How to pronounce Koh Samui?

[paulf1]

What is the correct way to pronounce Koh Samui?

[pablo]

Originally Posted by paulf1

What is the correct way to pronounce Koh Samui?

"Kho Sam-u-i." (the "h" is silent)


Pablo

[JayBee]

It is pronouced Goh Sa-moo-ee, where Goh rhymes with law, and the moo in Samui is like hitting a high note between the other two syllables.

[pablo]

Originally Posted by pablo

"Kho Sam-u-i." (the "h" is silent)


Pablo

Originally Posted by JayBee

It is pronouced Goh Sa-moo-ee, where Goh rhymes with law, and the moo in Samui is like hitting a high note between the other two syllables.

Geeeeze!


It doesn't matter what I do, or what I say....you're always correcting me!

(the "h" is silent, right?)55555



Pablo

[Dodger]

Not silent pabs, non existant, as JB said it is pronounced more like Gaw or Gor, (similar to Law or Lor), not Ko similar to snow.

Same really as Dodger is similar to brilliant bloke who lives in Kamalalala, where the H is also silent or invisible or not even there!!!.

[Hobbsy]

not like Vincent Van Gough or "Van go" (as our amelligan friends like to say)

[barflyrex]

The "koh" in koh samui, is a short sharp sound, to say it as a thai would say it is simple.
Take the word cot (bed for babys) and simply drop the "t".

[Coolhand]

I wish some people would ask how to pronounce fukkit

[Sirgezza]

Originally Posted by JayBee

It is pronouced Goh Sa-moo-ee, where Goh rhymes with law, and the moo in Samui is like hitting a high note between the other two syllables.

So it starts with a hard G sound as oppose to a K sound?

[Dodger]

yes, (whoops not enough letters to post, had to add on this bit)

[Schmeen]

The "koh" in koh samui, is a short sharp sound, to say it as a thai would say it is simple.
Take the word cot (bed for babys) and simply drop the "t".

almost right, more of a G than a C or K...try Got minus the T.

It is pronouced Goh Sa-moo-ee, where Goh rhymes with law

rhymes with law?? You are having a laugh right?

[Dodger]

Schmeen, it must be a dialect thing then because my girlfriend sayes Goh, which rhymes with gaw or gor not go as rhyming with snow.

But it could also be our own dialect or pronounciation, as my Thai teacher changed all the phonetic spellings for her swedish pupils as they pronounced all the phonetics diferently than us english. Trouble then was it was like having to relearn another phonetic language and pronounciation.

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

almost right, more of a G than a C or K...try Got minus the T.



rhymes with law?? You are having a laugh right?

I was just meaning to get across the fact that it is a short "o" as in got or cot, rather than a long "o" as in in snow. Didn't give any thought to the fact that, of course, law is more drawn out, and so therefore, technically, you could say they don't rhyme, although that will probably confuse people even more. as bfrex pointed out, the syllable is a bit more clipped than as in law(not to mention some poets might get awfully upset when they are trying to wrote and poem about their Thai idyll, and find out you won't let them rhyme goh with saw, as in "I once met a girl from Koh Samui, on her ass I saw a marvelous tattooee".) But then I imagine Brits or Germans, for that matter, probably pronounce law different than Americans anyhow, so the difference may go further than that. In American English they are technically the same, though, because it is the short "o" vowel sound and we don't differentiate between different kinds of short "o" vowel sounds, although I will agree that, in fact, there are more than one kind of short "o" vowel sound. But to point out the difference, you actually have to create a word that is not in the English language to make the point, i.e, by saying got, then drop the t, or cot and drop the t, because in English that vowel sound doesn't exist unless it is followed by a consonant. Therefore law is as close of a word we have to rhyme with. If I had said rhymes with co or go, that would have really sent the wrong message!! BTW, that is why you often see it spelled Koh, to try to send the message that it is a short "o" sound and not a long "o" sound.

And while I am at it, I may as well point out that Koh Samui is, in fact, neither pronounced in Thai as cot without the c or as got without the g. It is in fact a K sound and not a G sound. But it is best for us to use the G sound. The reason for that is that in English the G is an unaspirated consonant sound, which is closer to the K in Thai, which is an unaspirated consonant that to the K in English which is aspirated. So, technically, you are both wrong when you say it is same as c in cot or g in got. It is a K sound, but one that we do not have in English. The English K sound is spelled Kh when Thai words are transliterated into English letters. But the G sound in English more nearly mimics the Thai K, than does the K(kh) sound in English, and that is why it is generally recommended that English speakers pronounce the Thai K as a G, which it isn't, rather than a K, which it really is.

Now is that perfectly clear!

[JayBee]

And since we are trying to be correct, let me further add that Ko is pronounced with a low tone, the a in Samui is short and the u in Samui is also short, if I am not mistaken!

