Thai

edit

Alternative forms

edit
Alternative forms

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Southwestern Tai *zaːjᴬ⁴ (sand), from Proto-Tai *zwɯəjᴬ (sand), from Old Chinese (OC *sraːl, *sraːls, “sand”). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨪᩣ᩠ᨿ, Lao ຊາຍ (sāi), ᦌᦻ (saay), Khün ᨪᩣ᩠ᨿ, Shan သၢႆး (sáai), Tai Nüa ᥔᥣᥭᥰ (säay), Ahom 𑜏𑜩 (say) or 𑜏𑜩𑜤 (sayu), Zhuang saiz, Nong Zhuang saiz. Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(s/z)a-j (earth, sand, soil).

This word was written ซาย (saai) in documents prior to the 18th century, but shifted to the current spelling (with a cluster ทร initial) during the 18–19th centuries, possibly under the popular misconception that this word was of Khmer origin, and that the s- initial had developed from an earlier *dr-, whereas Khmer ទ្រាយ (triəy) means a kind of deer.

Pronunciation

edit
Orthographicทราย
d r ā y
Phonemic
ซาย
z ā y
RomanizationPaiboonsaai
Royal Institutesai
(standard) IPA(key)/saːj˧/(R)
Homophonesไซน์

Noun

edit

ทราย (saai)

  1. sand.

Derived terms

edit