How to pronounce Hua Hin
- bambergasgoigne
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How to pronounce Hua Hin
waa or who-a, who-a or waa - does anyone know for sure ?
I go weeks pronouncing it one way, and then on hearing someone far more knowledgeable pronounce it the other way, I meekly change around.
Is there is a definitive right or wrong.?
and I suppose while your at it,
is it pat-ee-a, or pa-tie-a
is it poo-ket or fu-ket or even fuck-ket
is it fa-rang or fa-lang
is it cap or crap (as in what the men are supposed to say)
Cheers
as you can see my Thai is really coming along !!
Bamber
I go weeks pronouncing it one way, and then on hearing someone far more knowledgeable pronounce it the other way, I meekly change around.
Is there is a definitive right or wrong.?
and I suppose while your at it,
is it pat-ee-a, or pa-tie-a
is it poo-ket or fu-ket or even fuck-ket
is it fa-rang or fa-lang
is it cap or crap (as in what the men are supposed to say)
Cheers
as you can see my Thai is really coming along !!
Bamber
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- Legend
- Posts: 2862
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:27 pm
- Location: Hua Hin
Re: How to pronounce Hua Hin
Obviously what VincentD says is right, but for those of us like me (and by the sound of it bamber) who have limited language learning abilities, here is what i think from my years in thailand and Hua Hin (underlines to indicate emphasis).bambergasgoigne wrote:waa or who-a, who-a or waa - does anyone know for sure ?
I go weeks pronouncing it one way, and then on hearing someone far more knowledgeable pronounce it the other way, I meekly change around.
Is there is a definitive right or wrong.?
and I suppose while your at it,
is it pat-ee-a, or pa-tie-a
is it poo-ket or fu-ket or even fuck-ket
is it fa-rang or fa-lang
is it cap or crap (as in what the men are supposed to say)
Cheers
as you can see my Thai is really coming along !!
Bamber
Hua is pronounced Hooa (with a rising tone at the end but not extended
Pattaya is pronounced exactly as it is spelt with neither ee not ie in the middle with the middle a said as you would reciting the alphabet, the last a said as if sticking your tongue out but very short and the whole word in a flat tone
Phuket pronounced poo-ket (more or less)
Farang as it is spelt (although some thais will pronounce it falang because of laziness from what I have been told)
And the final one I did extensive investigation of when I first arrived in LOS, and properly the male polite addition should be said Krup but the u is not said the same as in cup or pull and is probably closer to the first a in banana if that makes sense! Again though many Thais do not pronounce it 'correctly' and will drop the r completely as it is only just there anyway; a very clipped rolled r is what I was told is correct. Anyone out there, please correct me if I am wrong on any of this by the way!
"Pattaya is pronounced exactly as it is spelt with neither ee not ie in the middle with the middle a said as you would reciting the alphabet"
I disagree with your ".. middle a" sound .." .. that sounds more like the "Brit" way. The Thais say:
pat-ta-ya (all "a's" are "short vowel sound") equal stress on syllables.
I disagree with your ".. middle a" sound .." .. that sounds more like the "Brit" way. The Thais say:
pat-ta-ya (all "a's" are "short vowel sound") equal stress on syllables.
Thais say Hu-wa
Thai people seem to include the "H" in Hua, at least a touch of it. It seems to be said as a two syllable word and not one.
The American announcer on one of the endless realty ads on the local English language radio very clearly says "Waa" and we make fun of it every time we hear it.
The American announcer on one of the endless realty ads on the local English language radio very clearly says "Waa" and we make fun of it every time we hear it.
หัวหินbambergasgoigne wrote:waa or who-a, who-a or waa - does anyone know for sure ?
ห(h) + ัว(oo-a, the 'oo' as in 'look' and the 'a' as in 'ah', said quickly), ห(h) + ิิน(in)
พัทยาbambergasgoigne wrote: and I suppose while your at it,
is it pat-ee-a, or pa-tie-a
พ(p) + ั(short 'a' as pronounced in 'part') + ท(t, as in tip) ย(y) + า(aa, as in arr) So it would sound kind of like pat'yaa
ภูเก็ตbambergasgoigne wrote: is it poo-ket or fu-ket or even fuck-ket
ภู(p - pig + 'hu' pronounced as the 'oo' in look) + เก็ต (g as in 'gosh!' + edt)
Won't bother with slangbambergasgoigne wrote: is it fa-rang or fa-lang
As how Wanderlust put it, the 'r' sound is correct but people do tend to drop the 'r' in an informal situation.bambergasgoigne wrote: is it cap or crap (as in what the men are supposed to say)
วินเชนท์
Good observations VincentD except:
Source: "The Fundamentals of the Thai Language" by Stuart Campell and Chuan Shaweevongs.
(IMHO the best book on learing Thai you can get. Unfortunately not in print anymore for years although I was told there is a free version of it on the internet).
The second syllable in Pattaya (พัทยา) consists of a single consonant only (ท) without an accompanying vowel and therefore gets an inherent "a" sound.พัทยา
พ(p) + ั(short 'a' as pronounced in 'part') + ท(t, as in tip) ย(y) + า(aa, as in arr) So it would sound kind of like pat'yaa
Source: "The Fundamentals of the Thai Language" by Stuart Campell and Chuan Shaweevongs.
(IMHO the best book on learing Thai you can get. Unfortunately not in print anymore for years although I was told there is a free version of it on the internet).
We are all living in 'the good old days' of the future.
Yes, that's what the apostrophe in the anglicised spelling is for. It is a very short 'a', if you listen to how the Thais speak; two-and-a-half syllables, really. If you add the 'a' between the double t's and the y, you get three syllables as we would read it.Roel wrote:Good observations VincentD except:
The second syllable in Pattaya (พัทยา) consists of a single consonant only (ท) without an accompanying vowel and therefore gets an inherent "a" sound.พัทยา
พ(p) + ั(short 'a' as pronounced in 'part') + ท(t, as in tip) ย(y) + า(aa, as in arr) So it would sound kind of like pat'yaa
It is in the same context as the comment by Norseman, the inherent 'a' between the ส(s) and the ร(r) in สระบุีรี (Saraburi) is really pronounced as S'raburi. It is a very short 'a'.
It is this inherent rule that makes it almost impossible for the Thais to pronounce words like 'stick' and 'snake'. They get sanuk (สนุก) right, though.
We all have favourite learning books, however the best way to do this is really to do a formal course with a reputable language school. A 'talking dictionary' may broaden your scope somewhat, but be careful that with the knowledge so gained that there is no detrimental effect to your social standing.
วินเชนท์