[JayBee]

And since we are trying to be correct, let me further add that Ko is pronounced with a low tone, the a in Samui is short and the u in Samui is also short, if I am not mistaken!

Of course, you know this means that the mu in Samui is not pronounced at all like the moo sound a cow is said to make, but a bit more like a word which would rhyme with foot after you took the t off the end of foot.

BTW, Ko is spelled เกาะ and Samui is spelled สะมุย lest there be any doubt about it.

[K2]

FFS ... arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Its been a while since I awarded it but this thread gets Banal #21.

[Schmeen]

Dodger

Accent rather than dialect probably, however I treat it like I treat people who transliterate from someone who can't form their r's properly. I really don't care that someones Isaan tilac says falang, the word is farang. It's quite simple.

JayBee

Your second paragraph is nonsense. We are not talking about transliteration, so a nice demonstration of your vast knowledge, but I fully understand it and it's irrelevant to what was asked and answered.

To also suggest that it is incorrect because the work co doesn't exist and the sound cannot exist without a following consonant is also nonsense. Again it wasn't asked for a spelling, a transliteration or the creation of a new word or sound. He asked for a sound and related to sounds in the English language, the answer was a perfectly correct one. And none of the Americans I know pronounce Law in any way rhyming with Koh. As I know you will now ****-yse this to death, the subjects tested were Virginian, two Texans and one from Idaho.

Why write 1000 words when a handful will do?

[Schmeen]

And since we are trying to be correct, let me further add that Ko is pronounced with a low tone, the a in Samui is short and the u in Samui is also short, if I am not mistaken!

Of course, you know this means that the mu in Samui is not pronounced at all like the moo sound a cow is said to make, but a bit more like a word which would rhyme with foot after you took the t off the end of foot.

BTW, Ko is spelled เกาะ and Samui is spelled สะมุย lest there be any doubt about it.

Quite the most blatant piece of **** waving I've ever seen on a forum.

You don't embarrass easily do you?

[JayBee]

Here's a good tip on trying to speak Thai:

[i]Try to avoid speaking slowly and hesitantly, as this will distort the tone on the word and make you much more difficult to understand than if you spoke confidently. When speaking fairly quickly even the Thais routinely don't pronounce each and every tone, as there's simply not enough time to do so. If your tones aren't perfect, you stand a much chance of being understood by talking at the same normal speed, rather than hesitantly.[i]

In other words, as soon as you slow down to try to pronounce words more correctly, you have just screwed yourself by making everything you said sound totally unintelligible. When in doubt, fake it!!

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

Quite the most blatant piece of **** waving I've ever seen on a forum.

You don't embarrass easily do you?

Whatever! Can't quite figure what you're on about. But then it doesn't really matter, does it?

BTW, it is actually quite obvious that the u in Samui is short because if it weren't, then it wouldn't be a high tone, would it? Of course not, it would be mid tone , and what could be simpler than that!

[Schmeen]

Just so I don't misjudge your abilities, I know little about you....you lived here what 10 years or so?

[Schmeen]

Originally Posted by JayBee

BTW, it is actually quite obvious that the u in Samui is short because if it weren't, then it wouldn't be a high tone, would it? Of course not, it would be mid tone , and what could be simpler than that!

more **** waving, you not related to Jeffrey Dahmer are you? all I can feel is you chewing my leg!

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

JayBee

Your second paragraph is nonsense.

I beg to differ. It is a simple statement of fact.

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

We are not talking about transliteration, so a nice demonstration of your vast knowledge, but I fully understand it and it's irrelevant to what was asked and answered.

Has nothing to do with transliteration except indirectly. Think about it! Why do they have two Ks when they transliterate, the k and the kh. It doesn't take much of a brain to figure that one out. It has to do with how the Thais speak their language. Transliteration is only a reflection of that, which is why I say it has nothing to do with transliteration except indirectly. To be completely direct I would have to spell everything in Thai , not English. For some reason, you seem to fail to grasp the meaning of the term "unaspirated consonant." Is that why you are so upset?

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

To also suggest that it is incorrect because the work co doesn't exist and the sound cannot exist without a following consonant is also nonsense.

My point is that I was trying to explain something through rhyming rather than getting technical about it. Barflyrex explained the shortcoming of doing it that way rather nicely. You added nothing further, except a smartass comment, and now you seem upset about heavens knows what?

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

Again it wasn't asked for a spelling, a transliteration or the creation of a new word or sound. He asked for a sound and related to sounds in the English language, the answer was a perfectly correct one. And none of the Americans I know pronounce Law in any way rhyming with Koh. As I know you will now ****-yse this to death, the subjects tested were Virginian, two Texans and one from Idaho.

Blah, blah, blah. I think I know American English better than you do. If you like, I could write you a poem.

Originally Posted by Schmeen;

Why write 1000 words when a handful will do?

You know I could go on like this forever, if you insist!

Go have a beer and relax! It's your birthday, fer Chrissakes!

Happy Birthday!!