One aspect of the Thai
language which makes it quite unique and
difficult to master by Thais and foreigners alike, is the remarkable
diversity in words which mean exactly the same thing. For example, the
first person singular pronoun, I in English, exists in Thai as an
endless number of choices. The Thai speaker must choose from this
variety and must know which one to use for correctness and to avoid
social blunder. Here is the variety:
The earliest recorded word for I in Thai is ku which appears in the
inscription of King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai, said to be the oldest
evidence of Thai writing. This word derived from the T’ai dialects and
is still in use today in informal and impolite usage. As the language
developed, word forms began to reflect the social hierarchy of the
period. For example, kha (lit. servant ) was used by persons of equal
social status, or by a person to stress his superior status over the
one being spoken to. On a higher social plane, kha pa chao (lit. the
lord’s servant ) is used in formality and kha pra putta chao (lit.
the Buddha’s servant ) is used while speaking to the high royalty or
to the King.
There are several sets of hierarchical I in the Thai language,
beginning with ordinary words and embellished to become social forms.
The commonly used chan (male) and dichan (female), used in everyday
speech by people of equal ranks, become momchan in the royal language,
and klao kramomchan used while speaking to the royalty of even higher
status. Another common word is pom (male) krapom (male) and klao
krapom (male) in hierarchical order. This last example is used by
commoners speaking to commoners. The royalty, speaking to other
members of the royalty, will change to the set of mom (male), kramom
(male) and Klao kramom (male).
Close friends use a wide variety of words for I which derive from
other languages. Apart from the antique word ku mentioned above, there
are rao (lit. we ), ua from Chinese and I from English.
Professionals use their titles to call themselves. For example,
teachers refer to themselves as khru (guru) and acharn (ajariya) both
derived from Sanskrit. Buddhist monks use attama (atma)
Close relatives use words which denote personal relationships and
status. For example, pi older sibling and nong younger sibling. A
subordinate will use term of endearment to a superior such as nu (lit.
mouse), luk chang (lit. baby elephant) bow (lit. servant) and kha
luang (lit. your servant). In this group may be included chai (lit.
man) and ying (lit. woman) which is the way some people call
themselves. The are also ethnic words : koi , riam , tu and tua ku .
A large group of pronouns derive from military ranks. Not only do the
rank and file call officers and enlisted men by their ranks, the
officers call themselves by rank also. For example, a sergeant may
call himself ja (non-commissioned officer) while speaking to his men.
Last but not least, and this group enables this article to be entitled
The Limitless Number of Thai Words Which Mean I , the nicknames.
Beside their personal names, almost all Thais use a simpler, usually
monosyllabic nickname, with or without meaning. A person whose
nickname is maew (cat) usually calls herself maew in preference to any
other form of the first person singular pronoun mentioned in this
article. So there is really no end to the possible variants on this
pronoun.