in thai, your speech always expresses your position and your conversant's position, dictating how formal you should call someone, how formally you should call yourself and how similar or different your respect levels are. i can call myself nu (literally, mouse), di-chan (formal), michelle (it's seen as cute), pi (when speaking with kids), or rao (essentially, "we"). i've been slowly getting it (or at least i thought i was), until i learned this word: "teuh." (เธอ)
ok, put your thinking caps on because these are 4 different ways to use this word. i'm avoiding using the word altogether.
1. between two intimates. if you were with a close friend or lovah, you'd use "teuh" when using the phrase "i love you."
2. teacher with a student. teachers can call students "teuh," indicating that they are higher in position and deserve respect.
3. formally referring to a 3rd person in writing. if you're writing something more formal, it's more polite to refer to a 3rd person as "teuh," assigning more respect and importance than the informal pronoun.
but be careful, because you may be
4. disrespecting someone. if you call someone "teuh" in the 2nd person, you're saying you're better and demeaning he/she.
can't we all just get along?
2 comments:
Yes, I tend to avoid using "teuh"... It's good to know what is means, but using it is way too fraught for my tastes. Of course, I was taught super-formal and reflexively use "di-chan" a lot, making me sound like a stuffed shirt....
There's also "chan", which (I'm sure you know) is a less formal version of "di-chan"... I also tend to avoid using that because of the social implications, although it seems quite normal to use it among peers and friends.
What's your take on "chan"?
Unfortunately, it's much more complicated for women than for men. Men can just say "pom" and get away with it most of the time... We have to pick!
I went through phases of using my name, chan, and nothing.
Good Lord I miss you!!
But I liked the way you spelled lovah.
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