#professional deformation is real and i have a linguistics degree

[jojotichakorn]

Can you explain the "fot" thing please? I'm confused 😢

aw sure! would have been easier if i knew how much you know about thai, but i'll just assume you don't know anything.

so, fourth's name is โฟร์ท, ford's name is ฟอร์ด, and force's name is ฟอส.

first, we get ร์ in fourth and ford's names out of the way - that is basically the sound 'r'* but the sign above it means it's not pronounced. the thai spelling of force's name doesn't have an 'r' in the first place. so there are no actual 'r's in the pronunciation of any of the names.

*it's actually a rolling 'r', not the 'r' you're used to in english, but in this case it really doesn't matter

ฟ is the 'f' in all of the names.

now, here's the kicker: a lot of thai consonants in the final position do not make the same sound they do in the initial position.

just in case, i'll clarify that the initial/final positions are in relation to syllables. for example, in the syllable "syl", 's' is in the initial position and 'l' is in the final position.

the final letter of fourth's name is ท, which is a 't' (aspirated) in the initial position, and it is pronounced as a t-stop* in the final position. the final letter of ford's name is ด, which is of course a 'd' in the initial position, but it is also pronounced as a t-stop in the final position. finally and perhaps most surprisingly to someone who doesn't know thai reading rules, the final letter of force's name ส, which is indeed an 's' in the initial position, is also pronounced as a t-stop in the final position.

*a t-stop is not exactly a t, but it sounds close to it

so that makes all three names sound like 'fot'.

technically, there is a difference between the vowels in ford and force's names vs fourth's name, but they are all essentially the sound 'o'. you do open your mouth more, when saying อ in ford and force's names, than you do when saying โ in fourth's name. and it is possible to distinguish them, of course, but the difference can seem rather subtle* when someone says the name quickly, essentially giving us the same 'fot' in all three cases.

*if someone has perfect hearing or whatever and can distinguish between อ and โ easily at all times then good for them. still no dice with ford and force though - phonetically, they are absolutely the same.