet.
           Plastic is plastic.
           Fascism is fast cysts.
           Change the motor's motor.
           M is the Metz.
           Mica is mica.
           Listen to the traffic technology.
           Radon is red hot.

           Radar, a radar.
           Radium is at the podium.
           Lignite Lignite is out.
           Wanda is Wanda.
           A lump argon arc.
           Antibodies into antibodies.
           Hertz is Hz Max.
           Sandra Hydra is high.
           Hydrogen as a hydrogel.

6. A degree marks were added.

           Chart a graph.
           A gauze dressing.
           Golf is still Wolfsburg.
           As gout, gout.
           Oxide is oxide.
           Jacob Co is Washington Post.
           Demand draft or a draft.
           Double Dutch a match.
           Dysprosium is calcium profiles District.
           Dextrose is a Dead Admiral Russ.

           Tent is a tent.
           Basketball Basketball is basketball.
           Bismuth is Plymouth Business.
           Bank function as banks.
           Turns the longboat longboat.
           Plaster is in the glass state.
           Pick a picnic change Hennig.
           Oxygen Oxygen is Romantic Notions.
           Oxford oxidation is oxidation.
           Oxide is oxide.

           Art is the Art.
           As X-ray tomography.
           Aspirin is the Assyrian enemy
           Asphalt Asphalt is out.
           Red oak is oatmeal.

7. A word with many syllables and.

           Roddenberry's concept condenser is disabled.
           Wagner's concept of leaving a convent.
           Concert or a concert in Baltimore.
           A computer repair computer outlets in Bangkok.
           Commando Jacob came into the news.
           Communists came to Munich to Bangkok Post.
           Close to coupons to double.
           Credit cards Fox is in the Ciara.
           Cadmium is Cadman premium.
           Capsule into capsules.

           แclesiimasclaemt a calcium Cycladic Metz.
           Chocolate / chocolate is chocolate.
           Cm is the cm Metz.
           Features a chain change Sodium Carbonate these models.
           Features a chain Osediimasclaemt change the Cycladic absent.
           Features a chain โซเดียมไฮโดรเจนกลูทาเมต the hydrogel glutamic absent the birds.
           Features Hydro โซเดียมไฮโดรเจนคาร์บอเนต the chain. Legend carbonic these models.
           Depression as well as draw length.
           Texas Tech is the technology.
           A tractor track, Hebei North.

           Badminton is back on North Pendleton.
           A battery backup battery.
           Plasma is plasma.
           Potassium Potassium is a genuine post.
           Menthol is the mentor's.
           Manganese is Max Niagara Nice.
           Magnesium is magnesium alloy.
           A reduction reductase action.
           Logarithmic transformed into logarithms.
           Spectrum changes as the user pin.

           Spectroscopy, mass spec as the older Tang defeats.
           Oxford oxidation is oxidation.
           Ultraviolet is ultra-sensitive in the SIA.
           Converted to a actinium Hartford Atheneum.
           John Martin Electric Tron is active electric hot rock.
           Hex hectares is reserved.
           Hex Eฮkotemtr a mechanical drive.

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## Noknoi

> *New Thai spellings for 176 loan words - The Nation
> *
> *New Thai spellings for 176 loan words*
> 
>            PAKAMARD JAICHALARD,
> SUPINDA NA MAHACHAI
> THE NATION October 2, 2012  1:00 am 
> *
> The Royal Institute has come up with new  spellings of 176 words borrowed from English in order to better reflect  how they are pronounced in Thai.*
> ...


Hi StrontiumDog,

Did they talk any thing about omitting the " ร " or " R "? If they want words spelt the way they are pronounced then I believe this letter will also be placed in the " was once existed/used " chart.

