The names of most fauna and flora with the exception of animals usually carry a prefix to show the group to which they belong.

Some of the more common groups and prefixes are set out below.

1. Birds.

   The Thai name for a particular bird is usually prefixed by the word NOK (นก) “bird”.

   	NOK PIRAHP	นกพิราบ	A pigeon
   	NOK YOONG	นกยูง	A peacock

   This does not apply to domestic birds and there a few other exceptions.

2. Fish, Snakes, Insects.

   The Thai name for a particular fish is always prefixed by the word PLAH ปลา “Fish”.

   	PLAH GAPONG	ปลากะพง	Bass
   	PLAH CHALAHM	ปลาฉลาม	Shark

   This does not apply to crustaceans which are called by their specific names without any prefix.

   The expressions for “to go fishing” are very idiomatic.

   	DTOK PLAH	ตกปลา	To fish with a line.
   	HAH PLAH To fish with a net or basket fish trap. (Look for fish) หาปลา

   The names of snakes are prefixed by the word NGOO (งู) “snake”.

   NGOO HOW

   งูเห่า

   A cobra

   The names of many insects are prefixed by the word MALAANG (แมลง) “insect” but this is not a general rule.

   	MALAANG WUN	แมลงวัน	A fly
   	YOONG	ยุง	A mosquito

3. Trees, Bushes, Flowers etc.

   The Thai name for most trees and bushes is prefixed by the word DTON (ต้น) “a post or tree”.

   Where the tree is a timber producing tree, however, we often use the word MY “wood” in place of DTON.

   	DTON CHABAH	ต้นชะบา	Hibiscus bush
   	DTON SON	ต้นสน	Pine tree
   	MY SUK	ไม้สัก	Teak tree
   	MY YAHNG	ไม้ยาง	Yahng tree

   Note.
   We use the prefix DTON for a Pine tree because this is not normally considered a timber producing tree in Thailand.

   If we want particularly to distinguish between a teak tree and teak wood, we can say DTON SUK (teak tree) but this is not usual.

   The proper word for a “bush” or “shrub” is POOM MY (พุ่มไม้) “bush” but DTON MY is commonly used.

   The names of flowers and leaves are prefixed by the words DORK (ดอก) “flower” and BY (ใบ) “leaf” respectively.

   	DORK CHABAH	ดอกชะบา	Hibiscus flower
   	DORK GOOLAHP	ดอกกุหลาบ	Rose
   	BY GOOLAHP	ใบกุหลาบ	Rose leaf
   	BY CHAH	ใบชา	Tea leaves

   The word for fruit is PONLAMY (ผลไม้) “fruit” but this is not used as a prefix and fruit are merely known by their names.

   The names of a number of vegetables are prefixed by PUK (ผัก) “vegetable” but again this is not a general rule.

	DTON SUK LAI DTON ต้นสักหลายต้น	Many teak trees.
	DORK GOOLAHP SEE DORK ดอกกุหลาบสี่ดอก	Four roses.

You will notice that the words DTON, DORK and BY are also used as classifiers for trees, flowers and leaves respectively, but NOK, PLAH, NGOO and MALAANG are not so used. The proper classifier to use for birds, fish, snakes and insects is DTOO-A as you have already had.

Generated by Lyndon Hill on Thu Jul 20 18:40:33 BST 2006.

Copyright remains with the original authors.