ตัว

See also: ตั๋ว

Thai

Etymology

Cognate with Northern Thai ᨲᩫ᩠ᩅ, Lao ໂຕ (tō) or ຕົວ (tūa), Lü ᦷᦎ (ṫo), Tai Dam ꪶꪔ, Shan တူဝ် (tǒ), Ahom 𑜄𑜥 (tū) or 𑜄𑜤 (tu), Zhuang duz, Saek ทั๊ว. Compare Khmer តួ (tuə).

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemic		ตัว t ạ w
Romanization	Paiboon	dtuua
	Royal Institute	tua
(standard) IPA(key)		/tua̯˧/(R)

Noun

ตัว • (dtuua)

1. self.
2. figure; form; shape; body; embodiment.
3. figure, number; character; letter.
4. main part; material part; essence.
5. used as a prefix to indicate the state of being, of having a form, or of being an individual, animal, object, etc.
6. (slang, derogatory, offensive) (อี~) prostitute.

Pronoun

ตัว • (dtuua)

1. (now considered colloquial) a second person pronoun, used to address a person of equal or lower status: you.

Usage notes

• In childish usage, the second person pronoun is used with the first person pronoun เขา (kǎo).

Classifier

ตัว • (dtuua)

1. (derogatory and offensive if applied to humans) Classifier for animals. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
   • 2019 November 20, KhaiRu-Din RoHeng, “ราชกิจจานุเบกษาเผยแพร่ข้อกำหนดศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ...ห้ามวิจารณ์ศาลโดยไม่สุจริต [Government Gazette publishes Constitutional Court regulations...banning dishonest criticism of the Court]”, in ThaiPBS‎^[1], ThaiPBS, retrieved 2019-11-21:

     คนแก่ ๙ ตัวที่นั่งบนเก้าอี้กินเงินเดือนภาษีจากประชาชน ทำไมประชาชนไม่มีสิทธิวิจารณ์

     kon-gɛ̀ɛ · gâao · dtuua tîi nâng bon gâo-îi gin ngən-dʉʉan paa-sǐi jàak bprà-chaa-chon · tam-mai bprà-chaa-chon mâi mii sìt-tí wí-jaan

     [Just] nine old farts sitting on the bench [and] living off the people's taxes [as their] salaries – why do the people have no right to criticise [them]?

2. Classifier for digits, letters, and certain objects. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
3. Classifier for certain nouns prefixed with ตัว. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier