Thai spelling reform of 1942

The Thai spelling reform of 1942 was initiated by the government of Prime Minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram. The prime minister's office announced a simplification of the Thai alphabet on 29 May 1942. The announcement was published in the Royal Gazette on 1 June 1942.[1][2] The reform was cancelled by the government of Khuang Aphaiwong on 2 August 1944. Following the November 1947 coup, Phibunsongkhram became prime minister for a second time, but did not revive the Thai language reform.

Proposed simplification of the Thai writing system

The redundancy of the Thai writing system is retained, especially similar to Lao language. The changes to simplify Thai spelling were:[3]

  • All of วรรค ฎ (i.e., ฎ ฏ ฐ ฑ ฒ ณ), the section of the alphabet corresponding to the Indic retroflex consonants, is gone, being replaced by their corresponding consonants in วรรค ด (ด ต ถ ท ธ น).
  • ใ is uniformly replaced with ไ.
  • ญ is replaced with ย in initial position (e.g., ใหญ่ > ไหย่), but retained in final position without its "base" (ฐาน).
  • Of the three high /s/ consonants, ศ ษ ส, only ส is retained (e.g., ศึกษา > สึกสา).
  • Initial /s/ cluster ทร is replaced by ซ (e.g., กระทรวง > กะซวง).
  • ห replaces the leading อ in these four words อยาก อย่า อย่าง อยู่ (หยาก หย่า หย่าง หยู่).
  • Many silent consonants that do not add to the pronunciation are eliminated (e.g., จริง > จิง, ศาสตร์ > สาตร).
  • Some clusters are reduced (e.g., กระทรวง > กะซวง).

See also

References
  1. "1942 Thai spelling reform announcement". Thai 101. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  2. "ประกาสสำนักนายกรัถมนตรี เรื่องการปรับปรุงตัวอักสรไทย" (PDF). Royal Gazette (Thailand). 1942-06-01. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  3. "Simplifed Thai spelling during World War II". Thai 101. Retrieved 21 January 2017.

Further reading
  • Thomas John Hudak, "Spelling Reforms of Field Marshal Pibulsongkram", Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 3, 1 (1986): 123–33.
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