Talk:Tinglish

in part
Are there any features of Tinglish in particular that are not due to linguistic interference? Markalexander100 07:09, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Well, I don't enough about Tinglish specifically so I defer to you living there, but it is true that errors that L2 (2nd language) learners make are not due entirely to contrasts between their L1 and the L2. TESOL research has shown that time and again. I do understand that Tinglish must contain English errors that look to be predicated solely on some differences between it and English, so if you don't want "in part" in there, it's no big deal. I'm just stating a general principle of 2nd language acquisition and error generation - there are other factors than the contrast between the L1 and L2. In this case, though, it's your call. Moncrief, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC).

I agree with your general principle, but the term refers solely to errors which are characteristic to native Thai speakers; I can't imagine how any of those could not be due to contrast with Thai. We don't seem to have an article on linguistic interference; I can do some more reading up and have a go. :) Markalexander100 07:22, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

There also a Thailish article. Same thing as this article. Maybe one should be deleted and a redirect used. fataltourist 22:07, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Thanks- I've merged the two articles here. Mark1 05:54, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Taiwanese-Americans also refer to broken English spoken by 1st generationers or their parents as Tinglish. Maybe this should be reflected in this article too so it's not just biased towards Thai-English.

new words
How about "english" words that have been adopted into Thai/are used by Thai's speaking english? The one I can think of right now is "hiso" (as in "That car/sweater/octapus is so hiso!"). It's from the words "high society" but really just means "cool" or whatever.Tomorrowboy 07:47, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

More Thai Interference
The article states that words like 'snore' and 'sleep' are pronounced as 'sanore' and 'saleep' which is true, but it should be considered interference from the Thai language as consonant clusters such as this do not exist, and where written, it is understood in Thai that a short a is implied. For example สนาม is pronounced as sanaːm and not as snaːm, which is most likely the reason why Thai people would say 'sanail' as opposed to 'snail'. Nintala (talk) 04:32, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

that bit about blood pronounced brush I just added
I, anonymous user, just added that after being driven nuts by my Thai girlfriend and her friends' pronunciation of that word, despite being confused and trying to reinforce some closer pronunciation over and over with all of them. I read this article because I was curious about the subject in general but this transformation violates a few of the stated rules. So I added it, it's my own original research, as yet unpublished. I also have a PhD (not related), does this count? Why not? I hear it consistently on the off chance that this word comes up among a group of like 18 people from Thailand  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.178.97.221 (talk) 00:15, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

Soup
Is this soup? (means "are you drinking apple cider?"); This can't be right, Thailand doesn't even have apple cider (apples don't grow locally). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.89.168.181 (talk) 18:40, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

this needs to be reworded.
In Thai, between two consonats it's automatically added a short "a" (ah) to create a syllable. The only consonants that can blend together are pr, pl, gr, gl, kr and kl. All the other groups of consonants, especially the one starting with "s", will have a short "a" added in between: should probably be worded like this: In Thai, consonants generally cannot be blended together (exceptions to this rule are pr, pl, gr, gl, kr and kl.) A short "a" (ah) sound is automatically added between any other two consonants. 216.144.26.242 (talk) 18:28, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Statements of facts should be referenced or deleted
This article has been listed as unreferenced for over three years. It contains many statements that are no substantiated in any way, and should either be supported or removed. If the phenomenon described here is real, it should be possible to find references for its existence and its antecedents or causes. TippTopp (talk) 10:48, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, how many percent of Wikipaedia articles are unreferenced or poorly referenced for years?!
 * It's common knowledge that most of Wikipaedia is unreliable as an actual reference, and that it's
 * really more of a social networking type site that collects perceptions, experiences, and opinion
 * far more readily than credible references, due to it being largely compiled by non-professionals.
 * I would just accept it for what it is, and not let the facts get in the way of a "good" article. =P —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.58.96 (talk) 06:59, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Entry listed as "original research" due to complete lack of substantiation
As stated above, the problem has been uncorrected for over three years now. How can one even be sure that Tinglish is a real phenomenon and not a hoax? If the phenomenon described here is real, it should be possible to find references for its existence and its antecedents or causes. Proposal for deletion will follow unless corrected. TippTopp (talk) 13:38, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Joegraff (talk) 20:09, 22 September 2011 (UTC) Tinglish is definitely not a hoax. I've lived in Thailand for over 8 years, I speak, read and write Thai. Anyone who has lived there even 6 months will know exactly what Tinglish or Thailish is. I don't know how to authentic that. The causes are as stated in the opening paragraph regarding language interference from their original language. In almost every case of where you hear a Thai speaking a word incorrectly or using incorrect grammer, I can trace the mistake back to their original language.