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## Noknoi

> list of words is here if anyone is interested.
> 
> 
> à¸[at]à¸¶à¹à¸ à¸£à¸²à¸à¸à¸±à¸à¸à¸´à¸à¹à¸à¸£à¸µà¸¢à¸¡à¹à¸  à¹ 176 à¸à¸³à¸¨à¸±à¸à¸à¹à¸[at]à¸²à¸©à¸²à¸[at]à¸±à¸à¸à¸¤à¸© à¹à¸«à¸à¸¸à¹à¸à¸µà¸¢à¸à¹à¸¡à¹à¸à¸£à¸à¸«à¸  ¥à¸±à¸


Hi English Noodles,

Thanks for the link. I don't think that will help change the way Thais pronounce. The new spelling is what I have been using when write in Thai especially with wanayook "  ็ ". I never realised that the old spelling were used by Thai people. I am quite surprised actually. ดอลล่าร์ and โซล่า have always been like that which sound very Thai. ยูเรเนี่ยม sounds very Thai. ยูเร้เหน่ียม sounds more English. What are they talking about. Are they trying to confuse people more. We stress at different syllables. Some other words, they sound more Thai than how they are pronounced in English and I don't think Thai students will improve their English just by following the new spelling plans. If they want to improve English they need to encourage teachers to use more English in classes, replace that rotten Thai TV series by English programs and encourage them to stop being slack. Simple is that!

This plan will not work.

I have seen and heard about how much Thai people want to improve their English but a lot of them do nothing about it. ::chitown::

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## toddaniels

FWIW: no matter what you think you hear; apple has a falling tone on the last syllable แอปเปิ้ล  aaepL bpeernF and strawberry; has a mid tone สตรอเบอร์รี  saL dtraawM buuhrM reeM. Not all foreign words end in a rising tone (in fact I think more have a high tone).  Still if you're ears aren't "tuned to Thai" you're just as likely to be confused by the two.

I honestly doubt the ร is gonna be deleted (or changed to the spoken ล "L" or to an H "ฮ" like in Lao either). Just because people are lazy in their pronunciation doesn't mean it's not a valuable character; it just means that thais are lazy when they speak colloquially.

Thankfully the Thai youth of today have already taken it upon themselves (due to their ease of connectivity with each other and the world at large) to change how a LOT of Thai words are spelled. 

In fact "chat-speak-Thai" is almost a language in it's own right. Most of the changes are to facilitate a closer approximation to how a word is spoken with how its spelled. Of course some are "keystroke savers" too 555 versus hahaha; just like when people type engrish in chat speak.

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## sranchito

> I presume any English word with a ending L will be changed to an N sound in Thai to facilitate their shortcomings.


How about just getting them to pronounce the whole word?  Nephew has a Kubota tractor.  He doesn't pronounce the ta at the end at all.  Got to teach him that last I was there.

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## jordn008

its really a nice post its long time go when i am trying to learn  thai

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## toddaniels

How about just getting these people to pronounce the entire English word which they've conveniently borrowed into their language? Thais are famous for taking a "loan word" then chopping it to pieces. Factor in their accent and that once you write ANY language's words IN Thai it hasta follow Thai pronunciation rules. This means what you're left with most of the time has very little resemblance to the original word..

Firm (เฟิร์ม) originally came from "confirm", but I guess two syllables was just too long for the Thais. It's routinely used in Thai construsts as ยังไม่เฟิร์ม (I haven't confirmed yet.)

Spec (สเปค) came from "specifications" which English speakers use when talking about things, but which Thais use when talking about what attributes they like or don't in a potential partner. Like, ไม่ชอบผู้ชายสเปคอย่างนั้น (I don't like guys like that)

Ment (เม้นท์) came from "comment" as in when you leave a comment on someone's social networking page or wall.

Chill-chill (ชิล ๆ) (pronounced as chin-chin) came from "chill out" and is doubled given the Thai penchant for doubling words for emphasis.
I could go on and on, but for the sake of brevity, won't

There are TONZ of these words which have crept (and continue to creep) into the Thai language in use by the Thai youth of today.

Interesting, topic, even though it was just a "trial balloon" which the powers that be who think they're controlling the language floated out there to see how it would go over. Obviously it didn't go over all that well, because I've never read another news blurb about it, nor have I seen the Thais alter their spelling either..

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