Hey folks,

Once in a while I strike a Thai spelling that seems out of place to me. Last time it was the Thai spelling of 'alcohol', if I remember correctly. Anyway, I'm wondering how it came to be that Sirikit is spelled สิริกิติ์, with only the vowel on the final ต being silenced in pronunciation -- not the ต itself.

I know other Thai names that end in กิตติ์, but in that case the ไม้ทัณฑฆาต 'mai tan ta kat' works as normal, silencing both the consonant and the vowel under it.

Is สิริกิติ์ spelt that way just to look attractive (which to me it does) or perhaps fulfil some rule for auspicious spelling of a name? Are there other Thai words where a 'mai tan ta kat' silences a vowel sound only? I'm having trouble thinking of any.

อานนท์

ps. Mods: the sub-heading for this topic was supposed to be 'สิริกิติ์ - only final vowel silenced'. Any way to change it now the topic is started?

Edited July 13, 200916 yr by aanon

Khun Aanon,

Have you seen this thread?

I have asked this question on several occasions and the answer I received was:

1. สิริกิติ์ with all the "i" vowels on top resemble a crown, fitting for a Queen.

2. Without the การันต์, readers would tend to pronounce the final ติ as if it were a separate syllable (tiL), rather than the ตัวสะกด of the final syllable (kitL).

There is a similar question about the new private bank in Thailand, "ธนาคารธนชาต". One might think that the final syllable would be "ชาติ", like the word for "nation". I was told by someone at the bank that if it were spelled "ชาติ", people might confuse this private bank with the National Bank of Thailand, "ธนาคารชาติ". The complete name of this national banks is "ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย".

David and Yoot, thanks. I had not seen that thread. To summarise for others visiting this thread, the discussion linked by Yoot says the following:

* สิริกิติ์ is the only word in the Thai language in which ไม้ทัณฑฆาต silences a vowel only

* the ไม้ทัณฑฆาต is used to avoid having people pronounce the last syllable as ติ (hardly seems necessary, given existing words like ชาติ and เหตุ)

* rather than a 'mai tan ta kat', it may have originally/technically been a different mark called วัชกาล (wat cha garn) or something similar, but nowadays the 'mai tan ta kat' is used instead

David, the bank story is interesting but alternative spellings like ไท/ไทย or ชาติ/ชาต are relatively common. The 'crown' idea is a new one, though. Where did you hear that?

อานนท์

Edited July 13, 200916 yr by aanon