Can anyone tell me if Bang has a meaning, as in Bangkok, Banglamung, Bangsue etc.

village

Can anyone tell me if Bang has a meaning, as in Bangkok, Banglamung, Bangsue etc.

I'm pretty sure it means 'village'. บาง

It also has other meanings, such as 'some'. But in the case of the citynames, it'd be 'village' or 'settlement'

From Lexitron:

บาง [baangM] [N] settlement; village

Def. ตำบลบ้านที่อยู่หรือเคยอยู่ริมบางหรือในบริเวณที่เคยเป็นบางมาก่อน.

"The area where one lives or used to live near a waterway or in the area which used to be a waterway.

Sample:สมัยก่อนหากต้องพายเรือจากบางหนึ่งไปบางหนึ่ง ใช้เวลาเป็นวันเลยทีเดียว

[sà-măi gòn hàak dtông paai reua jàak baang nèung bpai baang nèung chái way-laa bpen wan loie tee dieow]

"In the past, if one needed to row a boat from one waterway (village) to anther, it took an entire day."

Here is the Royal Institute Dictionary definition:

บาง ๑ น. ทางนํ้าเล็ก ๆ, ทางนํ้าเล็กที่ไหลขึ้นลงตามระดับนํ้าในแม่นํ้า ลําคลอง หรือทะเล;

"a small waterway; a small waterway that flows in and out according to the level of a river."

"ตําบลบ้านที่อยู่หรือเคยอยู่ริมบางหรือในบริเวณที่เคยเป็นบางมาก่อน, โดยปริยายหมายถึงทั้งหมู่ เช่น ฆ่าล้างบาง ย้ายล้างบาง."

[dtam-bon bâan têe yòo rĕu koie yòo rim baang rĕu nai bà-rì-wen têe koie bpen baang maa gòn, doi bpà-rí yaai măai tĕung táng mòo chên kâa láang baang yáai láang baang]

"a neighborhood or a place where one lives at the edge of a waterway or in the area where there used to be a waterway in the past; by implication the term means the entire village . . . "

(my translations; any corrections would be appreciated.)

Edited January 21, 200818 yr by DavidHouston

Thanks everybody

บางกอก -- Village of Olives?

Wikipedia suggests it may have come from บาง + เกาะ (village of islands)

Any way to know for certain?

มะกอก are really a completely different kettle of fish from olives, but it's true the same word is often used for Mediterranean type olives as well...

For a picture and Thai information on มะกอก, see:

http://chachoengsao.doae.go.th/knowledge/s...rai/s_makok.htm

And:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spondias_mombin

to be contrasted with :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive

Right. Nice picture, by the way. But there doesn't seem to be a clear, common English term for it, so how would one translate มะกอก ?

Thai plums?

Mary Haas has the translation 'hog plum' which Google seems to confirm.

She also lists 'olive', so I guess it is just a case where the same word denotes two completely different species.

Another website has this list of common names under 'Spondias mombin', the Latin name:

Hog plum, Java plum, tropical plum, marapa, Spanish plum, acaiba, mopé, jobo, hobo, ubo, yellow mombin, prune d'or, tapiriba, Ashanti plum, True yellow mombin, Jamaica plum, Spanish plum, Thorny hog plum, Mombin à fruits jaunes, Mombin franc, Gelbe Mombinpflaume, Acaiba , Acaja.

Hog plum, Java plum, tropical plum, marapa, Spanish plum, acaiba, mopé, jobo, hobo, ubo, yellow mombin, prune d'or, tapiriba, Ashanti plum, True yellow mombin, Jamaica plum, Spanish plum, Thorny hog plum, Mombin à fruits jaunes, Mombin franc, Gelbe Mombinpflaume, Acaiba , Acaja.

My point exactly: there doesn't seem to be a clear, common English term.

I like "hog plum," but it would be a rare person who has ever heard of one.

