ไฟ

Thai

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *wɤjᴬ (“fire”). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨼᩱ (fai), Lao ໄຟ (fai), Lü ᦺᦝ (fay), Tai Dam ꪼꪡ, Shan ၽႆး (phái) or ၾႆး (fái), Tai Nüa ᥜᥭᥰ (fäy), Zhuang feiz, Bouyei fix, Saek วี๊. Within Kra-Dai, compare Sui vil (“fire”), Southern Kam buil (“fire”). Compare also Proto-Austronesian *Sapuy (whence Tagalog apoy, Malay api).

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemic		ไฟ ai f
Romanization	Paiboon	fai
	Royal Institute	fai
(standard) IPA(key)		/faj˧/(R)

Noun

ไฟ • (fai)

1. fire; flame.
2. light; light source.
3. (colloquial) electricity.
4. (slang) energy; spirit; vitality.