B Level 2.3: Thai Family

Study Focus: Family and Relationship Vocabulary

• We use family relationship terms very often in Thai, both when talking to your real family and with people who you are not actually related to. "Father" and "mother" are พ่อ (phâaw) and แม่ (mâae).

• The words for "brother" and "sister" depend on the relative ages of the people involved.

  • พี่ (phîi) means "elder," and น้อง (náawng) means "younger."

  • ชาย (chaai) means "man" or "boy," and สาว (sǎao) means "woman" or "girl."

  • So combining them all together, we can say phîi-chaai, phîi-sǎao, náawng-chaai, and náawng-sǎao for "elder brother," "elder sister," "younger brother," and "younger sister."

  • You can also use พี่น้อง (phîi-náawng) as a general term meaning "siblings."

• The terms for grandparents, uncles, and aunts are also a little more complicated than in English because it can depend on whether they belong to your mother's or father's side of the family and also whether they are older than your parents, in the case of aunts and uncles.

Mother's Side of Family:

Father's Side of Family:

• The word for "child" is ลูก (lûuk).

  • To say "son" or "daughter," we combine it with the words for "boy" and "girl" as ลูกชาย (lûuk-chaai) and ลูกสาว (lûuk-sǎao).

  • We also use it to make the word for "cousin," which is ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง (lûuk-phîi-lûuk-náawng).

• Another term is หลาน (lǎan), which can mean either "niece," "nephew," or "grandchild."

• And finally, we have the polite terms for "husband" and "wife," which are สามี (sǎa-mii) and ภรรยา (phan-rá-yaa).

Vocabulary & Phrases

• เป็น...จาก (...bpen...jàak...)

  • This means "It's (something) from (somewhere)."

  • The verb "to be," เป็น (bpen), can begin a sentence when the subject is understood from the previous sentence.

  • จาก (jàak) means "from," and we can use it to set up a prepositional phrase to describe the object of the sentence in greater detail.

• ส่วนคนนี้ (sùuan khon níi)

  • The phrase means "as for this person."

  • ส่วน (sùuan) is usually a noun that means a "part" or "portion."

  • However, we can also use it as a conjunction that means "thus," "as for," "for instance," or "meanwhile."

• มีแฟนหรือยัง (mii faaen rǔue yang)

  • แฟน (faaen) comes from the English word "fan," as in being a fan of a certain celebrity or sports team. It has come to have the meaning of "boyfriend" or "girlfriend."

  • The conjunction หรือ (rǔue) means "or," and ยัง (yang) can mean "still" or "yet."

    • Together, หรือยัง (rǔue yang) means "or not yet."

  • So the entire phrase becomes either "Do you have a girlfriend yet?" or "Do you have a boyfriend yet?" depending on who you are talking to.

Just How Big Are Thai Families?

• In Thailand, it's common to use familial terms as pronouns for almost everyone you encounter, creating a sense of one big, joyful family.

• People who are of the same age group as you can be referred to as "elder sibling" or "younger sibling," using the terms "phîi" or "náawng."

• These terms can be combined with the person's name, such as "náawng jíiap," or used alone if you don't know the person's name.

• For those who are older than you, you can address them as "aunt" or "uncle" using "bpâa" or "lung," respectively.

• Furthermore, for those significantly older than you, the terms "dtaa" and "yaai" can be used to refer to them as "grandfather" and "grandmother.”