What Nitala is describing actually *IS* language interference and explains why the consonant clusters that do not exist in Thai end up being pronounced this way in Tinglish.

Let me expand using the cluster "TW" as in twenty. If you transliterate twenty into Thai, the Thais will use the Thai pronunciation guide to say that word. In Thai, you often omit actually writing the vowel that is spoken--a silent vowel if you will. Since there is no TW in Thai, when you write the equivalent letters in that, it creates a silent "ah" vowel sound. So they read it, quite literally, tawentee.

The grammer mistakes you hear are usually because the Thai language does not have determiners (like the word "the" or most articles), does not conjugate verbs and does not have past nor future tenses.

There are other aspects of Tinglish that are phonetic in nature. Thai is a tonal language and the tones are often derived grammatically. This expresses itself when a Thai is saying the word "bread". If you transliterate bread into Thai, it ends up having what is called a "low tone". Most Thais will say the word bread in English with what I hear clearly as a low tone. The untrained ear will just hear it as a funny way of saying "bread". Another and far more obvious example is words like Adventure and Future. When transliterated, they end up with a "rising tone" on the last syllable. You asked any Thai in Thailand about Future Park (a chain of shopping malls in Bangkok). You'll hear the rising tone (this one is easier for the untrained to pick up).

Since I am not writing a doctoral dissertation, so I am going to stop here but I could go on and on. Tinglish is real. And it's generally due to language interference. Joegraff (talk) 20:09, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

English Language in Thailand
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1002685/obec-orders-english-class-hours-boost

The Thai Government has increased the number of English language class hours in schools. This announcement is dated today (see time stamp below) in the Bangkok Post. English is the Lingua Franca of ASEAN - The Association of South East Asian Nations. Thailand, as a member state, needs more English speakers; that is, speakers of English and not Thaiglish.

This article is amusing to foreigners who live here in Bangkok. Of course, Wikipedia is not meant to be an amusement and requires solemn references to epenthesis and consonant mutation and so on in street Thai.

I offer only observations. Many Educated Thais, who form a small but significant minority, have been to English-speaking schools. These are the people you will meet at international conferences. They speak Thai well too.

Ordinary Thais do not speak Thai well. They tend towards Thai-Lao dialect which confuses / r / and / l / sounds (present in writing) or omits / r / altogether. One self-indulgent illustration: if I go out onto the street and ask a taxi driver, in Thai, to take me to RAMA III ROAD round the corner / pra ram sam / [tones omitted] he may repeat the destination back to me as / paam saam / which sounds close to the Italian cheese Parmesan.

As for English and other language words in Thai, the number has increased since the earliest dates on this talk page. One last illustration: Pizza Hat (not Hut) built a leaning tower of round, flat breads and called it The Leaning Tower of Pizza. This is an unkind joke on people who know no different. Thai phonology cannot distinguish between Pisa and Pizza.

Steve (talk) 10:16, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

Deletion
I suggest this article to either be deleted, or completely rewritten. It's an absolute mess. It does not use linguistic methodology correctly and consistently, it is not written in neutral tone, it does not contribute anything of value at all. In fact, it is condescending, elitist, prescriptivist, and racist in tone. There is a grand total of one (1) reference, and that is just a sentence in a newspaper serving as an example of the word "Tinglish" being used. Not a single statement made in the article is referenced. That means it's either original research (and bad one at that) or just made-up nonsense. The article on English-influenced pidgins links here, but this is not a pidgin. Honestly, this article reads like it was written to make fun of native speakers of Thai learning and speaking English. So I suggest it be rewritten from the ground up, using sources like the ones linked by the user above me, or it should just be deleted. --Qxentio (talk) 13:51, 28 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Seeing your comment, I considered reducing the article to a one-paragraph stub, but looking at the current content it doesn't seem that bad, even if it's essentially unreferenced. The subject has been covered in academic sources, so it likely won't be deleted at AfD. I've identified the following. --Paul_012 (talk) 14:59, 16 March 2019 (UTC)