Cheers, and thanks for the links. Always good to learn something new.

i guess bang is just a new word.

it should be baan but over time, it changed into baang i.e. baan rajan in old times instead of bang rajan (referring to a movie's name)

i guess bang is just a new word.

it should be baan but over time, it changed into baang i.e. baan rajan in old times instead of bang rajan (referring to a movie's name)

How do you explain the name Baan Bang Meuang then?

I like "hog plum," but it would be a rare person who has ever heard of one.

As rare as a Thai who likes to eat Mediterranean style olives?

I am not sure if it is a related term, but in northern Thai a "paang" referred to a small forest camp along or nearby a creek and is still used to refer to an elephant camp (paang chaang), even the large tourist elephant camps. In my adopted Thai hometown tambon most of the villages are a paang this or a paang that in name.

Oued =Fat

Bang=Thin...

Oued =Fat

Bang=Thin...

เข้าบางตัวผอมต้องลดความอ้วนบางตาม

From Lexitron:

บาง [baangM] [N] settlement; village

Def. ตำบลบ้านที่อยู่หรือเคยอยู่ริมบางหรือในบริเวณที่เคยเป็นบางมาก่อน.

"The area where one lives or used to live near a waterway or in the area which used to be a waterway.

Sample:สมัยก่อนหากต้องพายเรือจากบางหนึ่งไปบางหนึ่ง ใช้เวลาเป็นวันเลยทีเดียว

[sà-măi gòn hàak dtông paai reua jàak baang nèung bpai baang nèung chái way-laa bpen wan loie tee dieow]

"In the past, if one needed to row a boat from one waterway (village) to anther, it took an entire day."

Here is the Royal Institute Dictionary definition:

บาง ๑ น. ทางนํ้าเล็ก ๆ, ทางนํ้าเล็กที่ไหลขึ้นลงตามระดับนํ้าในแม่นํ้า ลําคลอง หรือทะเล;

"a small waterway; a small waterway that flows in and out according to the level of a river."

"ตําบลบ้านที่อยู่หรือเคยอยู่ริมบางหรือในบริเวณที่เคยเป็นบางมาก่อน, โดยปริยายหมายถึงทั้งหมู่ เช่น ฆ่าล้างบาง ย้ายล้างบาง."

[dtam-bon bâan têe yòo rĕu koie yòo rim baang rĕu nai bà-rì-wen têe koie bpen baang maa gòn, doi bpà-rí yaai măai tĕung táng mòo chên kâa láang baang yáai láang baang]

"a neighborhood or a place where one lives at the edge of a waterway or in the area where there used to be a waterway in the past; by implication the term means the entire village . . . "

(my translations; any corrections would be appreciated.)

I suspect this is the most accurate translation, as there alot of Bang places that are at or near waterways. There is an area called Bang Nam Kem near our house. I always thought it meant swampy bit with a village

Can anyone tell me if Bang has a meaning, as in Bangkok, Banglamung, Bangsue etc.

My little 3 year old half-Thai daughter is at a bilingual pre-school here in Chiang Mai and "bang" is currently her favorite word. She holds out a soggy half eaten cookie and says "bang" - she means "share". Just another perspective....

Two different words although there are no automatic clues in the romanization 'bang'.

Anyways, 'share' is แบ่ง with a more open, short vowel sound and a low tone (more often written as baeng when romanized, sometimes bairng) and the word for village is บาง (baang , or sometimes bahng or barng) with a long, more closed vowel sound.

Two different words although there are no automatic clues in the romanization 'bang'.

Anyways, 'share' is แบ่ง with a more open, short vowel sound and a low tone (more often written as baeng when romanized, sometimes bairng) and the word for village is บาง (baang , or sometimes bahng or barng) with a long, more closed vowel sound.

Isn't แบ่ง a long vowel sound?

แบ่ง is definitely a short vowel sound, I've checked the pronunciation guide in Haas to confirm.

The same is true for แห่ง and the final syllable of ตำแหน่ง, for example.