Thailish
Thailish is imperfect English as used by native Thai speakers (excluding Thai-English bilinguals). While the term covers both spoken and written English, Thailish is more obvious when speaking than when writing. Differences from native English include incorrect pronunciation, wrong word choices, misspellings, and grammatical mistakes.
Examples of wrong word choices in Thailish:
- To open/close the light (means "To turn on/off the light")
- Check bill. (means "Check, please.")
- To wash the film (means "To develop the film")
- I very like it. (means "I really like it.")
- I haven't money. (means "I have no money.")
Examples of Thailish pronunciation:
- "sh" and "ch" sounds are hardly distinguishable, e.g. ship/chip, sheep/cheap, wish/witch
- "v" sound is almost always replaced by "w" sound, e.g. vow -> wow, ville -> will
- "g" and "z" sounds are usually devoiced, e.g. dog -> dock, zoo -> sue
- "th" sound is often replaced by "t" or "d" sound, e.g. thin -> tin, through -> true, then -> den
Examples of grammatical mistakes:
- Articles are often confused or omitted.
- Incorrect verb conjugation, e.g. You was, He don't
- Singular/plural nouns are often confused, e.g. two car, one children
See also
