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Home , Romanization, Transliteration

The Journal of the Royal Institute of Vol. 31 No. 3 Jul.-Sep. 2006

Romanization, , Nitaya Kanchanawan* Associate Fellow of the and Transcription for the Academy of Arts, The Royal Institute, Thailand Globalization of the Thai Language1

Abstract This paper differentiates between the similar terms of transcription, transliteration, and Anglicization. The six systems which are employed to represent Thai words through the Roman script are examined. These systems are King Rama VI system, the first Royal Institute systems (both General and Precise Systems), the second Royal Institute system, the third Royal Institute system, Anglicization system and the ISO system. Whereas each system serves a different purpose, the ISO system can be used globally as a means to exchange information both by humans and machines.

Key words : transcription, transliteration, Romanization, Anglicization, Rama VI system, Royal Institute system, ISO system

1. Introduction . This can be seen in Standard Organization (ISO), Two or more different lan- the case of the Roman script used however, the need for harmonized guages may use similar or different in transcribing English, French, standards in the world of infor- sets of symbols for writing pur- German, etc. or in the case of the mation is global. The wide spread poses. The same symbol set may Thai and Cambodian scripts which use of the Internet has strengthened be modified to suit a particular came from the same origin. Thus, the need for interoperable stan- in question. The crucial using different sets of written dards and compatible information point is that each language contains symbols for the same language systems. Thus, characters from it’ own pronunciation. Thus, by may cause some confusion in different individual writing sys- default, the same linguistic sym- pronunciation or other ambigui- tems must be converted into a bol set may not always represent ties. single universal to allow the same sounds for two different According to the International for alphabetical intercalation in

* Associate Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Ramkhamhaeng University 1 Paper presented in Round Table “Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription for Globalization.” 1st World Congress on the Power of Language: Theory, Practice, and Development. In Honor of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s 50th Birthday Anniversary in the Year of Languages. 22-25 May 2006. Queen Sirikit Center, Bangkok, Thailand

Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription 832 for the Globalization of the «“√ “√√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π ªï∑’Ë ÛÒ ©∫—∫∑’Ë Û °.§.-°.¬. ÚıÙ˘ bibliographies, catalogues, indexes, as possible arbitrary choice and for systems that are not entirely etc. It is essential to create an the use of purely conventional alphabetical or syllabic, and for environment for the univocal marks, and try to maintain a certain all ideophonographical systems transmission of written messages phonetic logic in order to give the of writing such as Chinese. between two countries using com- system a wide acceptance. 2.3 Romanization is the pletely different writing systems. However, it must be accepted process whereby a non-Latin that the graphism employed may writing systems is converted to 2. Conversion Methods for not always produce correct pro- the . In doing so Writing Systems nunciation due to the individual either transliteration or transcrip- There are two basic conver- phonetic habits of the language tion or a combination of the two sion methods for writing systems (or languages) which usually use systems may be used depending and they are transliteration and the conversion alphabet. On the on the nature of the converted transcription. other hand, this graphism must system and the desired objectives. 2.1 Transliteration is the be such that the reader who has a 2.4 Regarding the use of the process which consists of re- knowledge of the original language Latin alphabet for the represen- presenting the characters of an may mentally restore unequivo- tation of the Thai language, there alphabetical or syllabic system of cally the original graphism and are four different systems used to writing by using the characters thus pronounce it correctly. transcribe: King Rama VI system of a conversion alphabet. The use 2.2 Transcription is the (in which the and of a conversion alphabet is the process whereby the sounds of a written forms are retained), trans- easiest way to ensure the complete given language are represented cription system, and the Romaniza- and unambiguous reversibility of by a system of signs contained in tion and Anglicization systems. the conversion alphabet into the a conversion language. 2.4.1 King Rama VI converted system. A transcription system is of System (1913) In exceptional cases, .. when necessity based on the orthogra- With the introduction the number of characters used in phical conventions of the conver- of the family name system in 1913 the conversion system is smaller sion language. Transcription is by King Rama VI, a conversion than the number of characters of not strictly reversible. system from the to the original , it is Various transcription systems the Latin alphabet was developed often necessary to use digraphs or may be employed for the conver- whereby the written forms of Pali diacritical marks to close the gap. sion of all writing systems. It is and Sanskrit were retained. In this case, one must avoid as far the only method that can be used

Thai Pali and Sanskrit Thai Pronunciation

° KK ¢ Kh Kh § GQ ¶ Gh ß (or ng) ng ® Ch

Nitaya Kanchanawan 833 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Vol. 31 No. 3 Jul.-Sep. 2006

