Tinglish

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Sign with "tinglish" formulations

Tinglish (also Thaiglish or Thai-English ) is the name of the form of the English language spoken by Thai native speakers .

overview

Tinglish is a variety of the English language (a special form with unmistakable features), more precisely: a pidgin (a reduced form of language that helps people of different mother tongues communicate). The distinctive features result from the application of principles of the Thai language to English. This also means that characteristics of the Thai language become clear in pronunciation, grammar and choice of words. But Tinglish is not a dialect. The degree of Thai influence varies from speaker to speaker, depending on how well the speaker can speak “correct” English. The characteristics described below can , but need not necessarily, occur with every Tinglish speaker.

In addition to the terms Tinglish , Thaiglish and Thai-English, there are other terms such as Thailish and Thainglish . The word Tinglish occasionally also stands for other varieties, for example for Tagali or Tamil English, but in the vast majority of cases for the Thai English dealt with here.

pronunciation

  • In polysyllabic words, the last syllable is usually pronounced with a long vowel and falling tone, unlike in English, where the last syllable or suffixes often have a short vowel and are unstressed. For native English speakers, this creates the impression that the last syllable is emphatically emphasized (in fact, Thai and thus also Tinglish have no dynamic stress), e.g. B. comput er [kɔːmpʰiwtɤ̂ː] and fash ion [fɛːɕʰân] .
  • Thai knows only a few consonant clusters . In Tinglish, a short 'a' or Schwa sound is inserted between consonants , or one of the consonants is omitted entirely: e.g. B. stay becomes sa-tay [s a teː] , blue becomes ba-loo [b ə luː] , sprite becomes sa-pie [s a paj] .
  • Sounds that do not appear in Thai are replaced: the voiced sounds / g /, / z / and / d͡ʒ / are replaced by unvoiced equivalents, i.e. to / k /, / s / or / t͡ɕ /. Zoo sounds z. B. like Sue . The fricative / ʃ / is replaced by the affricate / t͡ɕ /. The words chair and share can sound (almost) the same. The fricative / θ / (the English “th”) is replaced by the closing sound / t /, i.e. tin instead of thin .
  • / v / is replaced in the syllable by / w /, e.g. B. sewen elewen instead of seven eleven .
  • In the end, however, the / v / is replaced by a “weak” / p /, e.g. B. say (p) [seːp] instead of safe .
  • Plosives are not exploded in their final sound, so they sound “weak” or are barely perceptible to native English speakers, e.g. B. to (p) instead of top . Also fricatives that never are in Thai in final, will be replaced in final by such non-blasted plosives such. B. fi (t) instead of fish . / l / or / ɫ / is replaced by either / n / or / w /, e.g. B. nationan instead of national , biw instead of bill .
  • English diphthongs consisting of two vowels are partly replaced by long monophthongs , partly by a combination of vowel and half-vowel: / eɪ / by / eː /, / ɛə / by / ɛː /, / oʊ / by / oː /, / aɪ / through / a (ː) j /, / aʊ / through / a (ː) w /, / ɔɪ / through / ɔ (ː) j /, / juː / through / iw /.
  • In Thai there can never be a consonant cluster at the end of the syllable, so the "surplus" consonants are omitted, e.g. B. ack [ʔɛ́k] instead of act or ex (both sound the same in Tinglish) and cam [kʰɛːm] instead of camp .
  • Half-vowels also count as a consonant, behind diphthongs that contain a half-vowel in Tinglish (see above) , there can therefore be no consonant at all, e.g. B. cow [kʰaːw] instead of count , i [ʔáj] instead of ice .
  • Some speakers also replace / r / with / l /, e.g. B. tomollow instead of tomorrow .

grammar

As an isolating language , Thai has no inflections (word changes), and simple sentence constituents usually appear in everyday language :

The same characteristics can be recognized in tinglish sentences:

  • The additions man good (“good person”) and bar beer (“beer bar”) are examples of nouns with a more detailed definition after them.
  • The question you go Chiang Mai? can either Have you been to Chiang Mai? or Do you want to go to Chiang Mai? mean (“Have you been to Chiang Mai?” or “Do you want to go to Chiang Mai?”). In order to represent the past tense unequivocally, the word already is added: You go Chiang Mai already? ("Have you already been to Chiang Mai?"). Already is the literal translation of the particles แล้ว [lɛːw], with the Thai language, the past is expressed - that is, the rate may not in terms of "Are you going now already be understood to Chiang Mai?".
  • Instead of yes and no - as in Thai - the verb from the question is sometimes repeated (affirmative) or negated, e.g. B. the answer to the question Do you have ice cream? ("Do you carry ice cream?") Have. or no have. ring.

