A house is a home…
In English the word “house” indicates a structure whereas “home” includes the idea that this is where you “live”, thus we have the song “A House is Not a Home”. But all my Thai dictionaries (I have 8 now) define “house” and “home” the same – บ้าน /bâan/
บ้าน /bâan/ is the root of lots of other Thai words too. Here are a couple:
บ้านเกิด /bâan-gèrt/ – birthplace
(เกิด /gèrt/ – to be born)
บ้านนอก /bâan-nôk/ – countryside
(นอก /nôk/ – outside)
บ้านพักตากอากาศ /bâan-pák-dtàak-aa-gàat/ – vacation home
(พัก /pák/ – to rest)
(ตากอากาศ /dtàak-aa-gàat/ – get outside, literally: to air out)
บ้านเมือง /bâan-meuang/ – country, e.g. Thailand
(เมือง /meuang/ – city, country, town)
บ้านเลขที่ /bâan-lâyk-têe/ – address
(เลขที่ /lâyk têe/ – number)
หมู่บ้าน /mòo-bâan/ – village
(หมู่ /mòo/ – group, constellation)
A house is to be lived in of course. There are a number of Thai words for “to live”. The most frequently encountered is อยู่ /yòo/, and then there is the more formal อาศัย /aa-sǎi/ and, as Thai will often do, there is the combination of two words that mean the same thing อยู่อาศัย /yòo aa-sǎi/, or to make it even more fun, we can flip the two giving us อาศัยอยู่ /aa-sǎi yòo/.
So all the following mean “He lives with his parents” which is probably not so great in any language. Although many Thais do live with their parents until, and sometimes after, marriage.
เขาอยู่ที่บ้านพ่อแม่ /kăo yòo têe bâan pôr mâe/
เขาอาศัยที่บ้านพ่อแม่ /kăo aa-săi têe bâan pôr mâe/
เขาอาศัยอยู่ที่บ้านพ่อแม่ /kăo aa-săi yòo têe bâan pôr mâe/
เขาอยู่อาศัยที่บ้านพ่อแม่ /kăo yòo aa-săi têe bâan pôr mâe/
Making word lists…
A reader recently sent me a nice email saying that he thought these vocabulary building posts were helpful to him. It is always encouraging (ให้กำลังใจ /hâi-gam-lang-jai/) to hear that. He’s been using a list of beginning Thai vocabulary. I wrote back that I found a neat way to create vocabulary lists. Just look around you and list as many “things” as you see. Then you can look them up in your target language (this works for any language of course). Later you can add words that describe these things (adjectives) and then activities you can do with them (verbs). So I looked around my house and thought that the following short list of things would be useful.
Parts of a House:
ห้อง /hông/ – room
ห้องนั่งเล่น /hông-nâng-lên/ also ห้องรับแขก /hông-ráp-kàek/ – living room
ห้องกินข้าว /hông-gin-kâao/ – dining room
(ห้อง)ครัว /(hông)-krua/ – kitchen
ห้องน้ำ /hông-náam/ – bathroom
ประตู /bprà~dtoo/ – door
หน้าต่าง /nâa-dtàang/ – window
หลังคา /lǎng-kaa/ – roof
ผนัง /pà~nǎng/ – wall (of a room)
เพดาน /pay-daan/ – ceiling
พื้น /péun/ – floor
Things in a house:
เฟอร์นิเจอร์ /fer-ní~jêr/ or เครื่องเรือน /krêuang-reuan/ – furniture
โต๊ะ /dtó/ – table
เก้าอี้ /gâo-êe/ – chair
เก้าอี้นวม /gâo-êe-nuam/ or โซฟา /soh-faa/ – sofa
เตียง /dtiang/ – bed
พรม /prom/ – rug
ม่าน /mâan/ – drapes
โทรทัศน์ /toh-rá~tát/ or ทีวี /tee-wee/ – TV
พัดลม /pát-lom/ – fan
เครื่องปรับอากาศ /krêuang-bpràp-aa-gàat/ or แอร์ /ae/ – air conditioner
Try this vocabulary building exercise while looking around your house. I call it the “I spy with my little eye” technique of vocabulary building (a game my kids loved to play when they were little ones).
As you are reading this post you are probably sitting at a computer. Doesn’t matter if it is a desktop, laptop, iPad, etc. Now look around you and make a list (in your own native language) of some of the things you can see around you. Find their meaning in Thai. Then think of some words that describe the thing and some actions you can do with it. Now try and compile all these words into a short simple sentence.
Here we go: I spy with my little eye – my computer speakers.
Things:
คอมพิวเตอร์ /kom-píw-dtêr/ – computer
ลำโพง /lam-pohng/ – speakers
Description:
ถูก /tòok/ – cheap, inexpensive
Action:
ฟัง /fang/ – listen
Putting it all together:
ฉันฟังลำโพงคอมพิวเตอร์ที่ถูกมาก
/chǎn fang lam-pohng kom-píw-dtêr têe tòok mâak /
I’m listening to very cheap computer speakers.
This can keep you busy all day.
Thai word for the month…
Hugh’s fun word for the month: ดีดเด่น /dee dèn/ – really good, outstanding
This is another of those Thai double words (like อยู่อาศัย above). The different parts of many Thai double words, many of which are alliterative, mean close to the same thing and when combined they accentuate each other.
ดี /dee/ – good
เด่น /dèn/ – outstanding
Hugh Leong
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