Etymology
From Proto-Tai *diːᴮ, possibly from Middle Chinese 地 (MC dijH).[1] Cognate with Lao ທີ່ (thī), Northern Thai ᨴᩦ᩵, Lü ᦑᦲᧈ (tii¹), Tai Dam ꪕꪲ꪿, Tai Dón ꪕꪲꫀ, Shan တီႈ (tīi), Tai Nüa ᥖᥤ (ti), Phake တီ (tī), Ahom 𑜄𑜣 (tī), Zhuang deih, Zuojiang Zhuang thi. Outside Tai-Kadai: compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *tiʔ ~ tiiʔ ~ tiəʔ (“that yonder”), Mon တေံ (teʔ, “that”), Khmer ទី (tii), Vietnamese thì (“then, which, to be”). Compare Malay di.
Pronunciation
More information Orthographic/Phonemic, Romanization ...
Close
Prefix
ที่
- (creating a noun from a verb) the person who.
- ที่ปรึกษา
- tîi bprʉ̀k-sǎa
- advisor.
- (creating a noun from a verb) an object pertaining to which; that which; an object for; for the purpose of; equipment or gear for a purpose.
- ที่เปิดขวด
- tîi bpə̀ət kùuat
- bottle opener.
- (creating a noun from a verb) a concept or idea pertaining to which.
- (creating a noun from a verb) a place or location pertaining to which; a place to do something.
- (creating a noun from a verb) an event, time, duration, or occurrence pertaining to which.
- used with cardinal numbers to create ordinals. (Compare Chinese 第 (dì).)
- บทที่หนึ่ง
- bòt tîi nʉ̀ng
- lesson one / the first lesson
- used to indicate comparisons or ordering.
Particle
ที่ • (tîi)
- placed after an adjective to indicate that it applies particularly and specifically to its preceding noun. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- used in the pattern “เป็น (bpen) + ที่ + verb” to make an adjective from a verb.
References
Pittayaporn, Pittayawat (2009) The Phonology of Proto-Tai (Doctoral dissertation), Department of Linguistics, Cornell University, page 367