Choice of words

The choice of words is often based directly on the Thai language, for example the custom of underlining words through repetition. The coincidence same same is such a characteristic “total reduplication ” (word doubling); it consistently stands for the English terms the same ("the same" or "the same / the same"), as usual ("as usual") and similar ("similar"). The standing expression snake snake fish fish is a literal translation from the mother tongue and stands for the English so-so , in German “so la la”.

The often heard phrase Where you go? is less of a question than the direct translation of the Thai greeting ไป ไหน [bpai nai]. What is remarkable is the inclusion of native-speaking politeness particles in the English-speaking context: not take care , but take care na , not thank you , but thank you khrap (male speaker) or thank you kha (female speaker).

example

Same same but different , a phrase that is widespread in Thailand and meanwhile internationally with the meaning "very same but different", is a well-known example of Tinglish. All over Thailand (and worldwide through numerous Internet shops) T-shirts are available with the imprint same same but different , where same same can be read on the front, but different on the back.

The line of text same same but different also plays a role in international pop music , for example on the CD “Same / Same… But Different” by the band Vengeance (2007) or in the Hindi song “We Are Same Same But Different”, a hit from the Bollywood film " Bombay to Bangkok " by director Nagesh Kukunoor (2008). Some German and English-language books have the phrase directly in the title, although the punctuation varies. The film Same Same But Different by director Detlev Buck , which is set in Cambodia , won a prize at the 62nd Locarno International Film Festival in August 2009 and was released in German cinemas in January 2010.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "All pidgin languages ​​originally start when people who don't have a common language try to communicate with each other. (...) To begin with, pidgins are very limited forms of communication with few words, a few simple constructions (mainly commands), helped along by gestures and miming. (...) But when a pidgin expands, its vocabulary increases greatly, it develops its own rules of grammatical construction, and it becomes used for all the functions of everyday life. "David Crystal: The English Language . Penguin Books, London 2002, pp. 12-13. See also the article Pidgin and Creole languages ( Memento from December 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on www.weikopf.de, as of August 29, 2009.
  2. ^ "There are more and more Thai people speaking English, especially those in big cities and in the business world. Quite a few become very proficient. However, there are many others who speak with a heavy Thai accent and tend to use Thai grammar with English words. This is Thaiglish! ”Saksit Pakdeesiam: Thai for Gay Tourists . Paiboon Publishing, Bangkok 2001, p. 12.
  3. ↑ See the article Tinglish Without Toil by Stuart Jay Raj, as of August 29, 2009.
  4. ↑ So in the article Philippines Profile ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Clarence Henderson as of August 29, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.asiamarketresearch.com
  5. ↑ So in the article Language barriers: Diversity of languages ​​and lingua franca by Margarete Payer, as of August 29, 2009.
  6. ↑ Examples from Georg Gensbichler and Sarika Puangsombat: English - Thai . Bangkok Book House, Bangkok 2008, ISBN 974-272-222-6 , pp. 193-194.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g Graham Horwood: Investigating Thai Loan Phonology ( Memento of the original dated August 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , September 8, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ling.arts.tu.ac.th
  8. ↑ See Kenny Yee and Catherin Gordon: Dos and Don'ts in Thailand . Booknet, Bangkok 1999, ISBN 978-974-9823-34-7 , p. 158 and Saksit Pakdeesiam: Thai for Gay Tourists . Paiboon Publishing, Bangkok 2001, p. 13.
  9. ↑ See Rainer Bolik and Siriporn Jantawat-Bolik: Land & people. Thailand . Polyglott-Verlag, Munich 1995/96, ISBN 3-493-60526-9 , pp. 106-107.
  10. ↑ Described in the article Different families, not different cousins: comparing Thai and English by John Anyan, as of December 13, 2013.
  11. ↑ Saksit Pakdeesiam: Thai for Gay Tourists . Paiboon Publishing, Bangkok 2001, p. 16.
  12. ↑ Kenny Yee and Catherin Gordon: Dos and Donts in Thailand . Booknet, Bangkok 1999, ISBN 978-974-9823-34-7 , p. 159.
  13. ↑ See the article Same Same But Different by James McCabe, as of August 29, 2009.
  14. ↑ The article Different families, not different cousins: comparing Thai and English by John Anyan on www.macmillandictionaries.com, as of December 13, 2013, also cites the T-shirt design as an example: “One example of how Thai lexis can lead to errors in English has become a T-shirt design, 'Same Same But Different'. "
  15. ↑ We Are Same Same But Different ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), lyrics by Mir Ali Husain, as of August 29, 2009.
  16. ↑ For example Thomas Kalak, Jochen Müssig: Thailand. Same same, but different! Rupa Publications, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-940393-04-3 .
  17. ^ "Same Same But Different" awarded in Locarno , message on ndr.de, August 17, 2009.