Hello Expat,
As David pointed out, I don't think "there is any different in the Thai pronunciation of their words for "vinegar" and "orange juice". But, yes, both rather are pronounced "น้าม", not "น้ำ". Hence, น้ามซ่ม (spoken language, not a written one) in both case. If comparing to the different sound between record (v.) and record (N.) in English, there is no such case in Thai. A different tone doesn't make a different meaning in Thai. น้ามซ่ม could mean both orange juice (citrus fruit juice) and vinegar. We only have to guess it from its context.
Anyway, why น้าม, but not in the case of ราม (รำ); อาม (อำ); ทาม (ทำ) etc.?
Again, it's hard to tell why. It's a spoken language which has nothing to do with written language. I mean, we still write น้ำ, but somehow say น้าม. And we write and say รำ, อำ, ทำ but not say ราม, อาม, ทาม. There's no strict rule about this. Or no one really knows what/why we say the way we do. It might be like an English speaker says gonna instead of going to, just because it's easier way to say?
Frankly speaking, if we say, นั้มซ่ม, not น้ามซ่ม, it might sound funny. And if we say ทามใจ in stead of ทัมจัย (ทำใจ - calm/control one's mind), it also sounds funny.
Don't know if this helps or not.
for the Thai language
