Thai Language Blog

There are three distinct levels of vocabulary all language learners must pass to become truly natively fluent. A beginner learns basic vocabulary, like ‘snake, cow, horse, pig, fish, and bird’. Branching out, an intermediate learner learns more specific vocabulary, such as ‘rattle snake, side winder, cobra, python, and serpent’. An expert learner would get even more detailed, learning the individual species names of each rattle snake: ‘diamondback rattlesnake, dusky rattlesnake, South American rattlesnake, Timber rattlesnake’, etc. Native speakers rarely learn this last level as its very specialist knowledge.

In the last post we learned the basic body parts. Now that you’ve learned a general list of body parts, let’s go to the intermediate level and get more specific with one of them: the hand (meuu1 มือ).

This article will teach you the parts of a hand, and other related vocabulary.

Let’s start with the finger names:

With reference to the above list, chee4 ชี้ means ‘to point’, glaang1 กลาง means ‘middle’, and tow4 เท้า means ‘foot’.

Sometimes, instead of holding hands, a Thai couple would hold pinky fingers. This is called:

เกี่ยวก้อย

Giew2goy3

to hold pinkies together

In our previous lesson you learned that kaw1 คอ means ‘neck’. In Thai, the wrist below your hand is also a ‘neck’:
คอมือ

Kaw1 meuu1

wrist

The Thai word for ‘grab’ or ‘to hold’ is jab2 จับ. To hold hands is:

จับมือ

Jab2 meuu1

Hold hands

The word for ‘raise’ is yok4 ยก. To raise your hand, to ask a question or whatever, is:

ยกมือ

Yok4 meuu1

Raise [your] hand

Practice raising your hand:

In English, an expert can be referred to as an ‘old hand’. You can also say this in Thai, where gow2 เก่า means ‘old’:

มือเก่า

Meuu1 gow2

experienced person, ‘old hand’

But that above expression is uncommon, so it’s better to say:

มืออาชีพ

Meuu1 aa1cheep3

experienced person

A beginner is called a ‘new hand’, where mai2 ใหม่ means ‘new’:

มือใหม่

Meuu1 mai2

novice, beginner

Your right hand is:

มือขวา

Meuu1 kwaa5

And your left is:

มือซ้าย

Meuu1 saai4

A cellphone, referred to as ‘a hand carry’ in Thai, is:

มือถือ

Meuu1 teuu5

A gunman has a gun in his hand, so he is a:

มือปืน

Meuu1 beuun1

Gunman

Someone who is empty handed, or unarmed, or whatever, is:

มือเปล่า

Meuu1 blaow2

empty handed

A second hand item, something already used, is just like in English:

มือสอง

Meuu1 saawng5

second hand

A ‘couple’ is called คู่. A ‘manual’, or instruction booklet, is the ‘couple’ for your hand.

คู่มือ

Kuu3 meuu1

manual

This following political term below has two definitions:

1) a euphemism for the monarchy and those in the inner royal circles

2) outside unknown individuals, not directly connected to any known political groups, but intent on causing political violence for specific political purposes

มือที่สาม

Meuu1 tee3 saam5

the Third Hand

In Thai culture, different body parts are worthy of different levels of respect. This respect is determined by the height from the ground. For example, the head is the highest and should be revered, while the feet are the lowest and are therefore used to show disrespect. As such, touching a Thai on the head is a serious no-no. Showing the bottom of your feet, or pointing your feet, to someone is very rude. This is why you’d see people hitting each other on the head in Thai comedies so often – it’s supposedly funny to break the taboo on TV. A bit like the Three Stooges.

Below is the list of body parts most commonly used in Thai.

Given the previously mentioned issues with Thai sheet music, I asked around friends who were more or less Thai traditional music experts to get some guidance. It turns out there is sheet music which has slightly more detail out there. 

A perfect example can be found here:

http://www.sakamula.com/note.html

So what do all those dashes and vertical lines mean?

Thai music can be divided up into 8 rooms (ห้อง hawng3), and in each room there are four notes (โน้ต not4). For example:

|ดดมซ | – ซซล | ทดรม | – - – - | มรดล | ซลดม | ดรดด | – ดดด |

A dash symbol (-) can have two meanings. If it is followed right after a note, such as ซ- and ม- in the above example, it means you should extend that note twice as long. Instead of hitting it once, you hit it several times in rapid style. This is called a graw1 กรอ.  This is regardless of the (-) being in the following room. In this video you can hear both single notes and graw’d notes:

If you see multiple dashes together, it’s a pause.

So how does the ching conductor come into play? Well, there are three different styles – each appropriate for different types of traditional Thai music. Each style is defined by the number of levels, or ชั้น chan4.

3 Levels สามชั้น – The slowest ช้าสุด.

With the first style, the ching beats at the end of every other room as so:

| – - – - | – - – ฉิ่ง | – - – - | – - – ฉับ | – - – - | – - – ฉิ่ง | – - – - | – - – ฉับ |

4 Levels สี่ชั้น – Medium speed เร็วขึ้น.

With this style, the ching beats at the end of each room as so:

| – - – ฉิ่ง| – - – ฉับ| – - – ฉิ่ง| – - – ฉับ| – - – ฉิ่ง| – - – ฉับ| – - – ฉิ่ง| – - – ฉับ|

1 Level หนึ่งชั้น (ชั้นเดียว)– Fastest speed เร็วสุด.

This style is meant for the fastest of music and has the ching beating with every other note:

| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ| – ฉิ่ง – ฉับ|

A section of music is called a tawn3 ท่อน. Music is often divided into sections when certain parts are repeated (like the chorus, for example).

A practice sentence for the more advanced learners:

 Thai music has 8 rooms, and 4 notes per room.

Don1dtree1 thai1 mee1 baed2 hawng3 hawng3 la4 see2 not4

ดนตรีไทยมี 8 ห้อง ห้องละ 4 โน้ต