Dear creator of this blog..
I think the Thai requested to call Preah Vihear as Phra Viharn is totally wrong, because it is a Khmer temple and was built by Khmer kings. Like many other ancient temples in Thailand as well, they all were built by Khmer kings. Preah Vihear and Wat Phu in Laos by Suryavarman I. Phimai in Thailand by Jayavarman VI and Phnum Rung by Suryavarman II. As you are well aware that Thailand had never been existed as a great monarchy yet around this time line..
When the French rediscovered these temples, modern Khmer scholars gave modern Khmer language names to these temples, particularly the ones in present day Cambodia.
You see, because the Thai language was modified from Khmer language therefore they call the temples according to what we Khmer call them but in a slightly different pronunciation, according to the vowels changes and sound change of some alphabets. For examples, the eqivelant of the Khmer sound of "P" and in Thai would be "PH".. ie.. We say Prah/Preah Put/But Thai would be Pra Phut..meaning the Buddha. Another example, we say Brajeajun for People and Thai would say Brachachun and Jay for victory,Thai would be Chhai.Thai vowel for SRAK..AR remains the same. We modern Khmer,SRAK AR changes according to the different alphabet category.
So in terms of Khmer temple names, Thai would call them according to their way of pronunciation of our khmer words which have exactly the same meaning. For examples, Preah Vihear becomes Phra Viharn in Thai. Notice that in Khmer the word for Vihear is ended with silent R because the word derived from the Sanskrit word VIHARA. The Thai spelled it exactly like us but every ending with R or L they will pronounce it as N to sound different from Khmer. For example, in the case of the temples names... Angkor Wat/Nakor Wat....in Thai it would be Angkhorn Wat or Nakhorn Wat. Banteay Srey/Sri would be Banthay Si/Sri. Another good example is that some of our Khmer small states in Thailand now are still using Khmer names as well, like Surin, Nakorrajasima and Ayuthia..
However, in the case of the temple names, particularly Preah Vihear, they must be called according to our Khmer language. We will not allow them to change the temple names into their language. Internationally, these temples were recognized in Roman writings according to the Khmer words because they were built by Khmer Kings and people. The Thai must respect the ownership of the Khmer people....
With kind regards
Dara Hyam
I think the Thai requested to call Preah Vihear as Phra Viharn is totally wrong, because it is a Khmer temple and was built by Khmer kings. Like many other ancient temples in Thailand as well, they all were built by Khmer kings. Preah Vihear and Wat Phu in Laos by Suryavarman I. Phimai in Thailand by Jayavarman VI and Phnum Rung by Suryavarman II. As you are well aware that Thailand had never been existed as a great monarchy yet around this time line..
When the French rediscovered these temples, modern Khmer scholars gave modern Khmer language names to these temples, particularly the ones in present day Cambodia.
You see, because the Thai language was modified from Khmer language therefore they call the temples according to what we Khmer call them but in a slightly different pronunciation, according to the vowels changes and sound change of some alphabets. For examples, the eqivelant of the Khmer sound of "P" and in Thai would be "PH".. ie.. We say Prah/Preah Put/But Thai would be Pra Phut..meaning the Buddha. Another example, we say Brajeajun for People and Thai would say Brachachun and Jay for victory,Thai would be Chhai.Thai vowel for SRAK..AR remains the same. We modern Khmer,SRAK AR changes according to the different alphabet category.
So in terms of Khmer temple names, Thai would call them according to their way of pronunciation of our khmer words which have exactly the same meaning. For examples, Preah Vihear becomes Phra Viharn in Thai. Notice that in Khmer the word for Vihear is ended with silent R because the word derived from the Sanskrit word VIHARA. The Thai spelled it exactly like us but every ending with R or L they will pronounce it as N to sound different from Khmer. For example, in the case of the temples names... Angkor Wat/Nakor Wat....in Thai it would be Angkhorn Wat or Nakhorn Wat. Banteay Srey/Sri would be Banthay Si/Sri. Another good example is that some of our Khmer small states in Thailand now are still using Khmer names as well, like Surin, Nakorrajasima and Ayuthia..
However, in the case of the temple names, particularly Preah Vihear, they must be called according to our Khmer language. We will not allow them to change the temple names into their language. Internationally, these temples were recognized in Roman writings according to the Khmer words because they were built by Khmer Kings and people. The Thai must respect the ownership of the Khmer people....
With kind regards
Dara Hyam
1 comment:
Yeah, Preah Vihear is a Khmer temple, so Khmer name must be used.
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