Thai Consonant Pali and Sanskrit Thai Pronunciation © Chh Chh ™ JX ´ -S ¨ Jh - ≠ ñN (or ng) Æ - Ø TT ∞ Th ∂ DD ≤ Dh Dh ≥ NN ¥ -D µ TT ∂ Th Th ∑ DTh ∏ Dh Th π NN ∫ - ª PP º Ph Ph Ω - æ BPh ø -F ¿ Bh Bh ¡ MM ¬ YY √ RR ≈ « or V or W » S- … - À HH Ã -

Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription 834 for the Globalization of the Thai Language «“√ “√√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π ªï∑’Ë ÛÒ ©∫—∫∑’Ë Û °.§.-°.¬. ÚıÙ˘

Thai Consonant Pali and Sanskrit Thai Pronunciation Œ - ƒ ƒÂ Ri, Rî Ri, Rî ∆ ∆ Li, Lî Li, Lî

(Amondarunarak, 2511: 36-37)

Thai Roman Script Thai Vowel Roman Script – a Õ‘« iu “ â Õÿ¬ uy -‘ ‡Õ« eo -’ î ·Õ« aeo -ÿ u ‡ÕÕ oe -Ÿ û ‡Õ¬ oey ‡ e ÕÕ¬ oy ‚ ô ‚Õ¬ ôy -÷ ü Õ—« ua -◊ ûe Õ«¬ uay · ae ‡Õ¬–’ ia „ ‰ âi ‡Õ’¬ îa Õ“¬ ai or ay ‡Õ◊Õ iia ‡Õ“ au or oa ‡ÕÕ¬◊ iiay Õ“« âo ‡Õ¬«’ iâu

(Amondarunarak, 2511: 36-38)

Words written in this System Roman: The General System and Thai consonant and this system may not be pronounced correctly. the Precise System. The terms employs diacritical marks, many of For example the new airport “transliteration” and “transcrip- them being tonal marks. In the ÿ«√√≥¿Ÿ¡‘ “Suvarnabhumi” is tion” are used interchangeably General System the sound of words pronounced differently from the since the Thai official Romaniz- is indicated by Roman letters with Thai sound. The meaning, how- ation method included elements limited diacritical markings. ever, is retained. of both these concepts. The diacritical marks, how- 2.4.2 The First Royal The Precise System indicates ever, present obstructions for Institute Systems (1939) tones and unpronounced letters practical use, and thus, the two In 1939 The Royal In- thus showing the derivation of the systems have not been popular stitute introduced two systems for words. In the Precise System there with general audiences and lang- transcribing Thai characters into is a Roman equivalent for every uage learners. Surprisingly, the

Nitaya Kanchanawan 835 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Vol. 31 No. 3 Jul.-Sep. 2006

concept of the Precise System is The General System was chosen in 1968. All diacritical markings almost identical with that of the for Romanizing geographical are omitted in accordance with the transliteration system. names on maps and in other places recommendation of the United 2.4.3 The Second because it is more practical carto- Nations Committee of Experts on Royal Institute System (1968) graphically and typographically. Geographical Names for the world The Royal Thai Govern- In order to avoid the confusion of geographic ment has adopted the General between diacritical marks of geo- names. System for use in transcribing geo- graphic names with other map graphical names within Thailand. symbols, the system was modified

VOWELS

Transliteration Thai 2 Illustrations a -– -— -“ - ( –æ“π SAPHAN) (≈—𵓠LANTA) (∫“ß ) ( ¡ÿ∑√ SAMUT) am -” (≈” LAM) i -‘ -’ ( ‘ßÀå SING) (∫ÿ√’ BURI) u -÷ -◊ -Õ◊ ( µ÷° SATUK) (æ™◊ PHUT) (∫√∫◊Õ BORABU) -ÿ-Ÿ (∫ÿ√’ BURI), (¿Ÿ PHU) e ‡-– ‡-Á ‡- (ª–π“‡√– PANARE) (‡æÁ≠ PHEN) (‡¢π KHEN) ae ·-– ·- (·´– SAE), ( –·° SAKE) ‚-– ‚- ‡-“– -Õ (æ–‚µä– PHATO) (≈æ LOP) ( “¡‚°â SAMKO) (‡°“– KO), (∫àÕ BO) oe ‡-Õ– ‡-Õ ‡-‘ (‡´Õ– SOE) (Õ”‡¿Õ AMPHOE), (‡π‘π NOEN)

2 The position of the consonant bearing the vowel is indicated by the ; the position of the associated vowel–following, preceding, above, below–is also shown.

Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription 836 for the Globalization of the Thai Language «“√ “√√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π ªï∑’Ë ÛÒ ©∫—∫∑’Ë Û °.§.-°.¬. ÚıÙ˘

Transliteration Thai Vowels Illustrations ia ‡-’¬– ‡-’¬ (‡º¬–’ PHIA) (‡∑’¬π THIAN) ua ‡-Õ–◊ ‡-Õ◊ (‡°◊Õ– KUA) (‡¡Õß◊ MUANG) -—«– -—«-« (º«–— PHUA) (∫«— BUA) (§«π KHUAN) ai „- ‰- -—¬ ‰-¬ -“¬ („À≠à YAI) (‰ºà PHAI), (™—¬ CHAI) (‰∑¬ THAI), (ª“¬ PAI) ao ‡-“ -“« (‡®“â CHAO) (¢â“« KHAO) ui -ÿ¬(°ÿ¬ KUI) oi ‚-¬ -Õ¬ (‚¥¬ DOI), (¥Õ¬ DOI) iu -‘«(ß‘È« NGIU) eo ‡-Á« ‡-« (‡√Á« REO), (‡≈« LEO) oei ‡-¬ (‡≈¬ LOEI) uai ‡-Õ¬◊ -«¬ (‡¥◊Õ¬ DUAI) (À⫬ HUAI) aeo ·-« (·¡« MAEO) ieo ‡-¬«’ (‡¢’¬« KHIEO)

CONSONANTS

Initial Final Thai - -K ° KH- -K ¢ § ¶ NG- -NG ß CH- - ® CH- -T © ™ ¨ - -N ≠ 3 D- -T ¥ Æ ± T- -T µ Ø TH- -T ∂ ∞ ∑ ± ∏ ≤

3 The character ± may be pronounced TH or D when it is in initial position.

Nitaya Kanchanawan 837 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Vol. 31 No. 3 Jul.-Sep. 2006

Initial Final Thai consonants N- -N π ≥ B- -P ∫ P- -P ª PH- -P º æ ¿ F- -P Ω ø - -M ¡ Y- - ¬ - -N √ L- -N ≈ à W- - « S- -T ´ ∑ √ » … H- - À Œ -- Õ

The General System of 2.4.4 The Current Ro- “© ™ ¨” should be transcribed as transcription provides only an yal Institute Romanization Sys- “ch”. Most of the Thais, however, approximate pronunciation for tem (1999) tend to pronounce “” as /k/like in non-Thai speakers. The exact The Royal Institute in- the familiar English words, e.g., pronunciation can be acquired troduced the currently used trans- cat, code, cut. The pronunciation only from the Thai characters literation system in 1999. This of “c” in the words like “cell” and themselves, or with the use of a was an adaptation of the 1968 “city” are surprisingly ignored. dictionary. Thus, the omission of system modified in order to elimi- Thus, the consonants are left marks may cause am- nate some ambiguity. Due to the untouched. biguous or mis-pronunciation, e.g. influence of English pronuncia- Regarding the vowels, some the word “south” („µâ - “tai”) and tion, “®” and “© ™ ¨” cannot be ambiguous issues are finally “to die” (µ“¬ - “tai”) cannot be distinguished. Phonetically “®” resolved such as introduced in distinguished. should be transcribed as “c” and the following table:

VOWEL OLD SYSTEM NEW SYSTEM Õ÷ Õ◊ uue ÕÿÕŸ uu ‡Õ◊Õ– ‡Õ◊Õ ua uea Õ«–— Õ«— ua ua ‡ÕÕ¬◊ uai ueai Õ«¬ uai uai

Another improvement is that all the diphthongs with final “«” are replaced by “o” such as in the following table:

Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription 838 for the Globalization of the Thai Language «“√ “√√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π ªï∑’Ë ÛÒ ©∫—∫∑’Ë Û °.§.-°.¬. ÚıÙ˘

VOWEL OLD SYSTEM NEW SYSTEM ‡Õ“ Õ“« ao ao ‡Õ«Á ‡Õ« eo eo ·ÕÁ« ·Õ« aeo aeo Õ‘« iu io ‡Õ¬«’ ieu iao

Notice that the written form of ‡Õ’¬« is changed from “ieu” to “iao” because ‡Õ’¬« = ‡Õ’¬ + «. Since ‡Õ’¬ = “ia” so ‡Õ’¬ + « should be “iao” .

