The R vs L Debate

[Izzy]

I just read something interesting which gave me an understanding of where the whole R vs L debate seems to stem from, thought id just share!

Just a few basic rules for ISAAN dialect:

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The negative in Isaan is BAW eg MAI ROO in Thai (don't know) becomes BAW HOO. Listen out for that BAW and you will be able to figure out a lot of their speech.
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Even though the Lao alphabet has what clearly looks like a Thai 'R', Isaan (and Lao) has no 'R' sound. Two thirds of the time its pronounced as an 'L' and the other one third as an 'H'.
eg ROT (car) in Thai becomes LOT in Isaan and NAK RIAN (student) becomes NAK HIAN.
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Isaan has no CH sound as in Thai - the CH becomes an S sound eg CHOK DEE (good luck) in Thai becomes SOK DEE in Isaan; CHAHT THAI (Thai nationality) becomes SAHT THAI.
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Consonant clusters are often simplified eg PLA in Thai (fish) becomes PA in Isaan.

[steve@thaib]

When I was in Chiang Mai (never seen it anywhere else), the girls I had traveled with from Bangkok had trouble making themselves understood. I'm a complete believer in dialects.

I also believe that there are certain sounds, the 'R/L' is one and the 'P/B' is another, that our ears don't pick up the same. There are some subtleties in the pronunciation that we just don't get.

I've tried this before, and when I interview the wife about it the difference between 'farang' and 'falang' makes me believe that there is no 'correct' or definitive answer.

To my mind now, after lots of years, the answer is that there is no simple answer. There's no reliable method of translating Thai to English which takes account of the differences in vocalization. We are different.