Alphabet Question

[Richard W]

So then Johpa, Meadish, David Houston, Mankorn to name a few, where should I go to learn more of the specific derivations of the modern Thai alphabet.

I'll open the bidding at an Alternative Presentation of Thai Consonants for the original sounds. In case you don't recognise the notation, the three high sors were originally palatal, retroflex and plain dental sibilants, in that order.

The history of the letters is a little more complicated. The nearest significant relative to the Thai-Lao script is the Khmer script, though there are some closely related minor Thai scripts further east. However, I would not rule out influences from other Indic scripts - the Lanna script has clear influences from the Thai script, though it clearly belongs to the Burmese (i.e. Mon) branch.

[DavidHouston]

If you are in Bangkok, you might be able to obtain the book shown on http://cuir.car.chula.ac.th/handle/123456789/2746 called:

Title: วิวัฒนาการอักษรและอักขรวิธีไทย

Other Titles: Development of Thai scripts and orthography

You can also find this at "Chulabook", http://www.chulabook.com/cgi-bin/main/2006...e=9789749897317, where it is available for on-line purchase for 255 baht.

Perhaps someone in this forum has seen the book and can tell us whether it fits the bill.

Well, we are up here in Bangkok for a few days and, not wanting to recommend anything I have not seen, I got directions from a friend to the Chulalongkorn Bookstore and went to see "วิวัฒนาการอักษรและอักขรวิธีไทย

" for myself. Amazingly, I walked into the front door of this massive temple to books, barreled through the turnstyle, walked over to the very well laid out Thai books section and found the "Language" section; and, there right in front of my nose was "วิวัฒนาการอักษรและอักขรวิธีไทย". Turns out that the book is an academic treatise of over 780 pages, first published in 1984 from a typed manuscript. The book apears to be a life-long research project but the resulting text is not something you would want to read from start to finish.

I did find, however, on a nearby shelf another book which would be of interest to us learners:

"อักษรไทยโบราณ ลายสือไทย และวิวัฒนาการอักษรของชนชาติไทย" โดย ธวัช ปุณโนทก, first published in 2006 by Chula Press. The price for this 262 page book is only 230 baht. I was so excited to find this book that I ran out of the bookstore, purchase in hand, to the nearest internet cafe, on the other side of the tracks from the Siam shopping centers to write you this note. Now for a dring - at the local milk bar.

In believe that this is just the book you are looking for. Good luck.

Edited December 7, 2007 by DavidHouston

[stateman]

Several more books that might help to satisfy your intellectual curiosity are "หลักภาษาไทย" เปลื่อง ณ นรง, "ภาษาาไทยของเรา"

" เปลื่อง ณ นรง "

Could this be เปลื้อง ณ นคร by chance?

"Chulalongkorn Bookstore". I used to visit the one located on the university campus. Is that the one you went to, or is there another one inside Siam Shopping Centers?

Cheers.

Edited December 7, 2007 by stateman

[Johpa]

A bibliography of books on the subject of "อักษรและอักขรวิธีไท" ["Tai Alphabet and Orthography"] can be found at http://www.human.cmu.ac.th/~thai/sompong/Tai_Alphabet.htm

Anyone know if the author of the link above, Sompong, is still at CMU and perhaps an e-mail address as I think that he may be a long lost friend of mine.

[DavidHouston]

Several more books that might help to satisfy your intellectual curiosity are "หลักภาษาไทย" เปลื่อง ณ นรง, "ภาษาาไทยของเรา"

" เปลื่อง ณ นรง "

Could this be เปลื้อง ณ นคร by chance?

"Chulalongkorn Bookstore". I used to visit the one located on the university campus. Is that the one you went to, or is there another one inside Siam Shopping Centers?

Cheers.

I am still in Bangkok, this time at the Siam Paragon, at the True internet shop on leel 3, after another trip to Chula. The store in question is indeed the university bookstore. This time I browsed the English language section on the second floor or mezzanine and found a new monograph from the East-West Center - Washington, on the Southern troubles. Back to Phuket this evening.

[DavidHouston]

A bibliography of books on the subject of "อักษรและอักขรวิธีไท" ["Tai Alphabet and Orthography"] can be found at http://www.human.cmu.ac.th/~thai/sompong/Tai_Alphabet.htm

Anyone know if the author of the link above, Sompong, is still at CMU and perhaps an e-mail address as I think that he may be a long lost friend of mine.

The referenced professor seems to be:

สมพงศ์ วิทยศักดิ์พันธุ์. ต้นเค้า กำเนิด และวิวัฒนาการของอักษรและอักขรวิธีไท. ภาควิชาภาษาไทย คณะมนุษยศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่. ๒๕๔๒

I am at an internet cafe in Bangkok and don't have the time but I bet you could try to look him up at the Chiengmai University faculty page on the CMU website. Good luck.

[Rikker]

Anyone know if the author of the link above, Sompong, is still at CMU and perhaps an e-mail address as I think that he may be a long lost friend of mine.

He appears to still be at CMU. This page has his picture and email address:

http://www.thaicmu.com/index.php?page=serv...e=1&id=1406