Manee

And… we’re back. Back to translating more of the Manee book, of course! We will continue right where we left off and keep moving along slowly but surely.

Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint. Picking up pieces little by little in this (blogging) environment is much better than trying to ram 10,000 details and definitions down your throat. Don’t try to get everything in one sitting. Take away what you can and internalize it; then, go back and pick up what you didn’t get the first time. Constant review and reinforcement is the best way to learn a language.

When we last left Manee, she was accompanying her mom to the market. Let’s see what happens next. Here is the text for the next paragraph:

แม่ถามราคา และเลือกซื้อแต่ของดีที่ราคาไม่แพงเกินไป แม่ซื้อผ้า หวี สบู่ และของกินหลายอย่าง มีเกลือ มะนาว ปลาทู ไข่และไก่ แม่จะซื้อหมูกับเนื้อด้วยแต่ไม่มีขาย เพราะวันนั้นเป็นวันพระ มานีเห็นผลไม้น่ากินหลายอย่าง มีเงาะ ลำไย น้อยหน่า จึงขอให้แม่ซื้อเงาะ

As we did in the first lesson (and will continue to do in all subsequent lessons) we’ll break it all down separately.

/mɛ̂ɛ tǎam raa-kaa/
(Mom “to ask” price)
Mom asked the price,

/lɛ́ lʉ̂ak sʉ́ʉ dtɛ̀ɛ kɔ̌ɔng dii tîi raa-kaa mâi-pɛɛng gəən-bpai/
(and choose “to buy” but/only thing good place price “not expensive” “too much”)
and chose to buy only good things that aren’t too expensive.

(Thanks to Simon for the help on this one.)

The use of ของ threw me the first few times I saw it, because I had only equated it with a possessive form – someone owning something. But, in this case it means “thing” as in any object.

I believe แต่ is infrequently used as “only,” so my translation may be a bit off here. But, it seems to provide the best interpretation of the intended meaning.

/mɛ̂ɛ sʉ́ʉ pâa/
(Mom “to buy” clothes)
Mom bought clothes

Without any time indicator it’s hard to say for sure if the action is intended to be in present or past tense, but it seems to me that past tense is the most appropriate in this case.

/wǐi sà-bùu lɛ́ kɔ̌ɔng-gin lǎai-yàang/
(comb soap and food “many varieties”)
comb, soap, and many varieties of food.

The two sentences actually combine together. Remember that there are no punctuation marks like commas in Thai writing, so you need to look for certain clues; in this case, having small words/phrases separated by spaces is a good indication of a list of items. The two parts together translate as:

Mom bought clothes, a comb, soap, and many varieties of food.

/mii glʉa má-naao bplaa-tuu kài lɛ́ gài/
(have salt lime mackerel egg and chicken)
They have salt, lime, mackerel, eggs, and chicken.

/mɛ̂ɛ jà sʉ́ʉ mǔu gàp nʉ́a dûai dtɛ̀ɛ mâi mii kǎai/
(Mom will buy pork and beef also but not have sell)
Mom will buy pork and beef, too, but they are not for sale

กับ is another word that threw me for a loop early on. It’s literally translation is “with,” but it’s used with lists to mean “and.” For example, “Josh with Joe went to the market” is the implied meaning (or even “Josh went to the market with Joe” is better English), but when translated we say “Josh and Joe went to the market.” Don’t get too caught up in this; just try to use this as an opportunity to think like a Thai.

/prɔ́ wan nán bpen wan-prá/
(because day this is “Buddhist Sabbath”)
Because this day is a holy day.

The above two sentences go together as well:

Mom will buy pork and beef, too, but they are not for sale because today is a holy day.

/maa-nii hěn pǒn-lá-mái nâa-gin lǎai-yàang/
(Manee “to see” fruit delicious “many varieties”)
Manee sees many varieties of delicious fruit.

/mii ngɔ́ lam-yai nɔ́ɔi-nàa/
(“to have” rambutan longan “sugar apple”)
They have rambutan, longan, and sugar apples.

/jʉng kɔ̌ɔ-hâi mɛ̂ɛ sʉ́ʉ ngɔ́/
(Therefore/so “Please” mom buy rambutan)
So Manee asked Mom to please buy rambutan.

Because Manee was already listed as the subject of the paragraph, it’s implied that she is still the speaker since no one else was mentioned. So, it’s okay to include her name again in the translation.

That’s it. A pretty straightforward translation with, unfortunately, not a ton of grammatical quirks that needed to be addressed. But, at the very least you can work on your writing, reading, pronunciation, and learning any vocabulary that you didn’t know. It is a marathon, after all…