2.4.5 Anglicization Anglicization is an attempt to replace Thai words by English words with closely similar pronun- ciation regardless of the meaning. For example:

ENGLISH WORD THAI WORD MEANING WITH SIMILAR PRONUNCIATION

«π‡æ— ≠Á [wan-phen] (a girl name) one pen ¡√ [sa-mcˇn]c (a girl name) small “¡“√∂ [saa-mâat]ˇ capable smart ‘Èπ°√√¡ [sîn-kam] end of karma sin gum ªíôπ¢≈‘∫ [pân-khlìp] (name of Thai snack) pan clip øÑ“ [fáa] sky far °—π [kan] together gun

If such words cannot be found, new words imitating the English form will be used. For example:

NEW WORD THAI WORD MEANING IMITATING ENGLISH WORD πÈ” [náam] water num (from “number”) ‡®â“ [câo] you (literary term) jow (from “how”) ‡¢“ [khao]ˇ kow (from “how”)

°≈—∫ [klàp] return glub (from “club”)

√âÕ¬ [rcc´ i]cc hundred roy (from “joy”) ≈Õ¬ [lcccc i] float loy (from “joy”)

Nitaya Kanchanawan 839 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Vol. 31 No. 3 Jul.-Sep. 2006

Currently this is the most either written script by humans linguistic rules, some with me- popular system since it is used or machines. This system of chanical rules and some with no in Karaoke singing. The average conversion is intended to provide rules at all. Currently, only three person is interested in imitating complete and unambiguous re- systems play an important role the closest sound, without regard versibility. It is recognized that in Thai society: King Rama VI to either rule or meaning. This the transliterated form resulting system, The Royal Institute form of Anglicization may be a from this system does not always Romanization and Anglicization. unique case to Thailand only. provide the correct pronunciation It is left to the language educators 2.4.6 ISO 11940 In- of the original Thai text. However, and learners to choose the one formation and Documentation– the system serves as a means most appropriate to their purpose. Transliteration of Thai (1998) of finding the Thai graphisms However, the system that may be The update of the Royal automatically and thus to allow used more extensively in the Institute’s Romanization system those with a knowledge of Thai future on a global scale to exchange was carried out simultaneously to pronounce the Thai text cor- information is the ISO 11940 with the creation of the ISO 11940 rectly. Information and Documentation – Information and Documentation– In this system 87 Thai Transliteration of Thai which was Transliteration of Thai. characters, including numerical developed from 1998 in tandem The creation of this symbols and traditional symbols with the universally popular Uni- International Standards established can be transliterated into the code computer encoding system. a system for the transliteration of Roman alphabet and re-trans- Thai characters into Roman - literated back to Thai characters. Bibliography racters. One set of rules is provided For example ‡µ– “to kick” is

for a completely reversible strin- transliterated as “eta” where “eta” Amondarunarak, Chamuen (Chaem gent conversion whereby absolute gives the wrong pronunciation Sundaravej). 2511 (1968). The principles of transliteration are but it can be re-transliterated Essential Royal Works of King applied with no modification. back to ‡µ–, either by humans or Rama VI, The Birth of Family This Romanized trans- machines. Name, book 1. literation system is a means of These 87 Thai charac- ISO 11940 Information and Document- converting the Thai writing system ters may be easily accessed and ation – Transliteration of Thai into a Roman alphabet writing employed through the ISO/TC 46 N 1854 system. Since there are fewer system for ease of global com- The Royal Institute, 1939. Notification Roman characters than Thai cha- munication in the future. racters, diacritical marks, punctu- of the Royal Institute Concerning ation marks, and a combination 3. Conclusion the Transcription of Thai Charac- of two Roman characters, or a An attempt to represent Thai ters into Roman. digraph, are needed to represent words using Roman script has The Royal Institute, 1982. Romanization one Thai character. The aim of been endeavored since 1913. Guide for Thai Script. this system is to provide a means Almost a hundred years have The Royal Institute, 2543 (2000). The of international communication passed in which six different Proclamation of the Office of the of written messages in a form systems were employed for Prime Minister, the Proclamation which permits the automatic different purposes, some with of the Royal Institute, and Roman- transmission or reconstitution of traditional practice, some with ization Rules.

Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription 840 for the Globalization of the Thai Language «“√ “√√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π ªï∑’Ë ÛÒ ©∫—∫∑’Ë Û °.§.-°.¬. ÚıÙ˘

∫∑§—¥¬àÕ °“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√‰∑¬‡ªìπÕ—°…√‚√¡—π °“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√ ·≈–°“√∂à“¬‡ ’¬ß‡æ◊ËÕ‚≈°“¿‘«—µπå¢Õß¿“…“‰∑¬ 𑵬“ °“≠®π–«√√≥ ¿“§’ ¡“™‘° ”π—°»‘≈ª°√√¡ √“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π

∫∑§«“¡π’È™’È„Àâ‡ÀÁ𧫓¡·µ°µà“ß√–À«à“ß°“√∂à“¬‡ ’¬ß °“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√ °“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√‰∑¬‡ªìπÕ—°…√ ‚√¡—π ·≈–°“√≈“°‡¢â“ Ÿà¿“…“Õ—ß°ƒ… ‡ª√’¬∫‡∑’¬∫√–∫∫°“√„™âÕ—°…√‚√¡—π‡¢’¬π§”‰∑¬ ˆ √–∫∫ Õ—π‰¥â·°à √–∫∫¢Õßæ√–∫“∑ ¡‡¥Á®æ√–¡ß°ÿƇ°≈â“œ √–∫∫·√°¢Õß√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π (√–∫∫∑—Ë«‰ª·≈–√–∫∫æ‘ ¥“√) √–∫∫∑’Ë Ú ¢Õß√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π √–∫∫ªí®®ÿ∫—π¢Õß√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π √–∫∫°“√≈“°‡¢â“ Ÿà¿“…“Õ—ß°ƒ… ·≈– √–∫∫ ISO ∑ÿ°√–∫∫¡’ª√–‚¬™πå·≈–¢âÕ®”°—¥„π·∫∫µà“ßÊ °—π à«π√–∫∫ ISO ‡ªìπ√–∫∫∑’Ë∑—Èß¡πÿ…¬å·≈– ‡§√◊ËÕß “¡“√∂„™â·≈°‡ª≈’ˬπ¢âÕ¡Ÿ≈‰¥â∑—Ë«‚≈°

§” ”§≠— : °“√∂à“¬‡ ’¬ß, °“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√, °“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√‰∑¬‡ªìπÕ—°…√‚√¡—π, °“√≈“°‡¢â“ Ÿà¿“…“Õ—ß°ƒ…, √–∫∫¢Õßæ√–∫“∑ ¡‡¥Á®æ√–¡ß°ÿƇ°≈â“œ, √–∫∫¢Õß√“™∫—≥±‘µ¬ ∂“π, √–∫∫¢Õß ISO

À≈—°‡°≥±å°“√∂Õ¥Õ—°…√‰∑¬‡ªìπÕ—°…√‚√¡—π·∫∫∂à“¬‡ ’¬ß

¢âÕ˘ °“√∂Õ¥§”¬àÕ ˘.Ò §”¬àÕ∑’Ë¡“®“°§”‡µÁ¡∑’Ë√Ÿâ®—°°—π¥’·≈–‡ªìπ§”∑’ˉ¡à¬“«π—° „ÀâÕà“π‡µÁ¡µ“¡À≈—°°“√Õà“π ·≈– „Àâ∂Õ¥‡ªìπÕ—°…√‚√¡—π‡µÁ¡µ“¡§”Õà“𠇙àπ ®. ´÷Ë߬àÕ¡“®“°§” ®—ßÀ«—¥=changwat Õ. é é Õ”‡¿Õ = amphoe ™¡. é é ™—Ë«‚¡ß = chuamong π. é é π“Ãî°“ = nalika æ.». é é æ∑∏»ÿ °√“™— = phutthasakkarat √√. é é ‚√߇√¬π’ = rongrian

˘.Ú §”¬àÕ∑’Ë¡“®“°§”ª√– ¡À≈“¬§”·≈–§àÕπ¢â“߬“« À√◊Õ¬“«¡“°®–∂Õ¥µ“¡§”Õà“π¢Õß µ—«¬àÕ À√◊Õ∂Õ¥‡µÁ¡°Á‰¥â ‡™àπ Õ.µ√. ¬àÕ®“° Õ∏‘∫¥’°√¡µ”√«® = otoro À√◊Õ athipbodi krom tamruat ºÕ. é ºÕ”π«¬°“√Ÿâ = pho-o À√◊Õ phu-amnuaikan ª™. é ”π—°ß“π§≥–°√√¡°“√°“√ª√–∂¡»÷°…“·Ààß™“µ‘ = sopocho À√◊Õ Samnakngan Khanakammakan Kanprathomsueksa Haeng Chat ª√–°“»„π√“™°‘®®“πÿ‡∫°…“ ‡≈à¡ ÒÒˆ µÕπ∑’Ë Û˜ß ÒÒ æƒ…¿“§¡ ÚıÙÚ

Nitaya Kanchanawan 841