Known as ‘tap sap’ in Thai, this unique book is the most comprehensive list of its kind, and is a fun way to learn Thai quickly and easily.
Every language has words which have been taken from other languages, and the Thai language is no exception. This booklet is the only one of its kind which provides a useful assist for getting a jump start on the Thai language, whether the reader is a beginner or advanced. Besides the 700 'tap sap' (Thai word for 'words and phrases taken from another language'), there are sections for learning Thai words and phrases quickly and easily. Transliterations and Thai spellings are included throughout. Additional illustrations and commentaries are included. With it's easy-to-comprehend transliterations (spelling foreign words in one's native alphabet), this is the #1 aid for getting a jump start on speaking and understanding conversational Thai.
Excerpt
Transliteration Morass
Transliteration is the spelling of words in another alphabet. There are many books that convey the Thai language in ‘western’ alphabet for study by English speakers. Transliteration protocols vary, but all specify ‘p’, ‘t’ and ‘k’ sounds should most often be coupled with an ‘h’. In other words, the ‘p’ sound gets written as ‘ph’, ‘t’ as ‘th’, and the ‘k’ sound as ‘kh’. I don’t know where or when that protocol originated, but my question is; ‘why confound the foreigner who’s trying to learn Thai?’
Scholars might say that, because there are several letters in the Thai alphabet that comprise each of the mentioned sounds, there’s a need for the added ‘h’.
In response, one might say; ‘OK, there happen to be eight different Thai letters for the ‘t’ sound, but if the English letter ‘t’ represents one, and the letters ‘th’ another, then how are the remaining six Thai letters with the same ‘t’ sound differentiated?’ It should follow that the third ‘t’ sound be written as ‘thh’, the fourth as ‘thhh’, and so on.
Scholars may then mention there are tiny differences between the sounds of some similar consonants – discernable only by a native speaker. A comparison in English would be the words ‘where’ and ‘wear’ - the ‘wh’ sound having an ever so slight added blowing sound if pronounced with excruciating correctness.
In reality, only a small percentage of foreigners who study the Thai language are aiming to become scholars who may someday speak and read the language as well as an educated Thai person. The rest would likely be content to be able to converse comfortably. I’d venture that most students wouldn’t mind having transliterated words spelt as they sound.
Transliteration can and should be simpler. It’s already a challenge for a ‘westerner’ to learn Thai, so why complicate the process? Don’t rightly know.
Adding ‘r’ letters is another example. Some popular Thai/English dictionaries will show the Thai word for ‘person’ transliterated as ‘korn’ or ‘khorn’. The uninitiated reader would be inclined to pronounce the word as the English word ‘corn’ – but that would be incorrect. The word is actually pronounced ‘kon’. There’s no ‘r’ character in the Thai spelling of the word (no vowel either, but that’s another story).
Granted, ‘person to person’ communication is the best way to learn any language. Next best, would be the addition of some sort of audio (cassette, CD) guide, because there are many nuances in pronunciation that no transliteration, regardless how adept, could adequately convey.
Yet, there are times when a person may want to augment his studies with printed matter. A sensible transliteration protocol would make that easier and more enjoyable.
‘Why not make it simple?’ you might ask. But remember; scholarship, like bureaucracy, never makes things simple. Besides the plethora of confusing Thai/English dictionaries and ‘Learn English’ textbooks, there are many place names, proper names, etc., that suffer from conflicting transliterations.
One could look at maps of Bangkok and see a street names transliterated in varying ways - sometimes even within the same map, along a single road’s route.
I wonder whether those who adhere to orthodox transliteration protocols, believe that such protocols were carved in stone on some mountain top - as though placing h’s after most t’s, p’s, and k’s were mandated by some higher authority. As with money, astrology, calendars, telling time, and gauging weights & measures, it all originated from people. People wiser than us perhaps, but their mandates on transliteration don’t need to be viewed as the final word on the subject.
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