THAI LANGUAGE LESSONS
L26 - Combination Words
One feature of the Thai language is that many words are single syllable (or two syllables if they use a complex vowel). The longer words in the Thai language usually derive from Sanskrit or the Thai royal language. The Thai language can do this because the tonal system allows simple one- syllable words to have many meanings. They therefore have less need for longer words.
This leads to another common feature of the Thai language, combining simple words to form other words. We do this in English but it is much more common in Thai. It is very useful to be aware of this when you are learning Thai. Sometimes you can learn a word and then break down the word so you have actually learned three words. Let's take an example.
The Thai word for water is 'naam'. In English we create the word 'waterfall' by combining 'water' and 'fall'. They do exactly the same in Thai:
naam - water
dtok -
fall
naam dtok -
waterfall
So by learning the Thai word for waterfall - 'naam dtok', you have also learned the words for water and fall. This is a very common way to construct words in Thai. Therefore, you can often increase your vocabulary by breaking down the new combination words you learn to also learn the simple words that form them.
The Thai word for water -- 'naam', is a very good word to illustrate this as it is used to form many combination words.
Combination Words: water -- naam
| naam dtah | tear | dtah = eye |
| naam dtok | waterfall | dtok = to fall |
| naam horm | perfume | horm = to smell nice |
| naam kaeng | ice | kaeng = hard |
| naam keun | rising tide | keun = rising / going up |
| naam long | falling tide | long = lowering / going down |
| ai naam | steam | ai = cough |
| bpahk naam | river mouth | bpahk = mouth |
| dam naam | dive | dam = submerge |
| jom naam | drown | jom = sink |
| horng naam | toilet / bathroom | horng = room |
| mair naam | river | mair = mother |
| naam chim | sauce | chim = taste |
| naam plah | fish sauce | plah = fish |
| naam prik | chili sauce | prik = chili |
| naam deum | drinking water | deum = to drink |
| naam fon | rain water | fon = rain |
| naam talay | seawater | talay = sea |
The above is just a selection of the many combination words formed from 'naam'. Let's do just a few more examples to illustrate the point:
kreu-ang -
machine
bin -
fly
kreu-ang bin -
airplane
rong -
building
nang -
movie
rong nang -
cinema
rong -
building
ree-an -
learn
rong ree-an -
school
see-ah -
broken / lost
nah -
face
see-ah nah -
to lose face
hen -
see
du-ay -
also / aswell
hen duay -
to agree
pit -wrong
/ incorrect
gotmai -
law / rules
pit gotmai -
illegal
There are thousands of combination words in the Thai language. If you learn a new word that is more than one syllable, it may well be a combination of two other words. If you look up those words to see how your combination word is formed, you can quickly widen your vocabulary.
