ผีอำ

Thai

Cochemare ("Nightmare") by Jean Pierre Simon, 1810

The Night Mare by M.Z.D. Schmid

Etymology

From ผี (pǐi, “ghost”) +‎ อำ (am, “to visit someone during his or her sleep and disturb him or her, as by sitting on, dragging, assaulting, or suffocating him or her”). Compare Lao ຜີອຳ (phī ʼam). Also compare Chinese 鬼壓床／鬼压床 (guǐyāchuáng).

Pronunciation

Orthographic		ผีอำ pʰ ī ɒ å
Phonemic		ผี-อำ pʰ ī – ɒ å
Romanization	Paiboon	pǐi-am
	Royal Institute	phi-am
(standard) IPA(key)		/pʰiː˩˩˦.ʔam˧/(R)

Noun

ผีอำ • (pǐi-am)

1. situation in which a ghost, spirit, etc, visits someone during his or her sleep and disturbs him or her, as by sitting on, dragging, assaulting, or suffocating him or her.
2. (medicine) sleep paralysis.
3. (figurative) daymare, nightmare; night terror; sleep hallucination.