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Doublets


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As we know there are many "doublets" used in the Thai language for emphasis (e.g., glai-glai, ja-ja, jing-jing, etc.)

Some of these have converted into thai-glish in the form of phrases like "same-same."

My fiancee also has some that she uses, that I've never heard anywhere else. For example, she uses the phrase "body-body" to mean everyone or a big group.

Does anyone know of other common doublets in Thai, or that have found their way into thai-glish?

TIA

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Reduplication of Thai words is soley for the purpose of 'balancing' a sentence and gives no extra meaning or pluralisation of the repeated word apart from one instance (Peuan Peuan = freinds) that I can think of (although there are probably more)

'Doublets' in Thai should not be translated into English and you should hammer any Thai out of this habit.

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Reduplication of Thai words is soley for the purpose of 'balancing' a sentence and gives no extra meaning or pluralisation of the repeated word apart from one instance (Peuan Peuan = freinds) that I can think of (although there are probably more)

'Doublets' in Thai should not be translated into English and you should hammer any Thai out of this habit.

Reduplication of Thai words is soley for the purpose of 'balancing' a sentence and gives no extra meaning or pluralisation of the repeated word apart from one instance (Peuan Peuan = freinds
How about เด็กๆ "dek dek"=children! :o
Peuan Peuan = freinds

Friends? :D =เพื่อนๆ "peu-an peu-an"! :D

Snowleopard.

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Now Now! Lets not start romanisation wars.................

If I could type Thai without having to load Thai Windows I would but the missus used this computer as well so thats out of the question.

Anyone know of any alternative ways I can type Thai?

For Win 9x, see here http://www.geocities.com/siamsmile365/typi.../typingthai.htm

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've heard ใหญ่ ๆ [M?]ye[L]yai (not sure of the tone of the first syllable) used to mean 'bigger', and my wife uses it to mean 'extra-large' (XL) in clothing sizes.

There's also the four-fold reduplication (with vowel and tone changes) of บ้า [F]baa 'mad', something like บะบ้าบะบ๋อ 'stark-raving mad'.

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I've heard ใหญ่ ๆ  [M?]ye[L]yai (not sure of the tone of the first syllable) used to mean 'bigger', and my wife uses it to mean 'extra-large' (XL) in clothing sizes.

There's also the four-fold reduplication (with vowel and tone changes) of บ้า [F]baa 'mad', something like บะบ้าบะบ๋อ 'stark-raving mad'.

There's also the four-fold reduplication (with vowel and tone changes) of บ้า [F]baa 'mad', something like บะบ้าบะบ๋อ 'stark-raving mad'.

Is it this one you mean Richard?

บ้า ๆ บอ ๆ "Baa-Baa Boh-Boh"! :o

Cheers and Welcome back. :D

Snowleopard.

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I can't really agree on the "no extra meaning" bit.

Example:

เขาจะมาสาย kao ja ma sai = He will come late (not on time).

เขาจะมาสายๆ kao ja ma sai sai = He will come late in the day.

There are also many that can't be replaced by the single word:

เขาฆ่าทำตัวเองแท้ๆ kao tum tua eng tae tae= He did this to himself (แท้ๆcan be replaced by โดยแท้ but not a single แท้)

จริงๆแล้วเขาไม่ได้ทำ jing jing laew kao mai dai tum=Actually he didn't do it. (can be replaced by อันที่จริง or ความจริง)

So you can say that their meaning is enhanced from the single word.

เราไม่ควรทำแบบเดิมๆ rao mai kuan tum bab derm=We shouldn't do it like it's always been done. Replace with a single word, and you get We shouldn't do it like last time.

ฝนตกพรำๆ fone toke prum prum=Drizzling rain. Replace it with a single word, and you don't have a meaningful phrase.

Also, pluralization is actually pretty common for nouns:

ให้ปั้นเป็นแท่งๆ hai pbun pben tang tang=Mold/shape into sticks. Replace it with a single แท่ง and you get Mold into a stick.

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There are also many that can't be replaced by the single word:

เขาฆ่าทำตัวเองแท้ๆ kao tum tua eng tae tae= He did this to himself (แท้ๆcan be replaced by โดยแท้ but not a single แท้)

What does the above really mean? :o

Snowleopard.

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There's also the four-fold reduplication (with vowel and tone changes) of บ้า [F]baa 'mad', something like บะบ้าบะบ๋อ 'stark-raving mad'.

Is it this one you mean Richard?

บ้า ๆ บอ ๆ "Baa-Baa Boh-Boh"!

That's it! However, the vowel is (predictably!) short in the 1st and 3rd syllables in colloquial pronunciation, and I think it's rather a colloquial word!

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Oops. Typo. I originally wrote เขาฆ่าตัวตายแท้ๆ and wanted to change to เขาทำตัวเองแท้ๆ but I forgot to delete a word.

So เขาทำตัวเองแท้ๆ is what I was aiming for (as the English sounds show).

A more expanded example: เขาไม่ยอมเดินไปตามเส้นทางที่ปลอดภัย วันก่อนเขาก็เหยียบกับระเบิดตาย เขาทำตัวเองแท้ๆเลย

He wouldn't walk along the safe route. The other day he stepped on a landmine and died. He did this to himself (he brought it upon himself).

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