NEW NAME FOR SIAM
An ex-professor of Bangkok University writes to ‘ The Times ': —The report in your columns of the intention of the Siamese Government to give Siam a Siamese name for universal acceptance is to be welcomed. There lurks, however, a hideous snare in the intricacies of tbe tonal and consonantal system of the language, which would possibly cause many a Siamese patriot to writhe on hearing the name “ Muang Thai ” mishandled by Westerners. It is highly improbable that an uninstr noted Occidental would ever pronounce it to mean “Land of the Free.” True, it might be beard unwittingly pronounced to mean “ The Kingdom of the Redeemed,” or “ The Land of the Long Purse ”; but would this soothe the outraged ear of a loyal citizen of the Kingdom of the Yellow _ Robe after hearing from innocent lips other and more likely pronunciation which would turn out to mean “ The Marsh of those Who creep like Worms,” or “ The Dead Kingdom,” or—the gods forbid! —“Distended Entrails”?
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19390826.2.23.5
Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 23355, 26 August 1939, Page 7
Word Count
166NEW NAME FOR SIAM Evening Star, Issue 23355, 26 August 1939, Page 7
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