ศาลาชุมนุม

[Nan]

Thank you Khun Nan! But these are official units. Rick Bradford has provided very good examples of folk measure units.

In the list, there are folk measure units compare with official units.

The second question I would like to consult with you is if Thai has some quantitative words for actions, like: (just out of my imagination )

There are some of them which often use the onomatopoeia from the sound of each actions.

"Slap him two palms" meanig "slap him twice with the hand", - ตบเขาสองฉาด (As Khun kairi_key has already given an example.)

ฉาด (chard) (ว.) เสียงดังอย่างตบหน้าด้วยฝ่ามือ. onomatopoeia from the sound of the striking of palms or punches.

"Kick him a foot" meaning "kick him once with the foot", - เตะเขาสักป้าบ

ป้าบ (pahp) (ว.) เสียงสัมผัสอย่างแรงเหมือนเสียงตีด้วยไม้แบนๆ. onomatopoeia from the sound of slapping a flat object. It can be applied to use with kicking too.

"Bite him two mouths/mouthfuls" meaning "bite him twice with the mouth". - 'ที' would be used as a classifier in this case - กัดเขาไปสองที. But if you take a bite on some eating thing, then you can use 'คำ' as a classifier - กัดคุกกี้ำไปสองคำ.

คำ (kum) n. word, spoken word, speech, bite, mouthful.

"Look at him three eyes" meanig "look at him three times (thrice)". - มองเขาสามครั้ง

"Cut him 5 knives" meaning "cut him 5 times with a knife" - For this one, sometimes we use the word "แผล - wound" as a classifier. But 'ครั้ง' or 'ที' would be more common.

"kiss him 2 mouths" meaning "kiss him twice" - จูบเขาไปสองฟอด (or หน, ที, ครั้ง).

ฟอด (faud)(ว.) เสียงเช่น เวลาจูบ, เสียงดังเช่นนี้ เหลว, เละ (อย่างผลไม้). (ก.) น่วมฟ่ามอยู่ข้างใน. adj. mushy, frothy, fermenting. onomaopoeia from the sound of kissing.

[Aulok]

Thank you Khun Nan! Yes. I found some of the Thai measurement units from the hyperlink you recommended. But I still fail to find some of the 'folk measure units' there. These units do not usually occur in official documents. They are largely observed in daily conversations, among common people like farmers, etc. Very often, they often refer to body parts of humans or animals, or natural objects, like those exemplified by Rick Bradford.

Your examples of the onomatopoeia as quantitative units for actions are really very interesting indeed! (since MANY of the Tai languages use a body part as the unit in such a case)

Every language also has its own way of counting periods of time, apart from those internationally common units like day, week, month, year, etc, for example, fortnight (14 days) in English, sang (20 days) in Maonan (China). I wonder if Thai also has a system of its own (inherited from history) to present minutes, hours, nights, weeks, years, etc.

[Rick Bradford]

I wonder if Thai also has a system of its own (inherited from history) to present minutes, hours, nights, weeks, years, etc.

Most Thais I talk to are more comfortable with the Thai 6-hour clock, rather than the Western 12-hour or 24-hour clock.

[Aulok]

It is interesting to know that the verbal classifier for กรีด can be แผล, the result of the action.

Is กรีด correctly used here, like กรีด เขา 3 แผล?

[Nan]

Is กรีด correctly used here, like กรีด เขา 3 แผล?

Yes, it is.

Other examples;

เขาโดนกรีดไป 3 แผล

ฉันกรีดเขาไป 3 แผล

กรีด can also be used as a slang which means "to be sarcastic" or "insulted".

Ex.

นายอยากทำเร่อร่าเข้าไปจีบหล่อนเลยโดนกรีดกลับมา เป็นไงล่ะ แสบไหม

[Aulok]

Thank you Khun Nan!

--- BTW, what is the functon of ไป here in the sentence เขาโดนกรีดไป 3 แผล? Does it mean "completion" or "which is a bad result" or sth. the like? What if we omit it here?

--- does โดน mean ถูก here?

[Rick Bradford]

The local builder routinely refers to คิว -- this being short for 'cubic meters', easier than saying ลูกบาศก์เมตร every time.

Not exactly a 'folk measure', but .....