B Level 2.9: Months and Years in Thai

Study Focus: Months and Years

• The names of the Thai months are derived from the same twelve astrological signs used in the West.

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• In regular speech, we can say the names of the months in several different ways. The longest way is to say the word "month," เดือน (duuean), followed by the month's name.   * For example, March would be เดือนมีนาคม (duuean mii-naa-khom).

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• We can shorten this by dropping the last syllable to say เดือนมีนา (duuean mii-naa) or by dropping the word "month" to just say มีนาคม (mii-naa-khom).   * We can abbreviate it even further by dropping both and just saying มีนา (mii-naa).   * This last, shortest form is very common in casual speech.

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• The last syllable of each month's name indicates how many days it has.   * Months with thirty days end in ยน (yon).   * Months with thirty-one days end in คม (khom).   * And February, which has either twenty-eight or twenty-nine days, ends in พันธ์ (phan).   * We can also identify the months using ordinal numbers.   * For example, March is the "third month," so we can also call it เดือนที่สาม (duuean thîi sǎam). The pattern is: เดือน (duuean) "month" + an ordinal number.     * พี่ชายจะกลับไปอเมริกาเดือนที่หก (phîi-chaai jà glàp bpai à-mee-rí-gaa duuean thîi hòk)"My older brother will go back to the United States in June."

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• There are two different systems we use for numbering the years in Thailand.   * The internationally used system based on the year of the birth of Jesus is called the "Christian Era," คริสตศักราช (khrít-dtà-sàk-gà-ràat).     * We abbreviate it as ค.ศ., which we say as khaaw-sǎaw.   * The official system the Thai government uses is based on the year of the Buddha's death, and we call it the "Buddhist Era," พุทธศักราช (phút-thá-sàk-gà-ràat).     * We abbreviate it as พ.ศ., which we say as phaaw-sǎaw.   * The Buddhist Era precedes the Christian Era by 543 years. Hence, if you were born in 1980, it would be the Buddhist year 2523.

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Vocabulary & Phrases

• <<ห่างจาก (hàang jàak)<<   * ห่าง (hàang) means "apart" or “be different”   * จาก (jàak) means "from."   * Together, the phrase means "different from" or “apart from” indicating a certain degree of separation.

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• <<พูดถึง (phûut thǔeng)<<   * In this phrase, the meaning of ถึง (thǔeng) is "about."   * So, together with "to speak," พูด (phûut), the whole phrase means "to speak about."

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• <<มากกวา่ (mâak gwàa)<<   * This phrase means "more than."   * In a sentence, it appears between two items or perhaps simply after one object if the listener can deduce the subject from the surrounding context.   * ผมชอบเบียร์มากกว่าไวน์ (phǒm châawp biia mâak gwàa waai)

    ➤ "I like beer better than wine."   * คุณชอบเบีย แต่ผมชอบไวน์์มากกว่า (khun châawp biia. dtàae phǒm châawp waai mâak gwàa.)

    ➤ "You like beer. But I like wine better."

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Figuring Out the Thai System for Months and Years

• The names of the months in Thai follow the zodiac.   * For example, August (Leo) is sǐng-hǎa-khom.   * Singha is the Sanskrit word for "lion."
• The name of the month also indicates how many days it has.   * Months with thirty days end in -yon, and months with thirty-one days end in -khom. The one exception is February, which ends in -phan.
• Thailand's official calendar follows the Buddhist Era, which is based on the number of years since the Buddha's death.   * The Christian year can be calculated by subtracting 543 from the Buddhist year.

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