for all you word freaks a question about Farang, oh crap!

[topjohn5]

I really want to understand someting about this word.
Why if farang is a Thai word and one they made up. A word that they prounounce as "falang". Why in god's name do we spell it and pronounce it as farang and not falang???
I mean simply it's their word spoken the way they intend, so why? They have an R sound in the language as well as an L so if they mean for the word to sound as an L than we should spell it with an L shouldn't we?
This is not the same issue as for instance the English word "room" and they pronounce "our" word improperly as "loom"..... falang is their word.....what am I missing?
Help me understand this please!

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I really want to understand someting about this word.
Why if farang is a Thai word and one they made up. A word that they prounounce as "falang". Why in god's name do we spell it and pronounce it as farang and not falang???
I mean simply it's their word spoken the way they intend, so why? They have an R sound in the language as well as an L so if they mean for the word to sound as an L than we should spell it with an L shouldn't we?
This is not the same issue as for instance the English word "room" and they pronounce "our" word improperly as "loom"..... falang is their word.....what am I missing?
Help me understand this please!

It's like this.

The Thai "r" is not exactly the same as the English "r". It is somewhere between our "r" and our "l".

Kind of like the pedal "r" in Spanish (as in the word "pero" -- if you are familiar with Spanish).

Some people pronounce it more like our "r" and some more like our "l". The more sloppily one is speaking, the closer it sounds to an "l". The closer one is speaking to "the King's Thai", like on television news, the more it sounds like an "r". Sometimes there's even a little trill in there. Either way, though, it is somewhere in between.

Traditionally, the letter "r" is used to represent the "ror rua" letter in Thai (as in the Thai word р╕Эр╕гр╕▒р╣Ир╕З -- "farang"), while the letter "l" is used for the Thai letter "lor ling" (as in р╕ер╕┤р╕З -- ling -- meaning "monkey"). The "lor ling" sound is pretty much identical to our "l".

So, "ror rua" and "lor ling" are separate and distinct, and it is therefore correct to spell "farang" with an "r" based on its Thai spelling -- even though it may sound closer to an "l" to you when spoken colloquially.

Got it?

[topjohn5]

Thank BB!
Wonderful explanation and it also explains a bunch of related things for me! :cheers:

[Khor tose]

Thank BB!
Wonderful explanation and it also explains a bunch of related things for me! :cheers:

It is a very good explanation, and when you thank Beach Bunny he should answer you with mai pehn lai. :sunny:

[quiet1]

Got it?

Got it.

Now, why the heck is the "w" sound invariably printed with the letter "v"?

e.g. Why "Sukhumvit" and not "Sukhumwit"?

Got it?

Got it.

Now, why the heck is the "w" sound invariably printed with the letter "v"?

e.g. Why "Sukhumvit" and not "Sukhumwit"?

Simple! The original transliteration was done by the French. And there is no "w" in French.

We're lucky they didn't spell it "Soukhumouit".

there is no "w" in French.

Le wagon ..... le wagonnet .....un Wallon .....une Wallonne ..... la Wallonie ..... un wardein

Infrequent, admittedly.

TJ, you appear to have forgotten a previous thread you started (on a diferent subject), which covered the origin of the word farang at length.

Those are all foreign words adopted into French usage.

Actually there is one more explanation. After the Chinese got to Thailand they messed up the language on "r" and "l". Thats why you get "fried lice".

Actually there is one more explanation. After the Chinese got to Thailand they messed up the language on "r" and "l". Thats why you get "fried lice".

That's possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard.