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Language
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Language
Richly diverse in origin, the Thai
language in use today is the end-result
of a centuries-long maturation.
Early Thai settlers in the late Dvaravati period gradually enlarged their own
Chinese-influenced, tonal, monosyllabic language by borrowing and adapting
certain Mon and Khmer words. Later,
the Thais absorbed polysyllabic Sanskrit,
and Pali words as Brahmanism and Theravada Buddhism asserted their shaping
influences. Foreign traders and Chinese
immigrants made minor additions in later
centuries. Today, standard Thai is spoken
nationwide with regional dialects differing
widely from north to south and east to west.
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King Ramkhamhaeng's famous stone inscription, for the first time written in
Thai, survived intact through the centuries, and was discovered in
Sukhothai by King Mongkut during his monkhood.
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King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai
created the first Thai alphabet in 1283,
basing it on Mon and Khmer scripts which,
in turn, were derived from a South Indian
script. With minor modifications particularly individual character evolution
into more refined shapes King Ramkharnhaeng's alphabet survived intact
through the centuries so that the modern
Thai can read 13th-century inscriptions
as easily as could his ancestors.
Importantly, King Ramkhamhaeng's
achievement afforded the Thais a vital
sense of unity and lent impetus to a distinctive Thai cultural identity. Indeed,
several major literary works, mainly Buddhist in character, were written during
the following century.
The spoken Thai language lends itself
to alliteration. Similar sounding words
create pleasing rhythmic patterns and
form a poetic language which is commonly used in everyday conversation. Indeed,
poetry is a major Thai art, and until 1850
all Thai literary .works were in verse form.
Spoken and written similes are especially
popular and parables are commonly employed , particularly for training children.
A gregarious race that loves to joke
and laugh, the Thais greatly appreciate
puns and double-entendres which, besides
enlivening everyday vernacular, spice
and propel outrageous dialogue in popular art forms such as folk theater.
Khoi manuscripts, the traditional Thai
books, contain either religious treatises
or secular literature, generally with
elaborate illustrations.
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The written Thai language, read
horizontally from left to right, as in English, consists of 44 consonants and 32
vowels that combine to formulate syllabic
sounds. In the written language it is important to understand that words within
sentences are not separated, punctuation is rare and grammar can be
complicated. The sounds are combined with
five different tones even, high, low,
rising and falling to produce a melodious, lyrical language.
Generally speaking, spoken grammar is simple. The basic structure of Thai
sentences is subject/verb/object with
adjectives following nouns. In many
cases, verbs can be changed into nouns
with the use of a prefix, e.g. kbit (think)
with the prefix khwam becomes khwam kbit (thought).
Each Thai word is complete inasmuch
as there are no Thai suffixes, genders,
articles, declensions or plurals. Tenses
are indicated by standard auxiliaries, e.g.
pai (go) with the auxiliary cha becomes cha
pa; (will go); with the auxiliary kamlang
becomes kamlang pai (am going); and
with the auxiliary laeo becomes pai laeo
(go already (went)).
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Thai script during the reign of King Narai in the late 17th
century, copied from a book written
by a member of the French diplomatic
mission sent by Louis XIV
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Different pronouns (at least 47, including some 17 fs and 19 you's) and
different qualifying nouns and verbs are
used by different classes royalty, ecclesiastics and lay people. Because Thai's
pronominal structure illustrates rank
and intimacy, there are in effect, four different languages - a royal language, an
ecclesiastic language, a polite everyday
vernacular and an earthy, pungent slang.
Illustrative of this wide range of variations is the verb to 'eat'. In royal
language, the word is sawoei; in ecclesiastic
Thai, chan; rapprathan is a formal word
used on engraved invitations and its
shortened form, than is everyday polite
usage, kin is a colloquial form used between friends; to use it with a new
acquaintance would be viewed as presumptuous. Even farther down are several
vulgarisms which are offensive except
when used between male intimates in informal situations.
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Verses on the subject of elephants in Thai script.
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The most unusual of Thailand's "four
languages" is the royal language, rachasap.
Royalty uses special words for common
actions and for parts of the body. This
special, formal language is a mixture of
words of Khmer, Pali and Sanskrit origin
complemented by specially coined Thai
words. The Khmer-derived words are
the same as those commonly being spoken
throughout Kampuchea today.
Rachasap is usually reserved for
formal and state occasions, most royalty
making use of standard Thai, slightly
modified, for everyday conversation
among themselves,
In conventional spoken Thai, two
or more words are often combined to
form literal descriptions of common objects. Thus, 'ice' is nam khaeng (solid
water) and 'match' is mai kbit fai (stick/strike/fire).
Although satisfactory for common
objects, this system is inadequate for
coining new Thai words that can accurately convey Western concepts or recent
scientific terms. Accordingly, the Royal
Institute, a government body responsible
for publishing the Thai encyclopedia,
employs its committee of language experts to coin equivalent Thai words by
drawing upon Pali and Sanskrit sources.
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The 44 consonants of the modern Thai alphabet (first four lines) and the numerals.
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As a consequence, Thailand keeps
pace with international trends and scientific developments, proof that, in one
important respect, Thai is still a growing language.
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